In 2015, the managers for a major car manufacturer in the United States, American Automobiles Limited, were faced with a pressing problem in their press shop. The press shop made body panels for the company’s 10 different car models using a stamping process. In all, 137 different body panel parts were produced by six press machines. Each press had a distinct stroke rate that decided the time per stamping operation. Time was lost in changing dies, and there were limits on the lot sizes in which the panels could be stamped. Also, some panels could be stamped only on certain presses. The press shop’s managers were seeking to allocate the parts to panels in such a way that total costs could be minimized. How could they accomplish this?
The associate project manager for the Indian branch of SAP Labs, a multinational enterprise that provides software and software-related services, has been meeting with his manager to discuss ways to estimate staff requirements across shifts for the company’s provisioning team. The team works three shifts, 24 hours a day, seven days a week and services multiple types of requests in the form of tasks, which have one of seven priorities assigned to them. Service level agreements with customers require that the initial reaction time of the team meet specific requirements, which differ across priorities. Employing service agents involves costs for the organization. The project managers must identify a shift schedule that minimizes the number of staff used in a service setting while meeting the service level agreement expectations.
<p style="color: rgb(197, 183, 131);"><strong> AWARD WINNER - Innovation Management category, ISB-Ivey Global Case Competition</strong></p><br>An Indian company was planning to set up a Global Design Competence Centre (GDCC) in India. The company offered scented candles and holiday and gift products primarily for the U.S. market. Through its two American subsidiaries, it made and sold its products to large American mass-merchandisers and independent retailers. In-house design capabilities also existed in the form of six teams across India and the United States. Through the GDCC, the company intended to use Indian designers in collaboration with U.S. designers to create products for the U.S. market. The case draws students into exploring possible strategies to set up the GDCC.