This case study deals with the selection and timing of orders. It showcases a small industrial titanium fabricator that has been suffering from bad deliveries and limited capacity. Ti-Tech must now choose which of the four available customer orders should be chosen. Each order is different in terms of revenues, labor mix as well as follow-up orders. The case represents an updated version of the older Fabtek (A) case study.
Benson P. Shapiro; John T. Gourville; Craig E. Cline
Harvard Business Review (508095-PDF-ENG)
April 25, 2008
Case questions answered:
- Which criteria should be used by Ti-Tech in selecting orders?
- What are the major characteristics of each order relative to the criteria?
- What is the best order?
- What is the best customer?
- What is Ti-Tech’s process of order selection? Can it be improved? How?
- Which pricing behavior should Ti-Tech adopt?
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Ti-Tech (A) Case Answers
This case solution includes an Excel file with calculations.
Which criteria should be used by Ti-Tech in selecting orders?
To define the criteria, which should be applied during the order selection process, one has to evaluate Amy Meredith’s (vice president of Ti-Tech’s marketing department) and Rob Wakefield’s standpoints based on their scope and meaning for Ti-Tech.
Please find the detailed analysis in the Excel file provided with this document (tab “criteria”).
The table shows my reasoning about the given criteria. The scope describes the business drivers affected by this criterion. The meaning refers to the chances or risks related to the criterion, and reasoning describes why I have finally ex- or included the criterion.
Additionally, I have included three additional criteria (1A, 2A, 3A), which are neither stated by Meredith nor Wakefield but which are to be concluded from the case:
Summing up, one can say that Meredith and Wakefield had overlapping standpoints on quite a few issues. Hence a total of 9 criteria could be identified, which will enable Ti-Tech to choose the most promising new orders successfully.
What are the major characteristics of each order relative to the criteria?
When assessing the major characteristics of each possible new order, relative to the aforementioned selection criteria, one can benefit from a weighted criteria decision matrix (as described in Nancy R. Tague’s The Quality Toolbox, Second Edition, ASQ Quality Press, 2004, pages 219–223).
An excerpt of the decision tool is shown below. Please find the full version of the matrix in the Excel file (tab “decision matrix”) and below:
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