Operation Management Assignment: Dactronics Case Study

Running head: OPERATION MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENT: DACTRONICS CASE
STUDY 1
Operation Management Assignment: Dactronics Case Study
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OPERATION MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENT: DACTRONICS CASE STUDY
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Operation Management Assignment: Dactronics Case Study
The contemporary business environment is dynamic, and business organizations should
be flexible and agile in responding to changes to survive and develop. The top management is
responsible for initiating and implementing strategies such as lean manufacturing to ensure that
the business organization creates and sustains a competitive advantage over its competitors
(Bicheno and Holweg, 2016). This essay will focus on the Daktronics Company and how it
implemented its lean manufacturing strategy. We will also discuss how the lean manufacturing
strategy applied at Daktronics can be applied to non-manufacturing sectors such as the offices.
The essay will also give recommendations on how the Daktronics would improve its lean
manufacturing based on the four rules of the production system in Toyota Company. Operation
management principles ensure that business organizations run efficiently and effectively despite
the dynamic nature of the business sector.
Lean manufacturing in Daktronics was implemented successfully and enabled the
organization to grow and dominate the market. The main goal of the lean manufacturing venture
was to eliminate manufacturing as a constraint on the development and growth of the company.
Before the implementation of the lean manufacturing strategy, the company was facing
challenges due to the rapid increase in sales. From the financial measure represented in exhibit 1
of the case study, the sales of the company grew from $177,764 in 2003 to $581,931 in the 2009
financial year report (Nancy, 2019). This is a tremendous increase in sales which is attributed
solely to the successful implementation of the lean manufacturing strategy. Also, the strategy
enabled the company to utilize the available space and improved its inventory system thus
increasing the overall efficiency in the organization.

OPERATION MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENT: DACTRONICS CASE STUDY
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The lean manufacturing implementation in Daktronics involved the learning of new
techniques as well as training the employees and student trainees on the implementation of the
new techniques. The strategy successfully streamlined the organization’s operations through
increasing cash flows, reducing the operational costs, and reducing the lead times. The
manufacturing process was scrutinized, and seven sources of wastes were identified and
eliminated at the manufacturing level. Exhibit 4 in the case study outlines the seven sources of
wastes that were making the manufacturing process less productive (Nancy, 2019). The
elimination of these sources of waste increased the overall production of the company thus
increasing the profit margins.
Lean manufacturing has been successful in organizations in the manufacturing sector, but
it also is applied in non-manufacturing sectors such as the office environment. However, the
application of lean principles in the office environment is challenging as most companies focus
on the lean “tools” and lack of alignment of the organizational strategy to the lean principles.
The successful lean manufacturing implementation at Daktronics can be used as a model for non-
manufacturing companies and business enterprises. Lean strategy is applicable in non-
manufacturing sectors because of the following five reasons:
1. The successful application of the strategy in Daktronics proves it is practical
2. The top management capabilities implementing the strategy
3. Waste is available even in the non-manufacturing sectors
4. Transportation cost can be cut in the office setup just as in the Daktronics case
study
5. It will increase the productivity