Mueller-Lehmkuhl GmbH
Mueller-Lehmkuhl (ML) was a German producer of apparel fasteners. Apparel fasteners are used in the garment industry. ML had been producing apparel fasteners since the late 19th century. In recent years, they had achieved technological superiority which resulted in high margins for their products. ML valued reliability of their products and fast service to their customers. However, competition and domestic market saturation in the 1980s led ML to a crossroads in which they needed to decide how they would maintain domestic market leadership and while expanding to new markets.
Mueller-Lehmkuhl’s Apparel Fastener Products
ML utilized an integrated approach in the apparel fastener industry
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However, they still required the operator to position the material manually. Automatic machines were designed for use by high-volume producers. ML believed that the increased speed would offset the higher costs for the machines. Two of the automatic machines were pneumatically powered. The primary difference between them was that one machine positioned only one part of the fastener while the other machine positioned both parts of the fastener which increased its speed. The third automatic machine was electrically powered which made it significantly faster than the other two automatic machines, and it could attach multiple fasteners to the same garment.
ML had developed a policy of selling manual machines and renting automatic machines. Manual machines did not cost much, did not require service, and could be modified to attach different fasteners inexpensively. Automatic machines were rented on an annual basis because they would have been more expensive to sell and it provided annual income to ML. However, about 700 of the rented machines were returned each year. During the time that machines were in inventory, ML would modify the machines to attach different fasteners. This was expensive with an average cost per modification of $2000. If all 700 machines were modified during a given year this would have cost $1.4 million per year. It was also industry practice to provide preventative maintenance and
Owens & Minor is a distributor of surgical and medical supplies to hospitals and other health care facilities. Due to changing demand from customers, the company is facing increased operating costs, which has resulted in lower profit margins and even losses. In 1993, O&M recorded an $18 million profit, which was reduced to a loss of $11 million in 1995. The entire industry is experiencing similar difficulties. In an effort to resume profitability, O&M is evaluating alternatives to “cost-plus pricing”. Cost-plus pricing does not reflect the true cost of the services provided by O&M. Customers are demanding more of O&M while
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Drilled and tapped based were forwarded to assembly by forklift truck, in wire-bound pallets holding bout 400 bases. This requires five forklift trips to move on "packet-release" quantity to assembly. (See question 1)
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Learned the manufacturing processes for apparel and home textile products beginning with product development, such as fabrics, through cutting, sewing, and finishing operations.
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Nonwovens showed up in the 1940s, and were later created with diverse progress in different nations. Nonwovens innovation was further enhanced and grew, especially concerning bonded nonwovens taking into account important compound fibers and engineered bonding techniques encouraging production of better and more helpful items for specialized use, apparel and family utilization. Nonwovens have an extensive variety of utilizations from furniture to the geo- and chemotextiles. Nonwoven fabric is a kind of fabric which can be created by different procedures other than weaving and knitting. Durable applications business is the biggest application region for nonwoven materials and items followed by expendable applications market. Durable applications incorporate home
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apparel m akers. O ne s uch f irm i s H olly F ashions ( HF), l ocated i n C herry F lill,