Darby Case Study
I. Problem Description
The Darby Company is re-evaluating its current production and distribution system in order to determine whether it is cost-effective or if a different approach should be considered. The company produces meters that measure the consumption of electrical power. Currently, they produce these meters are two locations – El Paso, Texas and San Bernardino, California. The San Bernardino plant is newer, and therefore the technology is more effective, meaning that their cost per unit is $10.00, while the El Paso plant produces at $10.50. However, the El Paso plant has a higher capacity at 30,000 to San Bernardino’s 20,000. Once manufactured, the meters are sent to one of three distribution centers – Ft. Worth, Texas, Santa Fe, New Mexico and Las Vegas. Due to the proximity of El Paso to Ft. Worth, they are only plant to ship to Ft. Worth. The costs associated with each shipment are described in detail in Appendix 2.2A. From these distribution centers, meters are shipped to one of nine customer zones. The Ft. Worth center services Dallas, San Antonio, Wichita and Kansas City, the Santa Fe center services Denver, Salt Lake City, and Phoenix, and the Las Vegas center ships to Los Angeles and San Diego.
The purpose of this report to compare the current distribution system to a distribution system without the aforementioned limitations on which distribution centers are allowed to service a specific area. In order to determine which system would be better, Darby Company has gathered additional information about the costs of shipping to other areas. For example, the Ft. Worth center could also service Denver, in addition to its current zones, Santa Fe could ship to any customer and Las Vegas could ship to Denver, Salt Lake City, and Phoenix, as well as LA and San Diego. In Appendix 2.2B, specific costs of shipping from distribution centers to customers are detailed.
Darby Company is also considering supplying a number of...
Please login to view the full essay...