IND137 Team Concepts & Problem Solving Scenario Introduction

ACME Manufacturing - I ACME Manufacturing is a growing, competitive manufacturing firm in Virginia It produces small and large runs of specialized electronic and mechanical devices It does not produce the components but custom designed small assemblies Customers often request ACME create either prototypes or replacement parts that are currently out of production

ACME Manufacturing - II As a result of their success, ACME has been approached by several organizations to help set up flexible manufacturing centers One of the requirements is having access to appropriately trained and educated personnel

Meet Bill, Bob and Frank ACME is owned by two brothers, Bill and Bob, and Frank Bill is a Mechanical Engineer, Grad UVA Bob is an Electrical Engineer, Grad VA Tech Frank is a Salesman that the brothers have known for years and operates the business side of the house

Big Picture There is a concern of getting qualified people for the company’s expansion

Bill Bill wants to use the existing work force as the cadre for the expansion. Some of these people have worked for many years and many have worked their way up the company He is also concerned that he will have to pay for training of new people since the skills he is looking for are not easy to find

Bob Bob would also like to use existing people, but is not sure of the cost and whether it is viable He also would like to be able to tailor the training if at all possible

Frank Frank has a head for business which the brothers lack. He tends to focus on the long term, yet understands that ACME cannot get into short term cash problems for the expansion to work He wants to know the options and what each option will cost

Where You Come In Bill, Bob, and Frank have decided to put together a team to explore the various options, including getting input from the current employees They are not sure which options are available, nor do they even know what exactly to ask the employees They have come up with some questions that they would like the team(s) to answer

Some Questions - 1 How long and what would it cost to get their Technologists and Technicians Associate Degrees? How long and what would it cost for a Bachelors Degree in either Mechanical or Electrical Engineering at ODU, VA Tech, or UVA? Should employees be sent full time or part time?

Some Questions - 2 Bill is concerned with the quality of online courses Frank is interested in possibly hosting classes at their facility, so employees could take classes during lunch Bob wants to know who pays for classes if the employee decides not to finish the training

Some Questions - 3 Bob wants to know want to do in case one of the employees cheat Frank wants to know how the classes could be tailored so that the employees take classes that provide the best bang for the buck Bill wants to know if the degree is important or not

The Beginning Bill, Bob, and Frank want you to form a team and using Team Concepts begin answering their questions They expect this will be an iterative process and will probably have more questions in the future They are not exactly sure where this is headed and are open for input from the team

Responsibility Matrix Create a Responsibility Matrix for the ACME situation