With hundreds of competitors in the boat business, Victory Marine must work to differentiate itself from the flock. Victory continuously introduces innovative, high-quality new boats. Its differentiation strategy is reflected in a product line consisting of 22 models. To maintain this stream of innovation, and with so many boats at varying stages of their life cycles, Victory constantly seeks design input from customers, dealers, and consultants. Design ideas rapidly find themselves in the styling studio, where they are placed onto computer-aided design (CAD) machines in order to speed the development process. Existing boat designs are always evolving as the company tries to stay stylish and competitive. Moreover, with life cycles as short as 3 years, a steady stream of new products is required. A few years ago, the new product was the three-passenger $11,000 Rush, a small but powerful boat capable of pulling a water-skier. This was followed with a 20-foot inboard–outboard performance boat with so many innovations that it won prize after prize in the industry. Another new boat is a redesigned 52-foot sports yacht that sleeps six in luxury staterooms. With all these models and innovations, Victory designers and production personnel are under pressure to respond quickly. By getting key suppliers on board early and urging them to participate at the design stage, Victory improves both innovations and quality while speeding product development. Victory finds that the sooner it brings suppliers on board, the faster it can bring new boats to the market. After a development stage that constitutes concept and styling, CAD designs yield product specifications. The first stage in actual production is the creation of the "plug," a foam-based carving used to make the molds for fiberglass hulls and decks. Specifications from the CAD system drive the carving process. Once the plug is carved, the permanent molds for each new hull and deck design are formed. Molds take about 4 to 8 weeks to make and are all handmade. Similar molds are made for many of the other features in Victory boats—from galley and stateroom components to lavatories and steps. Finished molds can be joined and used to make thousands of boats.
QUESTION 1. With reference to JIT and lean production, discuss how the two objective of JIT and lean production are achieved in the given scenario. (5 marks)
