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  • May 1993 (Revised January 1994)
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Cummins Engine Company, The: Starting Up "B" Crankshaft Manufacturing at the San Luis Potosi Plant

By: Robert H. Hayes
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:16
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Abstract

Cummins Engine Co. is starting up production of diesel engine crankshafts in its plant in central Mexico. This operation requires much tighter tolerances than any product previously produced at the plant, and the young (recent MBA) manager who is in charge of the start-up is faced with several difficult decisions regarding the equipment to be used for crankshaft machining in Mexico. On the one hand, some of the equipment used for this purpose in Cummins' U.S. plant is inappropriate in the Mexican context. On the other, he has to operate under severe budgetary and supplier constraints. A subsidiary issue has to do with the long-term strategy for the Mexican plant, which has developed into one of the best in Cummins' worldwide network but risks being fragmented by the many opportunities for adding products that are available to it.

Keywords

Decision Choices and Conditions; Production; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Emerging Markets; Problems and Challenges; Industrial Products Industry; Mexico; Alabama

Citation

Hayes, Robert H. Cummins Engine Company, The: Starting Up "B" Crankshaft Manufacturing at the San Luis Potosi Plant. Harvard Business School Case 693-121, May 1993. (Revised January 1994.)
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About The Author

Robert H. Hayes

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    • December 1998
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    Alden Products, Inc.: European Manufacturing, Teaching Note

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More from the Author
  • Operations, Strategy, and Technology: Pursuing the Competitive Edge By: Robert H. Hayes, Gary P. Pisano, David M. Upton and S. C. Wheelwright
  • Allied Connector Company By: Robert H. Hayes
  • Alden Products, Inc.: European Manufacturing, Teaching Note By: Robert H. Hayes
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