This 6 page case study examines a logistics problem with the National Cranberry Cooperative, and discusses whether the coop should authorize expenditures on new equipment in order to improve efficiency. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Name of Research Paper File: D0_MTcranbe.rtf
Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
all the extra berries that were picked had caused problems in terms of delivery to and receipt by the cranberry processing plant. This essay is being written to address those
concerns and to respond to recommendations placed by Hugo Schaefer, vice president of operations at the NCC. Overall, the recommendation is to spend
the money on upgrading equipment and facilities, based on statistics for the 1971 growing season, past precedent and other issues that will be coming up for the cooperative to consider.
This paper will provide support as to why purchasing the equipment is a necessary move. The case study The case in question regards
the difficulties experienced by the National Cranberry Cooperative. In 1970, it was noted that, during the harvest, co-op members in the area were finding that they still had to contribute
overtime costs because trucks and drivers were forced to wait to unload their picked and processed fruit into the receiver plant. Because of the amount of fruit that had been
harvested, the receiving plant simply didnt have enough storage space or equipment to process the berries quickly enough. It has been suggested that by harvest season in 1971, two new
cranberry dryers be purchased at a cost of $25,000 each and that dry berry holdings be converted to store both wet-harvest and dry-harvest berries, at a cost of $5,000 per
bin conversion. The question of whether or not to invest in the new equipment becomes an issue of cost effectiveness. How much fruit
is spoiled or rendered unusable because of the wait in getting it from the harvest to the storage barns? Just as important, how much money is being lost in overtime