Scenario:EXPERIENTIAL EXERCISE: ASSESSING INEFFICIENCY AT RYAN HOMES
Ryan Homes is a home building company that has been building homes in more than 10 states in the northeastern part of the United States. The company has been in business since 1948 and has built major housing developments in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia.
Your group, the newly established Ryan Homes Efficiency Team, is searching for ways to make your com-pany more efficient. More specifically, you are to focus on making carpenters more efficient workers. In your com-pany, the job of a carpenter is described as follows:
Carpenters are craftsmen who build things. The occupation rewards those who can combine precise detail work with strenuous manual labor. For Ryan, carpenters are involved with erecting and maintaining houses. Carpenters turn blueprints and plans into finished houses. Ryan's carpenters work with supervisors and construction managers on the production of houses containing different materials including fiberglass, drywall, plastic, and wood. Carpenters use saws, tape measures, drills, and sanders in their jobs. The job of a carpenter can entail long hours of physical labor in sometimes unpleasant circumstances. The injury rate among carpenters is above average. Some carpenters work indoors and are involved in maintenance and refin-ishing; others are involved in the creation frame and infrastructure.
Your team is to list five possible ways that carpenters at Ryan homes might be inefficient. In addition, assuming that each of your possible ways is a reality, suggest a cor¬responding action(s) that the company might take to eliminate this inefficiency.