Case Study: Continuous Improvement Plan for Latino Engineering Company

This case study examines the challenges faced by Latino Engineering Company following a change in ownership. The company experiences issues ranging from faulty equipment to poor customer relations, indicating a decline in operational efficiency and employee motivation. The paper employs quality management principles and tools like the Pareto diagram and cause-effect analysis to identify the root causes of these problems, including changes in production processes and employee behavior. The study recommends a continuous improvement plan focusing on customer satisfaction through training, improved product design, and enhanced customer service. Employee participation is emphasized to foster a more engaged workforce. Ultimately, the plan aims to restore customer trust, improve product quality, and ensure the company's long-term success by addressing the core issues of the business.

LATINO ENGINEERING COMPANY 1
Case Study Continuous Improvement Plan
Author’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Tutor
Course
City and State

LATINO ENGINEERING COMPANY 2
Case Study: Continuous Improvement
Latino Engineering Company
Introduction
Latino Engineering Company is experiencing some problems springing from a change of
ownership. The change of management has brought about a change in the way the
organization carries out its activities. Apparently, during the previous leadership, the owner
of the company was the sole decision maker, and this made it easy to make a decision or
undertake any necessary actions. From the prevailing conditions, it is clear that Dominic
Latino had a very close relationship with the workers which translated to the effective and
efficient functioning of all the departments. This can be attributed to the fact that he was very
passionate and dedicated to ensuring that his company produces the best products and he
himself had a hand in the designing and developing of the products. The love and passion
was enough motivation to Latino, and he had to use the thrust from inside to ensure that all
the worker put efforts in ensuring that the dream was realized.
Since the exchange of leadership, the company receives complains from the clients
ranging from faulty equipment to poor customer relations. This shows that there has been
reluctance in the way the human resource is functioning. This situation needs to be fixed in
the quickest, possible time for the company to avoid losing the market appeal and customers
(Limwichitr, Broady-Preston and Ellis, 2015. P.480). In this paper, we will establish the
origin of the situation using the best-suited tools and after that recommend how to rectify the
problem and improve the operations and overall performance of the organization.

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Problem Solving Approach
The best approach in this situation is the quality management plan given that it addresses
the issues that the Latino Engineering Company is facing. The approach touches on issues
like employee involvement, customer satisfaction, the processes and also organizational
efficiency. To crown it, this approach is designed to ensure that all the activities carried out
by a company are aimed at the satisfaction of the client or the customers (Paliska, Pavletic,
and Sokovic, 2017, P 80).
Techniques and tools used
In any methodology, there has to be methods and tools used to identify the problem and
devise the ways to counter it. Using the most appropriate tool is vital because it ensures that
it is easy of detecting the cause of a problem while giving the lead to the best way to stabilize
the situation. In this case, we will employ the 7QCs tools which include the use of a check
sheet, a control chart, the Pareto diagram, the Scanner plot, cause, and effect and a histogram.
Narrowing down, the cause and effect incorporated with the Pareto diagram will provide the
best results in the case of Latino Engineering Company (Doggett, 2015. P.34).
1. The Pareto Diagram
The use of this tool calls for the arrangement of all the elements and factors in descending
order on how each can lead to the problem at hand. From there it becomes easy to establish
the main causes of the situation and figuring out the solutions. In this case, we will employ
this tool by looking at all the element factors that could play a role in the change of attitude
of the employees. Below is the list of these elements;

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Ownership Change
All these issues started to arise after a Dominic Latino sold the company. It goes without saying
that this change somehow has a hand in the status quo of the organization. During the previous
management, everything was running smoothly, and many people wanted to acquire equipment
from the company. Slowly after the change of hands, the problems sprout out so we have to see
how the change may have contributed to this.
Production Process
In the recent past, there are complaints about the deterioration of the products’ quality to even
the extent of defectiveness. This means there is a problem in either the designing, production or
both of these stages. When the customers suddenly start complaining about equipment, it means
that they are not getting what they expected or they are not experiencing what they previously
experienced (Paliska, Pavletic, and Sokovic, 2017, P 80).
Employees’ Behavior
Apart from a complaint about the products, the clients have raised concern on the customer
relations desk. Unlike in the past, they are now having a hard time dealing with the personnel in
the company. The client care department has become sluggish and ineffective in that they are
taking long before responding to customer inquiries and even doing wrong packaging for orders
received. This indicates that the workers are sending signals and messages of discontentment and
low motivation.

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It is a regular thing for companies and other businesses to change ownership in the corporate
world. Like in the case of the Latino Engineering Company, the new owners tend to keep hold of
the workers to ensure a smooth transition. It is not always an easy during the handover and
immediately after the takeover but it is expected that after some time things go back to normal.
However, in this case there seem to be more than just the change of hands because the
organization is experiencing many negative things than expected. During the reign of Dominic
Latino, the company was thriving in the production of quality and desirable products which
satisfied the customer demands, and this led to the growth of the customer base. All of this
changed for the worse once the new owner took charge of the company. In a way, this shows that
the new management has problems in the way they run the affairs of the organization and mostly
on how it relates to the human resource. This is not good for business, and the company has to
make sure everything goes back to normal (Tannock, Krasachol and Ruangpermpool, 2012 P.
385).
First of all, when Latino left, the new owners were not able to keep some of the senior
engineers. This could be the cause of the decrease in the quality of the products. Keeping the
junior workers was a great move but letting the great minds of the company go was the
beginning of the fall. It is hard to replace the best people in an organization, so it should be the
aim of any management to keep the brains of the business. After the veterans left, the company
had to replace them, and it seems that the human resource department could not get perfect
replacements, and so they recruited underqualified employees leading to the production of
substandard equipment (Doggett, 2015. P.34).
Even with the poor recruitment, it is hard to come into terms how the remaining workforce
took a left in such a short time. Just in a year, they changed from the established top cream

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workers to medium error-prone employees. From this, we can read element of mutiny and
sabotage from the staff. For instance, responding appropriately to customers has become hard.
There are deliberate delays and wrong packaging of orders which does not happen even with
new employees.
2. Cause-Effect Diagram
The cause and effect tool is a common approach in the identification of problems I
organizations. The cause-effect tools work on the basis that every action has a significant effect.
This tool helps the experts look into a problem and relate what they see to what could have
caused it. In our case, we can connect the change of ownership with the outcome where we use
the takeover as the cause and the deteriorating functioning as the effect.
Firstly and foremost, the company is experiencing a problem in the production of the
equipment and the customer relations department. Just after the new owners took charge of the
business, the customers started reporting defective products and poor response from the
organization. Bearing this in mind, it is evident that the new owner has failed in managing the
various departments. First, the customer care department should know that the client is always
the king and at no time should any actions could lead to a confrontation with them. Secondly, the
manufacturing or the production unit is letting down the whole company because it is essential
for the department to ensure the products are quality and meet the market and customer demands.
This means that the new management is not keeping close tabs in all that is happening in the
company. This was not the case with their predecessor who ensured that everything was running
smoothly and effectively.

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Recommendations
As it stands, there is a problem in various departments of the company like the customer
relations department. This department is the link between the enterprise and the client, and if the
bridge is weak, then the relationship is as well dead. The errors and unresponsiveness can push
the clients away and turn to competitors who offer better services and products. Also, the
manufacturing department is also struggling to meet the market demands. This calls for a quick
fix if the company wants to continue their dominance in the market.
After looking deep into the problems facing the company, it is evident that all the processes
and activities are not tailored at meeting the wants and needs of the customer. It is known that
the customers are the most important stakeholders of any business because without them all the
production, no matter how good it is, will go to waste. For this reason, any business, including
the Latino Engineering company, should strive to ensure that the clients are satisfied. To achieve
this, we came up with the following approach to rectify the problems facing the organization.
i) Focus on the Customer
Every organization works to fulfill the desires of the customers. For our case, it is about the
restoration of trust, satisfaction, and confidence of the customers. This calls for dedication by the
workforce in the entire organization. In effect to this, we recommend that the company
establishes training workshops for the employees. The training should be aimed at equipping the
workers with the fundamental skills needed for operations and also enhancing them to improve
their competencies in the product designing. Also, for the customer relation department
personnel should be reminded the importance of the clients and how to deal with the customers
in a friendly and professional way.

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If push comes to shove the organization should look forward to recruiting a new set of skilled
top engineers who will help design better products. Same way for the customer care unit, if the
present individuals are not up for the task, there is no need of keeping dead wood in the system.
Instead, go for motivated and well-equipped persons to deliver in the department. While carrying
out all of these activities, remember that everything is aimed at convincing the clients that the
company is the best in the industry hence prevent them from switching sides to competitors
(Magar, and Shinde, 2014.P. 371).
ii) Employee Participation
One of the significant resources in the function of any business is the human resource. These
are the employees who ensure that everything is working as expected. So, it is important for all
the staff to read from the same script for a company to prosper and realize the set goals and
objectives. For this to happen, the employees must feel that they are a part of the company to the
extent that the progress of the enterprise is their core aim.
Any employee with an issue should be heard out by the management. This will lead to them
opening up their minds to innovations and inventions will later translate to quality performance
of the organization. From this case, it is noted that the employees are not motivated to perform
their duties, and this can be pointed at poor relations with the new management. Each employee
needs to feel appreciated for them to add his or her input towards the achievement of the
company’s goals. So, this calls for an establishment of a better system which will ensure good
relationship and motivation amongst all the workers (Magar, and Shinde, 2014.P. 371).

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iii) Establishing an Operation-Centered Process
From the results after one year, it is evident that the company is operating in an
unstructured way. This has resulted in a bad customer management and defective products. To
creep out from this, the management should establish a system that is operation-centered. Every
unit will know what is expected of them and will work to ensure that they don’t lag behind.
Through this, the company can easily note the departments that are not doing their part and
rectify or address the arising issues before they grow.
iv) Collaborative and Integrated System
Teamwork and collaborative functioning is a very critical aspect to the success of any
organization. Every department in any company is in a way dependent on another. So, if there is
an established working relationship between these departments, there is a higher chance of
succeeding. Therefore, the Latino Engineering Company should initiate such a structure where
all the departments are connected. This will ease the problem identification because if a unit fails
to live up to the expectation, the other departments will feel it and raise concern (Limwichitr,
Broady-Preston, and Ellis, 2015. P.480).
Self-Reflection System
Once the problems have been worked out, it is important for the company to have a system
that will occasionally look at the progress of the business and identify issues that need to be
addressed. With this, it will be easy to root out anything that might develop to deter the
progression of the company. This system will also help the organization to identify any cracks
showing on the company and seal them and also improve on the areas that need attention. Most

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importantly, this will enable the company to regularly assess the improvement index while also
comparing itself to the main competitors in the industry.
Initiating an Effective Communication Structure
Effective communication structure ensures that every person in the organization is always
informed of all that he or she needs to know. Also, it makes sure that all the burning issues are
communicated and sorted out at the appropriate time. Good communication structure has defined
communication channels, and every worker knows who to go to when they need to talk about
any issue. This makes it easy to solve any issues coming up from all the quarters. Finally, good
communication results to motivation and willingness to perform the duties because the
leadership of the organization is always in the know of any pressing issue and works it out.
If implemented fully, these recommendations will help the Latino Engineering Company to
recover from the recess and go to even greater heights. These recommendations look forward to
establishing a customer-oriented production and working company. If the company works with
the customer in mind, all the production aspects will be tuned to produce the best in the market,
and this is a guaranteed success.
Continuous Improvement (CI) Plan
Finally, to even reclaim the lost grounds and improve further, the company needs to establish
an ongoing improvement plan. The plan should outline the main activities that every individual
and departments should carry out to achieve the projected objectives. This plan should look at
the following highlighted aspects.
(a) Quality Management. The company should make sure that all the departments are
functioning correctly. Also, the management should work to ensure that all the units are

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adequately provided with the required resources, including adequate human resource. This
should go on as long as possible, and it should not stop after regaining stability.
(b) Excellent employee management. Workers are important for the functioning of an
organization. So at no time should the Latino Engineering Company let the human resource
be unsatisfied and demotivated. Proper remuneration, job appraisals, and promotions are
essential aspects in ensuring employee satisfaction and motivation and encourages more
effort input because someone is looking and appreciating.
(c) Encourage and communicating culture. Communication is as important as the human
resource. Any issue needs to be addressed and if there is no way to do this it keeps on
growing and finally comes out as a big uncontrollable problem. So, a good communication
system will help avoid some situations that can rock the company in future (Limwichitr,
Broady-Preston, and Ellis, 2015. P.480).
Conclusion
It is important to note that companies find themselves in similar problems but through well-
structured approaches, they manage to come back even stronger. So the Latino Engineering
company should follow the recommended approaches to recollect itself and become the once
flying company in the engineering equipment manufacturing. Most important is to bear in mind
that these approaches will not yield results overnight. It will take time, and if followed to the
latter for six months the company will be entirely different from what it is now. Further, if they
observe the continuous improvement plan, the company will continue to give quality products
and service for a long time.

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