Pensonlop Manufacturing SDN. BHD.

Company Background
Pensonlop was a joint venture between a world-renowned British
sporting equipment firm and a large Malaysian rubber plantation and rubber
products outfit. The company had four out-of-town factories and the head
quarter was based in Kuala Lumpur. One of the four factories was the Golf
ball factory which was located in Seremban. Mr. Johnson Tan was the group
personnel manager while Mr. Frankie Zakaria was the Plant manager in the
golf ball factories. Mr. Zakaria was assisted by three employees reporting to
him; Engineering Supervisor Mr. Michael, Office supervisor and production
supervisor Mr. Ahmed. Mr. Ahmed had three supervisors reporting to him.

factory manager "Mr

Zakaria"

Secretary
"Min-Ah"

Engineering
supervisor

Office supervisor

Production
Supervisor"Ahme
d"

The production Output and the new order:

On July 2003 the factory received a confirmed letter of Credit for
40,000 dozens of golf balls from a Japanese letter that would expire on 16 th

January 2004. The letter had a clause that stated in case of failure to deliver,
Pensonlop would lose the order plus a $25,000 penalty. To meet the deadline
of the order, 22 new workers will be hired and will start on 1 st September in
the factory. 21 one of them will be in the nights shift and one will be
replacing the newly promoted to be the afternoon shift supervisor, Mr.
Kallahan. Based on a three shifts, six-day workweek, the factory capacity was
24,000 Dozens per month till the first quarter of 2004.
The problem with factory output problem statement
Mr. Zakaria factory manager was worried over the factory output as he
noticed the drop in production despite the fact that the factory moved from 2
shifts to a three shifts work schedule. In addition, Mr Zakaria was worried
because of the worsening of industrial relations in the factory which results in
increasing number of complaints from the Union Federation
Break down of output by shift crew in dozens:
FEB

MAR

APR

Morning

7,20

7,50

7,60

Shift
Afternoon

0
7,30

0
7,70

0
7,70

shift
Night shift

0
-

0
-

0
-

MAY

JUN

JUL

AUG

SEP

SEP

(1-

(1630)

2,750

7,500

7,30

7,60

7,50

15)
3,00

7,500

0
7,40

0
7,90

0
7,70

0
3,00

2,750

0
-

0
-

0
-

0
2,00

3,000

0
After discussing the issue with Mr. Tan, Mr. Zakaria was still dazzled by the
cause of the raise of all these issues.
Mr. Ahmed had three direct reporting supervisors:

Production
Supervisor"Ahmed"

Morning Shift Foreman1

(A. Baba)
21 workers

Afternoon Shift Foreman2

(G.Kallahan)
21 workeres

Night Shift Foreman3

(M. Shariff)
21 workers

SWOT ANALYSIS

STRENGTHS
1. The experience Pensonlop have is good, the have the stability and the
experienced workers to insure the continuity of the work while
maintaining the quality.
2. The good reputation and good situation in business as it has orders
from japan which reflects the good reputation.
3. The good geographical location and the available natural resources as
Malaysia is one of the biggest producers of Rubber which help the
country in attracting customer from East Asia and middle-east.
4. The simple structure of the company and small number of employees
which makes it easier to communicate and share experience among
them.
WEAKNESSES
1. The fast transition from 42 workers in production line to 63 which
means increment of one third in working power which might be a
destabilizer for the company.
2. Lack of training program as the new workers joined directly to work
and learn via hands on process which might cause a lot of issues.

3. Absence of incentive program that can stimulate the employees

working in different shifts to compete and achieve higher production
rate.
OPPORTUNITIES
1. The growing demand for Golf balls as the number of consumers
increase as result of the increment of Golf courses all over the world.
2. The availability of work force and technology.
3. The ability of expanding and attracting more customers.

THREATS
1. Losing the good reputation in case failure to deliver the orders on time.
2. The economic downturn that is quite evident in other countries. Such
could thus hurt the possibility of higher profit for the company.
3. Losing the quality of product while trying to meet the deadline of the
order.
4. Worsening the relationship between the employees which will bring
down the company

Possible solutions:
As the factory faces some issues, I will try to suggest steps that help to
correct the situation:

The 21 new workers should be mixed up with the old workers, this will
accelerate the process of learning and insure they maintain the quality

and quantity
As Mr. Shariff is close to the employees, his job scope should be
increased. He can have a flexible working time so he could pay visit to
the factory during the different shift to be closer to the employees.

As the working schedule is different now after introducing the three

shifts. Employees should not stick to one working schedule. The three
groups should be rotating on monthly basis so they can experience
different working time especially the night shift that might not

preferred by some employees.

Supervisors also should rotate and not stick to one group of
employees, that will help the employees get exposed to different

working style and different experience.

The company should come up with incentive program that encourage

the employees to work harder and compete to excellence.

The company also can pay an annual bonus based on productivity of
each employee, this will push the employee to work harder and try to

by proactive.
The management should keep the employees
The management can organize social activities outing for employees
and their families- as this will bring everyone closer and strengthen the

relationship between them.

Mr. Zakaria can held a meeting with the Union Federation leaders to
understand their demands and keep them away from harassing the
company and the employees.