For this submission you will submit a more detailed and referenced outline building on the paper. The paper must at a minimum have the following sections: a title page, abstract, introduction, body (problem statement, theoretical background/literature review, methodology, findings, and discussion), conclusion, and reference page.
This submission MUST include a completed literature review. In addition, there must be at a minimum two scholarly references listed and utilized to support the additional content and build on the paper.
The submission will be IAW APA standards and have at a minimum 2500-3000 words (10-12 pages). You can continue to refine and add content building the paper.
Tropic Car Wash Logistics Consulting
Team 3: Stephen Price, Joshua Thomas, Nikita Hooks, Ryan Donaldson, Otis Wilson
Florida Institute of Technology
MGT5903: Logistics Capstone Spring 2023
Dr. Essary
Feb 5, 2023
Abstract
Students of Florida Institute of Technology consult with Tropic Car Wash in Yuma, Arizona. A combination of qualitative and quantitative research approaches will be used. Students will consult with Tropic Car War addressing logistics and supply chain challenges that the system is facing.
Operating and running a small business can be very challenging for most individuals. When thinking about opening a small business most individuals may not think about logistical or supply chain issues. Issues with the supply chain and gaining access to a supplier is one along with a lack of a facility to store product or inventory that is waiting to be used (VSL, 2020).
Introduction
I. Tropic Car Wash History
a. Marvin founded Tropic Car Wash. Marvin is Army-retired. The military ordered him and Pamela to transfer to Yuma.
b. They decided Yuma was an excellent spot to retire and establish a company. They were expanding Foothills. Marvin opened a car wash on 32nd and Ave 8E due to construction. Hard water and desiccated bugs remained after cleaning their cars. Marvin researched businesses and found AuTEC could design a vehicle wash package and facilities.
d. AuTEC, a car wash equipment firm founded in 1981 in Statesville, North Carolina, offers marketing, research & development, engineering & drafting, welding & metal fabrication, paint & surface preparation, electrical, assembly, technical service, and chemical mixing, formulating, and packaging. USA-made AuTEC car wash equipment is the finest. Tropic Car Wash partnered with AuTEC because of its global reach and excellent customer service (Friends, 2015).
Problem Statement
Group 3 identified a number of logistics challenges to be solved for Tropic Car Wash after conducting an interview using a questionnaire and anecdotal needs provided by the owner Joey Allison. Maintenance procedures, an analysis of management of inventory and procedures, and capacity management challenges will all be reviewed and have solutions recommended by conducting a number of cost-benefit analyses.
Methodology
I. For the scope of the project, a combination of qualitative and quantitative research approaches will be used. Maintenance procedures, an analysis of management of inventory and procedures, and capacity management challenges will all be reviewed and have solutions recommended by conducting a number of cost-benefit analyses.
II. Students will consult with Tropic Car War addressing logistics and supply chain challenges that the system is facing. Given the challenges anecdotally reported by the owner and the observed design of the business the students will recommend logistics strategies studied throughout their studies and professional experience from Florida Institute of Technology and the Department of Defense work in logistics.
Issues Facing Tropic Car Wash
Maintenance
Tropic car wash manages maintenance with corrective maintenance procedures when problems arise with the equipment. When this happens, the business has to stop operations and rush out and fix the failure in equipment. Having a proper maintenance plan can help limit or reduce the frequency of failures by maintaining components before they reach a state of degradation that halts all operations ( Alvrado, Moreno, Orchard & 2022). A cost benefit analysis will be conducted to analyze if Tropic Car Wash’s current maintenance plan is more feasible or if they need to consider developing preventive maintenance procedures. A preventative maintenance plan could assist Tropic Car Wash to stop operations at a moments’ notice and lose out on potential sales. Without a proper maintenance plan, Tropic car wash could lose out on potential revenue and could lead to higher operating costs.
Inventory Management
Tropic car wash currently staffs one full-time employee. Their inventories are not conducted in a well-thought out manner. Some of the most common problems with managing inventory include, but are not limited to, keeping track of lots, making sure manufacturing processes and inventory levels are in sync, coordinating from a distance, doing regular inventory checks, and not having enough technology, strategies, or regular audits. Introducing new inventory controls may have a significant impact on both the efficiency and responsiveness of the supply chain. A company’s inventory process doesn’t have to be complicated, but for it to be efficient and maximize financial flexibility, it does have to be done well (Chopra, 2016, pp. 50–51).
All of the inventory for Tropic Car Wash is stored in an intermodal container that is stored a few feet from the physical car wash. On the lot, there is additional space for additional storage solutions. Further, the repair materials, chemicals, and other materials are stored in a manner that does not easily lend itself to ease of accurate records for on hand inventory. Inventories in the military have procedures and policies written for the tracking and reordering of missing, broken, or incomplete parts. The need for policies that the employee is to follow and the ownership should expect would greatly aid in the better upkeep of inventory practices.
Capacity Management
Tropic car wash can use two settings to either prioritize quickly washing cars, which takes approximately three minutes per car wash and completing 18 car washes per hour on the slow setting. The car wash can complete more car washes on the fast setting. The challenge is that customer satisfaction must be balanced between customer wait time and quality of service. In the evening there can be seen approximately seven cars waiting in line to be washed. Some cars can be observed turning around and leaving, but the belief is that the lost sales are not completely lost because there is no other car wash within a three mile radius. More than likely the cars come back at another hour to be serviced by the car wash. Completing a cost-benefit analysis of the different wash speeds and conducting a survey of customers would likely provide quantitative and qualitative solutions that the ownership can use to plan their logistics systems.
Literature Review
“Logistics consulting can help businesses in a number of ways: increasing the accuracy of planning the need for commodity materials, in the reduction of costs on commodity-material values with ensuring the required level of quality, in raising the level of logistics service to an economically feasible maximum, in accelerating the production of finished products, in raising the level of relevance and timeliness of awareness, and in increasing the level of customer satisfaction, which will necessarily affect the improvement of the company’s financial result as a whole” (Remyha pp. 15). The main objective of logistics consulting is in ensuring the sustainable development of processes and functions that support not only profitability but long-term success that is possible due to customer satisfaction, no company can exist without their customers.
The recommendations that are offered to the business owner are accepted or denied given their prerogative. Some recommendations that have been offered by other logistics consulting teams are training solutions for the employees and staff, upgrades or the utilization of information management hardware/software that improves collection of data and allows management to make decisions on a quantitative basis rather than delphi and qualitative heuristics, demand forecasting, outsourcing or insourcing core functions, better sourcing solutions, information sharing, more competitive supply chain network planning, etc (Simchi-Levi, D, pp. 143).
A car wash business is a process that requires a lot of water, water softening materials, and soaps. In as much as it is a worthwhile endeavor, we have to find the right chemicals to use for our cars and we all know the more we wash our cars the more water and chemicals will be used.
Tropic Car Wash’s value proposition which was presented with this new innovation was ease of use, less water consumption and quick mobile service which could be pay per use basis. Proper bug removal requires a combination of good chemical and mechanical action to pretreat and clean vehicle surfaces the right way. A car wash requires 15 minutes from start to finish, which is a value addition for people who need quick service. The use of foam prevents any harm to the body of the vehicles and helped the cleaners to dry the vehicle with towels which kept the vehicle shiny and maintain its original look. This can be used as a pay per use model where customers can hire the vehicle for a certain number of washes, and they do not need to worry about vehicle maintenance or cleaning the equipment reducing their maintenance and real estate costs.
As a consulting company the emphasis for recommending changes to the supply chain of the organization cannot only focus on reducing the cost of either inventories, storage, transportation, or maintenance, but must focus on increasing the profitability of the enterprise as a single organism (Remyha, Y. S, pp.14). Given that this car wash business is not highly complex most changes in those areas should affect profitability throughout the entire system. There are a lot of questions about logistics consulting. To that point as the research team utilized a helpful questionnaire developed by
(Saleheen, Habib, & Hanafi, 2018)
to interview the business owner and help him identify areas for improvement within his car wash supply chain system.
Deliverables
References
Chopra, S. (2016).
Supply chain management : Strategy, planning and operation (7th ed., pp. 50–51). Pearson Education.
Friends, I. (2015, February 24).
About Us – Tropic Car Wash. Tropic Car Wash.
VSL (2020). Logistical Challenges that Small and Medium Sized Businesses are Facing in 2020. Retrieved on 4 FEB 2023.
Logistical Challenges that Small and Medium sized Businesses are Facing in 2020 – VSL Logistics Ltd (vslworldwide.com)
(Saleheen, Habib, & Hanafi, 2018)
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/324796604_Supply_Chain_Performance_Measurement_Survey_2018_Managing_Customer/link/5ae2d0d10f7e9b28594a3c4e/download
Pandiyan, Veera & Ibrahim, Abdul & Govindaraju, Chandran. (2011). Supply chain management practices in the electronics industry in Malaysia. Benchmarking: An International Journal. 18. 834-855. 10.1108/14635771111180725.
Alvarado, D., Rodrigo, M., Orchard, M., Kirschen, D. (2022). Cost-benefit Analysis of Maintenance Plans: Case Study of the Power System of a Large Industrial Facility:
Faller, M. B., & Greason, N. (2023, January 27).
The future of water in Arizona. ASU News. Retrieved February 17, 2023, from https://news.asu.edu/20221115-arizona-impact-future-water-arizona
Simchi-Levi, D., Kaminsky, P., & Simchi-Levi, E. 2008. Designing and Managing the Supply Chain: Concepts, Strategies, and Case Studies. McGraw-Hill Irwin
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