Problem Identification
In terms of productivity and quality ratings, the Lima Tire Plant is one of the top plants of the Treadway Tire Company (Skinner & Beckham, 2008). However, there are several underlying problems the writer can see which are plaguing the Lima Plant. The main problem is the high turnover rate of line foremen at the Lima plant; in 2007, 23 out of 50 line foremen quit the job (Skinner & Beckham, 2008). The Lima Tire Plant has 1,120 employees out of which 970 are hourly workers and 150 are salaried employees and another one-third of the salaried employees are line foremen (Skinner & Beckham, 2008). For a long time, line foremen have been suffering from dissatisfaction and low morale. There are a number of reasons that …show more content…
One of the problem areas at the Lima Plant has been its continuous operation for 24 hours. After the Greenville, South Carolina, plant shut down in 2006, the volume of production of the Greenville plant has been transferred to the more efficient the Lima plant. In order to fulfill the increased volume of production, the Lima plant needs to be in operation for 24-hours 7 days a week. Most of the employees at Lima work a 12-hour shift with the two breaks per shift and a half an hour recess for meals. Although by using continuous operations, Treadway has been able to amortize the fixed costs of running the tire plant by maximizing the production volume, it has led to a number of operational …show more content…
The only training line foremen receive is informal training that depends on the discretion of the general supervisor and area manager. The general supervisors and area managers prefer that foremen adopt the tried and true management style of the previous foremen who are now in management positions (Skinner & Beckham, 2008). Due to the absence of official training, foremen are not knowledgeable of what they need to do in their role as foremen. They have no knowledge of industrial engineering, how to track their hours, manage a dispute and have minimal knowledge about their legal rights, as a result, they are unable to do their job properly (Manning,
In terms of productivity and quality ratings, the Lima Tire Plant is one of the top plants of the Treadway Tire Company (Skinner & Beckham, 2008). However, there are several underlying problems the writer can see which are plaguing the Lima Plant. The main problem is the high turnover rate of line foremen at the Lima plant; in 2007, 23 out of 50 line foremen quit the job (Skinner & Beckham, 2008). The Lima Tire Plant has 1,120 employees out of which 970 are hourly workers and 150 are salaried employees and another one-third of the salaried employees are line foremen (Skinner & Beckham, 2008). For a long time, line foremen have been suffering from dissatisfaction and low morale. There are a number of reasons that …show more content…
One of the problem areas at the Lima Plant has been its continuous operation for 24 hours. After the Greenville, South Carolina, plant shut down in 2006, the volume of production of the Greenville plant has been transferred to the more efficient the Lima plant. In order to fulfill the increased volume of production, the Lima plant needs to be in operation for 24-hours 7 days a week. Most of the employees at Lima work a 12-hour shift with the two breaks per shift and a half an hour recess for meals. Although by using continuous operations, Treadway has been able to amortize the fixed costs of running the tire plant by maximizing the production volume, it has led to a number of operational …show more content…
The only training line foremen receive is informal training that depends on the discretion of the general supervisor and area manager. The general supervisors and area managers prefer that foremen adopt the tried and true management style of the previous foremen who are now in management positions (Skinner & Beckham, 2008). Due to the absence of official training, foremen are not knowledgeable of what they need to do in their role as foremen. They have no knowledge of industrial engineering, how to track their hours, manage a dispute and have minimal knowledge about their legal rights, as a result, they are unable to do their job properly (Manning,