The Business Plan

* Outline of Business

Tatham Cutlery is a plastic moulding and ultra sonic welding company that was first establish in 1919 and is 100% Australian owned and operated. The company started, originally manufacturing, in metal, but most of those products have become archaic and replaced, such as ‘the Dexter Motor car Indicator’. In 1923 Tatham produced the first of its own products, the Bean slicer, under the trademark Krisk(c) and with its development the company moved into plastic injection moulding, ultra sonic welding and shop ready packaging.

* Location

Tatham is currently operating from 24-26 Mary Parade, Rydalmere 2116 NSW Australia but has previously been at the locations of Lee St, Sydney (adjacent to Central station) and Stuart St, Padstow.

* Ownership and Executive

The Company currently has three major shareholders, Geoffrey D. Rowell, Marion P. Rowell and Mark D. Rowell who is also General Manager; there is one other person in the executive, Managing Director, Joanne L. Rowell.

* The products and business

Tatham has three products of their own that they fully manufacture and package themselves:

* The Krisk(r) Bean Slicer

* The Krisk(r) Julienne Slicer

* The Krisk(r) Knife and Scissor Sharpener

The Krisk(r) product line are a little more then a third of Tatham’s business

The next third of the Company’s business is with the well known pharmaceutical company, ‘Tyco Healthcare’, packaging products such as earplugs, breast pumps, tablet cutters and dispensers etc.

And finally the last third of business is with the various other products that Tatham manufactures such as battery cases for walky-talkies, used by police officers, vacuum and pressure forming, tool making and exporting.

Operations

* Products

– The Krisk(r) Bean Slicer:

The Krisk(r) Bean Slicer removes strings and ends of each bean with ease, made by injection moulding ultra sonic welding and product assembly.

The Krisk(r) Julienne Slicer slices any long vegetable into long, thin, bite size pieces and is made in a similar way to the Bean Slicer. Injection moulded plastic, blade assembling and then welded to secure.

The Krisk(r) Knife and Scissor Sharpener is used by running the knife or scissor blade between the two prongs and repeat. This instrument is made by only injection molding.

Firstly using grounded plastic the plastic is injected into a mould using heat. Depending on each product it is assembled accordingly and then put in a blister (plastic container) and heat sealed to a backing display card.

* Future plans for Tatham Cutlery

Tatham’s Manager Director, Joanne L. Rowell in the future hopes to publish a Krisk(r) Cookbook for the Bean and Julienne Slicer also develop the Julienne Slicer to work more efficiently and have a nicer looking utensil. On the production side of things the executive would like to robotisize the manufacturing process.

* Skills analysis

To address operational issues directly Tatham’s executive consults staff regularly with meetings i.e. OH&S meetings. This allows staff involvement in all processes required to manufacture any of the products required.

Marketing Plan

* Existing Competition

Tatham Cutlery has major competition with third world countries, which have major buying power when it comes to purchasing the materials needed for product assembling. One example of their competition is the making of the green exit signs that are placed above doors; these used to be moulded by Tatham but now are moulded in China.

Other competition include other plastic companies in the area which might take work away from Tatham and sheltered operation factories that would pay their workers much less.

* Sales forecast

On an average Tatham Cutlery does $1 million worth of business per year but of cause this is not the profit margin. Most income goes back into the business to produce more business for itself.

* Marketing strategies

Not very many marketing strategies are needed for Tatham Cutlery because most new business opportunities are expressed by word of mouth. Although every year Tatham takes out a small advertisement in the yellow pages to allow anyone access to the company’s resources and recently a Joanne L. Rowell put together a website for the company to advertise and put themselves further out into the market.

Finance Plan

* Financial requirements

Tatham runs on all their own financial support and doesn’t rely on any financial institutes for aid.

* Record keeping

All record keeping is done methodically and in chronological order by MYOB software. All files are saved according to the date stock code and type of file it is.

For example: 6244 836 INV the stock code is 6244, water proof ear plugs, the date is the 8th of March 2006 and the type of file is an invoice.

These methods allow fast filing methods and keep all files in order and easily accessible.

* Finance control

Regular revalidation of pricing structure of all products allows the finance situation to be under constant surveillance as inflation and deflation occurs. Staffing levels and requirements are also re-evaluated on a regular basis to cut down on labour cost if it is not needed.

* Profit and Loss 1st July – 31st July 2006

Income

Total

Sales

KRISK

Mould & Weld

Export

Product Packaging

Total Sales

Freight Income

Total Income

Other Income

Interest

Total Other Income

$5,432.21

$41,942.78

$13,029.12

$24,833.58

$85,237.69

$770.65

$86,008.34

$43.91

$43.91

Cost of sales

Total

Cost of sales

Plastic

Packaging

Purchases

Freight

Total Cost of sales

Gross Profits

Operating Expenses

Total Employment Expenses

Total expenses

Other Expenses

Bank Charges

Total Other Expenses

Net Profit/ Loss

$1,393.53

$4,251.18

$3,447.01

$434.21

$9,525.98

$76,482.36

$47,180.89

$80,988.93

$21.62

$21.62

($4,484.28)

Employment Relations

* Human resource cycle

At Tatham it is their policy to make sure that each member of staff feel appreciated and valued. They do this by having regular consultations with staff to discuss any issues involving the general well being of staff while at work. This includes things such as any help required for completing jobs, staff room items and even the occasional assistance with personal requirements, such as finding a new car or if the person becomes redundant Tatham Cutlery will make an effort to make it as pleasant as possible i.e. finding a new job or writing a resume.

* Training and development of policies and practices

Tatham holds continual in-house training that complies with the industry standards and legal requirements. All currently employed staff gain training from the General Manager, Mark D. Rowell, himself or one of the other staff members. This allows the staff to interact and makes a friendly environment to work in.

* Maintenance of human resources

At Tatham Cutlery there is a low turn over rate, meaning the staff mainly remains the same. They do this by keeping good, professional, working relationships with all staff members.

* Separation of human resources

There is not much separation between the staff as they are working a production line and are working as a team to produce a greater whole. The only separation is the staff and the management and even that is minimal because the General Manager, Mark D. Rowell is with the staff most of the time while they are on shift. But the Manager Director, Joanne L. Rowell works the office most of the time, so therefore she is a separated human resource.

Appendix

* Reasons for selecting business

The business was selected because it was easy and less time consuming since one of the executives lives in the same house as me. The business Tatham Cutlery would also be a easy chose for me since I have previously worked in that establishment and know the what the operations are like.

* Map

* Letter of approval

To Whom It May Concern:

I give permission for my daughter Laeeqa Jade Rowell, to use my business for her business studies assignment and allow her all access to the information needed while on this endeavour.