case study analysis

1. Assignment on American
Connector Company (ACC)
Case
Submitted to:-
Prof. Sommonoy Ghosh
Submitted By:
Prabhanshu Shekhar
15IB344

2. 1. Identify how DJC become so successful with cost and quality in terms of operations
management?
DJC became successful with cost and quality because of
 Lead Time: Shorter Lead time.
 Capacity Utilization : 100%
 Competitive strategy: Low-cost production, standardisation and superior designs.
 Production: Completely continuous flow with an average production rate of 700
million units. The plant operated 168 hours/week on a 24 hour per day, 330 days a
year.
 Flexibility-Kawasaki plant had complete control over its schedule and mix and
refused to make changes for unplanned orders.
 Technology: All technology are in-house developed with the emphasis on older
technology and equipment brought from vendors changed to suit needs.
 Standardisation: a Standardised product which reduced process variability with no
start-up and shutdown cost.
 Inventory: Less inventory as work-in-process inventories averaged two days.
 DJC’s Kawasaki plant produces a small variety (640) of connectors. This reduces
production costs and complexity.
 DJC emphasised a strategy of cost reduction and utilised a number of tactics to
decrease their costs overall. Among the major tactics was a cultivation and
maintenance of close ties with suppliers and distributors in Japan, simplicity of
design and manufacturability over innovation, and an emphasis on being highly
efficient in manufacturing.
 This strategy difference appears to be the sole driver in the cost difference of the
materials as the close ties with suppliers, lower costs associated with a simpler
cheaper design, and the attention to details such as the use of a 2,000 piece
packaging reel instead of a standard 1,500 piece reel minimise the cost of materials.
 In Kawasaki, the production schedule was fixed and would not change under any
circumstance or for any special order from customers. This gave them an upper
edge, in terms of controlling costs.
 DJC Corporation, dedicated to process positioning and robust systems engineering,
required that the Kawasaki facility is highly automated. The pre-automation process
helped analyse process flows, worker movements, and raw material consumption.
DJC also believed it better to utilise an older, more established process, rather than
implementing newer unproven processes. Continuous improvement of existing
processes was highly relied upon.

3. 2. Identify how ACC become so successful with cost and quality in terms of operations
management?
ACC became successful with cost and quality because of
 Cost: Low cost because of highly automated processes, less investment in
technology, and a wide range of products.
 The Core Competency of ACC being its customizable production line is of
competitive advantage in the industry. Many customers could come to ACC rather
than DJC for solutions that can be designed to suit the needs rather than adjust with a
market standard. It will help to differentiate the client from a lot of other producers.
 ACC’s Sunnyvale plant produces a large variety (4500) of connectors. This allows the
company to provide just about any kind of connector that a customer could want.
 Mass customization approach focusses on product innovation rather than cost
reduction.
 The production process is flexible and easily accommodates customers need.
 Batch processing and automated assembly facilitate production of large quantity of
products. (600 million units per year.)
 Just in time (JIT) delivery results in minimal raw materials inventory.
 Shorter Production runs maximises operational flexibility.
 Processing lead times and work in process inventories are held down through efficient
production scheduling.
3. How ACC achieved Performance Objectives.
Flexibility
 They decide on the production schedule 1 month prior to the actual date. This helps
to accommodate rush orders and requests from more important customers. To
maintain flexibility the company tried to expand capacity ahead of expected growth in
demand.
High reliability
 Till 1986 it used the latest production equipment to improve quality. After 1986, the
finance people hasn’t let the manufacturing people buy the latest equipment due to the
fall in demand. The company used to ensure that the defect shouldn’t exceed 1 defect
per 1 million units. It met customer delivery requirements with quality and on time.
Product Innovation
 It used to cater to computers, telecommunication equipment and scientific instruments
sectors. The plant produced 4500 different models in 1991 while in 1981, the plant
produced 3000 models due to increase in a number of individual product

4. manufactured. It used to buy latest technologies for its production channels. It also
used to cater to custom models.
Low Cost
 The company ensures that they get the raw material for product and packaging at a
lesser cost making the total cost lesser. Also, cheaper electricity costs.