Publications
Publications
- December 1993 (Revised March 1995)
- HBS Case Collection
Medical Products Co.
By: Robert H. Hayes
Abstract
In early 1990, the company is contemplating changes in its European plant network for producing hypodermic products, including the total production capacity to be provided, the number and location of plants over which to spread this capacity, and which products should be allocated to various plants (and countries). After years of having too much capacity, the latest sales forecasts indicate that it will soon be running out of capacity, and the company has to decide how to react. In analyzing this decision, students are invited to review the decision-making processes that the company has followed in the past--and that have resulted in too much capacity and high manufacturing costs--and asked to propose changes in the way it approaches such decisions in the future.
Keywords
Factories, Labs, and Plants; Decision Making; Forecasting and Prediction; Cost; Production; Performance Capacity; Performance Effectiveness; Strategic Planning; Competitive Strategy; Health Industry; Medical Devices and Supplies Industry; Europe
Citation
Hayes, Robert H. "Medical Products Co." Harvard Business School Case 694-065, December 1993. (Revised March 1995.)