Oceanics Group

Oceanic's Group

1. The areas and activities that should have been investigated are Supply, Expediting, Quality Control and Production. In order for them to get a good idea of how the company functions they should have visited each of these areas. The way the Supply department is run can give insight to some of their overhead costs. Do they stock too much product or not enough? Is their product rotated? By looking at the supplies, they could get an idea of the overall quality of their end result. Additionally, Quality Control is a key to success. What type of process is in place for this to ensure they are receiving the best product? What if one of the companies cuts corners? It is vital to overall end result to see the checks and balances. Another area of concern is in Expediting. Nuclear Vessels states that they could deliver within the six month requirement or shortly thereafter. Is it possible that there is a problem in their expediting?

To get a better understanding of the companies and what goes into their shop overhead, each of these departments should have been visited. A company that has poor Supply, Expediting, Quality Control and Production departments may not be the best one to choose.

2. Nuclear Vessel's cost was a little bit higher than Atomic Products but they had less costing rates. There is concern with Nuclear Vessels meeting the six month timeline. However, Nuclear Vessels president Mr. Winninghoff was personally invested in trying to get the contact. He personally met with the Oceanic's group and was genuinely concerned about taking care of them. The president also had personal knowledge of his employees. He called them by first name. In contrast to Atomic Products, Nuclear Vessels does not have a union and the employees have profit sharing. With Nuclear Vessels being run this way, they employees are more likely to ensure an acceptable product because it affects their wallet personally. On the other hand, Atomic Products has already had several strikes which elude to conflicts with the companies employees.

3. Based on face value of the written proposals, Atomic Products Company appeared to submit the better offer because their price was lower and they could guarantee the six month delivery.

4. Based on the proposal plus information obtained from the case history, Nuclear Vessels is likely to be the better supplier.

5. I would recommend going with Nuclear Vessels Inc. When Mr. Strickland of Atomic Products was asked if he considered his shop to be better equipped than his competitors he responded that it was the managements feeling that it was the best equipped in the United States. I feel as if he should have personal knowledge of where his company stands in comparison to his competitors. He was asked the question and the answer should have been based on what he knows and statistics he