Charles Foster Case Summary

A. Introduction and Summary
Charles Foster is a national sales manager for a large U.S. technology company that is headquartered in France. The company has just released a new product. This product is a disk drive. The drive is selling better than expected which causes Foster to worry about the availability of the product and the repercussions if they cannot find a solution to the inventory problem. The product line could potentially become extinct if a solution is not reached, which would affect many stakeholders such as customers, producers and manufacturers of the product, and the salesmen that sell the product. Foster voices his concerns in an email to his supervisor, Richard Howe. Foster’s email contains his concerns about problems …show more content…
is because it would eliminate the problem of availability and solve the issue of safety not being up to the standards of the U.S. If the product was produced domestically not only would the shipping time would be decreased, but also the way the product is produced could be changed to better fit the time restraints and the changing market. In France, the emphasis was on inventory reduction to cut costs, but now, in the U.S., the company will learn from their mistakes and know that the more inventory they make, the more their revenue would increase. The quality issue would be solved because since it is being produced in the U.S., it is required to meet the U.S. qualifications for …show more content…
The U.S. can learn from the joint venture’s mistakes and implement a structure so to not repeat the same mistakes. Because many of the complications in France came from the joint venture’s organization logistics, the U.S. will organize differently. The U.S. will produce smaller batches more often, creating more inventory than before, but doing it in less bulk. This will ensure that they will have enough inventory to cover consumers orders but also be able to adjust to the ever-changing economy if needed. This also decreases the lead-time and the possibility of having too much inventory of an out to date product. Because the U.S. has been on the side of receiving products late and constantly having back order on products, the U.S. will put an emphasis on international products so a high-quality product will be shipped in the timeframe needed. The U.S. will implement the buffer system in France so that if shipping is behind they will have enough product to satisfy their customers. The last risk to address is the risk that moving to the U.S. will take so much time that production will be set back even further than it already is. To solve this problem the U.S. will request that the joint venture over produce inventory until they are able to move, ensuring the U.S. has a buffer and is able to catch up on production. They will be able