AC Gilbert – Assignment 2

Case Study

Procedure

The key systems that were used by AC Gilbert were the Design system, planning system, purchasing system, manufacturing system and distribution system which could be split into 3 other systems. All these systems were important for AC Gilbert to make the best quality toys possible. A team was assigned to each system to make sure that each part of the process was done carefully.

Supply chain

Operational Systems

Design system

Engineering

Sales

Accounting

Management

Marketing

Manufacturing

Product Distribution

The major measurement to evaluate the effectiveness of the supply chain is the quality of the products. The main aim of the supply chain is to create the best quality products at the cheapest price possible. therefore the cost of the supply chain is another measurement of the effectiveness of the supply chain. Use of technology was another measurement.

The major result areas to evaluate the effectiveness of the supply chain are the quality of the products. The main aim of the supply chain is to create the best quality products at the cheapest price possible. Therefore the cost of the supply chain is another measurement of the effectiveness of the supply chain. Use of technology was another measurement.

The main KPI was the amount of profit achieved every year. This was a clear indicator of the success of the business. Other KPIs were factors like the number of sales, market share and number of designs. Customer reputation is quite hard to measure but it has great impact on the success and performance.

The performance reviews of the AC Gilbert toys were very positive before 1950s. The reviews said that the products of AC Gilbert were high quality and the best of the industry, this made the company on of the biggest in the world. After 1950s the AC Gilbert failed to catch on to the new trends of fashion and dolls. The quality also got worse and the all the accessories were not even provided for the customers.

The service level agreement was made to make sure that the products were high quality and worth the money spent. Customers were unhappy with the quality and service that they were getting and this gave AC Gilbert a very negative image to the customers.

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3)

The quality of the products were very high from 1909-1960. The supply chain was quite cheap as well meaning that the supply chain was running well and effectively. Once Jack Wrather took over AC Gilbert, the company’s supply chain was soon damaged. The cost of the toys dropped due to Wrather wanting to get more sales. This however made the quality of the products much lower to compensate for the product price. This damaged the supply chain a lot.

a. The quality of the products were very high from 1909-1960.

b. Sales were fluctuating every year meaning that there weren’t any major changes in sales.

c. The profit of the business was increasing is fluctuating patterns as well. The

d. The supply chain was quite cheap as well meaning that the supply chain was running well and effectively. Once Jack Wrather took over AC Gilbert, the company’s supply chain was soon damaged. The cost of the toys dropped due to Wrather wanting to get more sales. This however made the quality of the products much lower to compensate for the product price. This damaged the supply chain a lot.

e. The growth of the business was at its highest before the 1960s. AC Gilbert grew the business into brand that was one of the best in the world. After AC Gilbert senior died, the company went downhill in growth.

4)

a. Market Share – the market share of AC Gilbert was dropping and the company should have realised sooner. The market share dropping was mainly to do with the changing trends in toys.

b. Reputation – the reputation was quite high however was dropping dramatically. The reputation dropped as more products were being released into the market that were cheaper, much more trendy and exciting and had more features.

c. Stability – The company was quite stable however a change in trends made the company lose a lot of sales.

d. Profit – The profits were at an all time low during the 1950s and this made the company unable to improve.

e. Sales – The sales of the company began to drop in the 1950s. AC Gilbert should have identified to reasons for the drop which would have allowed them to react to the trends faster.

f. Ability to adapt to change – AC Gilbert was extremely slow when reacting to the changes. The company had may reasons to fail in this aspect for example being unaware and also thought they could survive with their strong brand.

g. Customer satisfaction standards – the customers were not satisfied with the level of quality and lack of innovation and that was a very large reason why the company lost a lot of customers.

h. Innovation – Old traditional products were going out of style and for boys the new toy trends were fast sports cars and action figures such as batman and superman. For girls, the new trends were Barbie dolls that had many accessories. Girls would like to dress the older girls up in fashion cloths and accessories. Quality was not as important as price and style…

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