Learning Task No.

4
Consider this case study.

Case 1: Motorbus Company

Engineer Gerald Estrella has just received his appointment papers from his new immediate
superior, the Vice President for Operations that he has been promoted from Assistant
Manager to Manager of the Maintenance Department. After congratulating him, his boss gave
him a verbal directive that he should put some order in his department and make it work in the
most effective and efficient manner possible.
Engineer Estrella has just passed the board examination for Mechanical Engineering when he
joined Motorbus Company in 2013. By June 2015, he informed his former classmates at the
Visayas State University that he was promoted as Assistant Manager for Maintenance.
The former manager of the department, Engineer Rodulfo Gonzales, joined the company since
it started operations in 2009. A total of ten buses began plying the Maasin-Ormoc route. A
maintenance unit was put up at the Maasin terminal. Another unit serves the Ormoc terminal.
Each unit has a full-time mechanic and one assistant.
When a company bus comes in for repair, the mechanic diagnoses the various automotive
systems in the bus and later produces a list of parts needing replacement. The mechanic
sends the list to Engineer Gonzales, who, in turn, forwards the same to the company
accountant for approval of the purchase request. Oftentimes, Engineer Gonzales performs the
actual purchasing himself. Later, he sends the purchased items to the mechanic who made
the request.
The maintenance units were operating normally until 40 new buses were procured by the
company in 2013. Since then, every maintenance personnel was so busy that they threatened
to quit their jobs unless additional mechanics and assistants were recruited. By the end of
2013, each unit has a personnel complement of 5 mechanics and 5 assistants.
Even with current developments, the old method of purchasing was not improved. Purchase
requests started to pile up. Mechanics and drivers began complaining to the VP for Operations
about delays in the delivery of needed parts.
The VP for Operations immediately sent a note to Engineer Gonzales ordering that the
problem should be resolved immediately. Engineer Gonzales was hard pressed and he could
not offer an immediate solution. The next day, Engineer Gonzales informed the VP for
Operations that he is requesting for the approval of his application for retirement as he is
already 62 years old.
The VP forwarded the request to the President with an endorsement justifying the request. On
the same day, the request for retirement was approved. The next day, Engineer Estrella
received his appointment papers promoting him to Manager.
One of the first things Engineer Estrella did was to inspect the storage room for parts. He
found out that the room was full of an uneven supply of parts. Some parts were of excessive
quantities, while some important ones were inadequately stocked. A corner of the room
contains a big volume of obsolete parts.
At the end of the day, Engineer Estrella was informed by the VP that the company will be
fielding an additional 50 new buses within 30 days. This will mean that by next month, about
100 buses will be servicing the various routes assigned to Motorbus Company.
Engineer Estrella is now mulling over how he will make the operations of his department as
efficient and effective as possible.
Use the suggested format below for your output.
Paper size: A4
Margin: Normal
Font Style: Arial
Font Size: 11

Content of the Activity:

• Heading:

ESci 144 – Engineering Management (Top Center)

Learning Task No. 4 (Center)
Decision-making (Center)
Members:
Family Name, First Name, MI (Left)
Class Schedule: _____________ (Left)

Leave 3 single spaces here

• Body of the Assignment:

I. Point of View
II. Time Context
III. Statement of the Problem
IV. Statement of the Objectives
V. Areas of Consideration
VI. Assumptions
VII. Alternative Course/s of Action
VIII. Conclusion/Recommendation
IX. Plan of Action

Instructions on how to submit student output

For online mode of submission:
Send your output (PDF format) to the Learning Task No. 4 to my email address
ronard.pana@vsu.edu.ph using the subject “ESci 144 – Learning Task No.4”. Name your file
as “lastnameLT4.pdf”, e.g., “delacruzLT4.pdf”. In this case, use the last name of one of your
members.

For offline mode of submission:

Send your output through courier to the address provided in the course policies.
Kindly see Course Abridged OBTL Syllabus for the schedule of submission.

References and Additional Resources

MEDINA R. G. Engineering Management. Rex Book Store, Inc. Manila, Philippines.