March 2018 Harper T-Shirt Production Status Report Summary The production of the Harper line of t-shirts is proceeding ahead of schedule, and factory efficiency is greatly improved. Our expenditures, however, are now 10% over the anticipated budget for this project. This increase in spending is due to the breakdown of the Mitzumoto machine at Factory Number 11. The cost of repairing the machine could be recovered from increasing production efficiency within the factory. Accomplishments Despite the setback with the broken Mitzumoto machine, the factory’s efficiency this month has been outstanding. This is entirely due to Hourik and Bob, who last month implemented the new training program and daily routine for the factory workers. Their re-design of the production process had tangible effects: Output is now at 200 shirts per day, in contrast to February’s 150 shirts per day. Accordingly, our production is running ahead of schedule. Our initial goal was to produce 4,500 shirts by the end of the month, with 2,250 shirts by March 15th. At the time of writing (March 14th), we have produced 2,700 shirts. This is an impressive output especially considering that we lost considerable working hours due to the machine breakage. Challenges The Mitzumoto machine broke down completely on March 2nd, delaying production by a total of 28 hours and costing $5,000 in repair costs. Susannah handled the unexpected issue very effectively: she quickly contacted a factory repair expert and successfully negotiated a 5% discount on his services due to our prior positive relationship with his company. The unanticipated $5,000 expenditure means that we are currently 10% over our budget for the project. Solutions Because the factory workers have become more efficient under Hourik’s and Bob’s new training program, we are able to produce 25% more shirts per day. We could therefore choose to: 1) Produce more shirts and aim to increase profits through sales in the summer or 2) Send the workers home at 3:00 and save on labour costs. The latter option is less financially risky: we have no guarantee that we will be able to sell 25% more shirts, as we are unsure at this time of customers’ interest levels. Closing the factory earlier each day would be a financially safe way to recover the repair costs. It would, however, result in potential challenges for our employees, and might therefore be risky in terms of employee morale and well-being, as well as public relations. Upcoming April will be a busy month. The most important tasks will include: o Finalizing the new marketing slogans to be released in June o Photoshoot on April 17th at 2:00 in the Penticton Centre. o Meeting with Angelica to discuss staff benefits and education programs o As per our meeting last week, we are likely to give raises to Brad, Jose, Anna, Stewart, and Linda. o Preventatively installing F213 sensors in the other crucial factory machines so we’ll have warning in the future before machines break o Planning logistics for the May fashion show season with Hannah’s team.