Tombow Pencil Company, one of the two major Japanese manufacturers of pencils, uses subcontractor network to respond to changing market conditions. Currently, the system faces a new challenge as Tombow moves to address volatility in the advertising business pencil expanding market demands new products, short delivery times, and in large quantities. To overcome the growing shortage of materials and inventory problems, Yohei Ogawa, the new company's president and grandson of the founder, should evaluate the performance of subcontractors on the basis of the production system Tombow and formulate a plan of action. Introduces students to the sub-contractor on the basis of the production system, the system prevalent in certain parts of the world outside the United States, and gives them the opportunity to analyze its effectiveness for simple products with which they are well known. Analysis poses profound questions about how to manage them more efficiently and its future potential as an alternative to the vertically integrated operations. "Hide
by Kazuhiro Mishina Source: Harvard Business School 19 pages. Publication Date: September 17, 1991. Prod. #: 692011-PDF-ENG
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