The major issues facing Tom and Mason Miller regarding the Custom Molds enterprise weighed heavily on the changing trends and factors in the market. The sales mix was changing due to changes in the electronics industry. During that same period, Custom Molds was also facing delivery problems. Their customers were unhappy with the parts orders, which were taking four to five weeks to be processed. They usually take three weeks but the delays were disrupting the production schedules. Custom Molds was also facing challenges with bottlenecks appearing in the production environment.
They were very unpredictable and the Millers were having a hard time managing them (KRAJEWSKI, RITZMAN, & MALHOTRA, 2013).
What are the competitive priorities for Customs Molds’s processes and changing nature of the industry
Custom Molds’s competitive priority was their customized parts, which were delivered in a specific amount of time to their client. The client was able to receive their supplies tailored to their company and delivered to them in a timely manner.
Unfortunately, the market trends in the electronics industry were changing. Manufacturers were developing strategic partnerships with parts suppliers in order to receive timely delivery and high quality parts that was cost efficient. This is negatively impacting Custom Molds. They are recommended to change some of their business processes to get ahead of the competitor since they are also having challenges in the production department. This can affect their competitive priorities in the long run (KRAJEWSKI, RITZMAN, & MALHOTRA, 2013).
What alternatives might the Millers pursue? What key factors should they consider as they evaluate these alternatives
The Millers must look into changing their production process as a whole.
This business process is producing delay in delivering which is causing unsatisfied customers who are moving to other companies to do business with. They can alter this process by focusing on specific aspects such as the parts and shutting down the Molds Production. This can help in saving costs and expenses. They can also take another route by opening up another production plant to help with the demand of work. This can lead to more efficiency and timely delivery of products to clients. The key factors the Millers should focus on is their customer relationships. Their business highly depends on the demand of their clients. The factors they must focus on should be reliability, efficiency, time and cost. It is crucial they follow these key factors to keep strong customer relations (KRAJEWSKI, RITZMAN, & MALHOTRA, 2013).