Description
In May 2022, a consultant with global management consulting firm Kearney was working on a project for a private equity client, OPW Partners Inc. (OPW). The client was looking to acquire a high-end wine producer in Oregon and had engaged Kearney to complete an operational due diligence of its wine-making operations. The consultant and his team would be flying to Oregon to complete a series of site visits and ask questions directly to the wine-making team. These meetings would allow the consultant to confirm his assumptions and would provide him with an opportunity to investigate possible operational constraints and identify potential solutions. Kearney's due diligence report was expected to evaluate potential longer-term operational issues, specifically whether Silverton would have sufficient capacity to support OPW’s expansion plans, which were expected to start in the 2023 harvest season.
Learning Objective
This case can be used in an undergraduate- or graduate-level course in operations management for a class discussion on basic operations principles. Topics addressed in the case include process flow and capacity analysis. After completion of this case, students will be able to do the following:
- Understand how operations concepts can be used to diagnose and analyze business operational performance.
- Assess system capacity and process capability to diagnose potential constraints and develop suitable recommendations.
- Understand the operational problems created by variability in a process and the challenges related to managing variability.