B & L Inc. Case Study

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Week 2 Assignment- B&L Inc. The organization being analyzed is B&L Inc., a trailer manufacturer, based in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. B&L Inc. manufactures roughly 40 trailers a year. The company consists of a trailer division, a sandblast and paint division, and a metal fabricating division. B&L Inc. has recently been looking at outsourcing an outrigger bracket (T-128), which is used to secure oversized containers. Presently, the metal fabricating division has been manufacturing the brackets in-house. Brian Wilson, who is the materials manager, is evaluating a proposal by purchasing agent Alison Beals whether to outsource the bracket or not. Alison Beals received quotes from three different suppliers with the lowest…show more content…
If each trailer contains 20 outrigger components, that means 800 outrigger components are manufactured a year at a cost of $120,080. This is compared to $86,560 if Mayes manufactured the components (See Table 1). That is a savings of $33,520 (a savings of 28%). However, the extra lead-time and an increase in inventory carrying costs would negate some of the…show more content…
By looking at the cost comparisons it seems evident that there is the potential for substantial savings by outsourcing the bracket. The apparent risks are the quoted lead-time of four weeks and the order quantity. The order quantity would need to be carefully calculated to keep inventory costs to a minimum as well as making sure there is the correct amount of safety stock. Alternatives The two main alternatives are to outsource the manufacturing of the outrigger bracket to Mayes Steel Fabricators or to keep B&L Inc. manufacturing the item. Outsourcing the component would lower the company’s expenses but the amount is dependent on the order quantity and inventory costs. As well, if the bracket were outsourced this would possibly free up space around the unused stations at the burn table where the component is currently being manufactured. The other alternative is to keep the bracket production in-house. This option is not as economical as outsourcing but the risk of running out of the item or overstocking the item would be much

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