Major Facts The Morrison Company is a developer and manufacturer of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags for retail and pharmaceutical industries. Established in 2003, the firm focused on emerging technology to enter the markets. As production has started increasing, the company has had to deal with various problems. As the situation is getting worse, Shauna Breen becomes a Director of Operations at the Morrison Company. The principal task for her is to gain insight into the firm’s production process to identify those difficulties that arise on the spot. It is necessary to implement appropriate changes because the demand for RFID tags is going to expand, which will both aggravate the existing problems and bring new ones. Thus, a thorough analysis will help Breen develop a plan to address both current and future issues. Major Problems Even though the company is said to be relatively successful in the demand for its products, it does not mean that there are no severe operations problems. The supply shortage is one of the main issues for the Morrison Company. According to Breen, this shortage results in ineffective production controls and inefficiencies. Furthermore, as any lack cannot be planned, it is challenging for supervisors to specify a task for workers, while the latter cannot perform their assignments correctly and on time. As a result, the firm tends to deal with 10-week delays. The second problem of production inefficiencies is closely connected with the aspect above. Thus, stock-outs usually mean that it is possible to complete some orders only partially. After that, these orders are either left on the factory floor or moved on to the packing area. It means that workers need more time and more separate operations to be performed to complete a single order. In addition to that, the company sometimes faces order returns due to the wrong content. Finally, limited space is another principal problem that Breen should address to increase the company’s performance. As soon as the demand is going to become higher, it is necessary to expand the production process, and it is a difficult task for the Morrison Company. The information above proves that all these problems are interconnected. Supply shortages make it impossible to complete orders on time, while the storage of partially completed orders aggravates the situations with the limited space. Thus, a comprehensive approach is required to address these and other emerging issues. Questions The Production Process At the Morrison Company, the production process consists of six steps. They are (1) receiving, inspection, and inventory, (2) parts picking, (3) inlay fabrication and testing, (4) tag assembly and testing, (5) personalization, (6) testing. Each of these steps implies specific requirements and appropriate responsible persons. Even though some of them are simple processes, like receiving and parts picking, others are complex. For example, inlay fabrication is a precise process; even an extra millimeter results in severe problems. Thus, the two product lines are manufactured according to the same scheme above. The differences in product lines As has been mentioned, the Morrison Company specializes in the production of RFID tags for the retail and ph