Cambridge Cooling Systems: Global Operations Strategy

Description

The chief operating officer (CEO) at Cambridge Cooling Systems (CCS), an industrial cooling system manufacturer, has been asked for his recommendations on CCS’s plants in Canada and Mexico. The company has had a reversal in its strategic plan in the past year and is shifting from a focus on growth to looking for operating efficiencies. CCS’s global plants are running below full capacity, and opportunity exists to reduce costs through the consolidation of operations. The current focus is on Canada and Mexico, and the CEO is exploring moving custom work from Canada to Mexico, where labour and overhead rates are lower. The challenge for the CEO is to consider the implications of such a move. He needs to determine if it is economically preferable to move production to Mexico, and consider the implications of making changes to CCS’s operations strategy.

Learning Objective

This case can be used in courses in operations management, supply chain management, and logistics, in either an undergraduate or an MBA program. The case provides an opportunity to explore the financial and strategic trade-offs of an operations strategy and the challenges of redesigning a supply chain. It gives students the opportunity to ·assess an organization’s operations strategy; ·identify the changes to the supply chain required to support a new operations strategy; anddevelop a viable operations plan that aligns with corporate strategy.

Keywords

Downsizing operations strategy