Integrated Case Project: System Feedback Loops for National Presto Industries Inc.

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Company profile

National Presto is a company that operates in the appliances industry and does business through three business segments that include housewares and small appliances, defense, and absorbent products (Reuters, 2011). the housewares and small appliances is responsible for manufacturing and marketing household wares and electrical appliances that include deep fryers, canners, coffee makers, electric kettles, pressure cookers, waffle makers, electric heaters and timers. This business segment produces a wide range of product portfolio thus offering customers a diversity of products.

The company has a subsidiary known as AMTEC Corporation that comprises the defense segment. This business segment is responsible for defense products that it sells to the government and its contractors. Some of the products produced in his segment include ammunition, cartridge cases, precision products and initiators and firing devices (Reuters, 2011). The absorbent segment manufactures and sells diapers and incontinence products. The housewares and small appliances segment sells it products directly to retailers while the absorbent segment sells to distributors and other manufactures who produce absorbent products.

National Presto has different business segments and within this segments there are various product units thus it requires the use of feedback loops to ensure that company operations generate desired results. The use of feedback loops includes utilizing output from one cycle to increase or decrease effect in the next cycle. The company is operating in a highly competitive market thus it requires developing procedures for continuous improvement in order to gain competitive advantage. Utilizing feedback loops enables an organization to maintain its business processes aligned with organizational goals (Strand & Soderstrom, N.D).

The two types of feedback loops that we are going to focus on in National Presto include reinforcing loop and balancing loop. A reinforcing loop is an output whose effect is more on similar action thus it either results in increase or decrease. A reinforcing loop occurs when output from one process or cycle results in increase in another cycle. Another type of feedback loop is balancing loop whereby output from one cycle has a decreasing effect on the next stage. Balancing loops are often used when an organization wants to solve a problem by bring two processes together thus they operate optimally.
Feedback loops should not only be used when a problem arises in the business but should be continuous thus an organization can identify changes in the business and develop adequate measures to address the need. There are ...