Bridgeton

The domestic auto industry at one time was dominated by the U.S automobile manufactures. The American Component & Fabrication Plant (ACF), was a major supplier of quality OEM components to the Big Three domestic auto manufacturers, and was the original plant for Bridgton Industries (Bost, 1993). The low cost of fuel and continued market growth in this industry proved very lucrative for ACF, resulting in 100% of their production going to the Big Three. This was until the unforeseen began to happen; gas prices began to rise allowing foreign competition (One is not consequence of the other, but both foreign competition entering the US market against the big-three and rising gas prices both contributed to the situation described in the case). to enter the market delivering a substantial blow to the domestic automobile manufacturers and their market share.

The ACF manufactures a variety of different products which is distributed to the Big Three; the product line-up includes fuel tanks, manifolds, front and rear doors, mufflers, and oil pans (Bost, 1993).

English: Harvard Business School Baker Library 200...

English: Harvard Business School

English: Harvard Business School

All of these products are comprised of a variety of different metals and alloys as the base material for their product offerings. They are stamped with a large die or press to form the product desired. Then the product goes through several stages of trade and skilled workers to finish, test, and quality check the end product. Manifolds, the current concern of management, are made of stainless steel and are produced in a highly automated production process. The parts are robotically welded and auto-loaded on the fixtures, so human interaction is limited. They are also superior in strength and provide enhance pollution control vs. older models. (I like the value chain analysis!!!)

The main issue raised by management at the present time, is the...