Touchstone

Touchstone 1: Design a New Product

OVERVIEW: You will conceive of a new product and complete a FAD (features, attributes, and design) template to describe the idea, the requirements for production, ideas for marketing, and the differentiating features that will make your product competitive.

Review the tutorial on for an explanation of the FAD template and an example completed template. Please only submit work entered directly into the template provided.

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A. Assignment

STEP 1: Come up with an idea.

The first step is to either conceive of an idea for a product that is distinct from any other on the market or pick an example from the list below. For the assignment to be successful, we recommend a low-price consumer product like a new kind of packaged food, a utility app, or a home improvement product. You are not graded on the idea itself, so dont worry if yours isnt a world-changing breakthrough! It could be something as simple as a new flavor of chewing gum or a single-function kitchen tool. It may also be a strategic repackaging of an existing product for a blue ocean market. If you are really stuck, we have a few suggestions below; feel free to use any one of them, and feel free to alter one if it inspires an even better idea.

Remember that new products almost always cater to a real or imagined need, so your own idea might come about at a moment of frustration or disappointment. In the tutorials, Gordons idea for an electric bike came when he struggled uphill on a bicycle. Your idea should come at a similar moment, whether it is wishing a task were easier or wishing there was something new and different to liven up your day.

While we hope you come up with an idea of your own, if you are stuck, you may use one of these ideas:

• Instant Smoothie Packs: Pre-portioned packs of freeze-dried fruits and vegetables that you just blend with water or milk for a quick, healthy smoothie.
• Toothpaste Tablets: Solid toothpaste tablets that you chew to create a paste, reducing plastic waste.
• Emergency Phone Charger: A compact power generator that can charge your phone with solar power, a wind-operated turbine, or a hand crank in case of an emergency.
• Meal Planner: An app that learns your tastes, schedule, and habits to recommend meal plans and generate shopping lists.
• USB Projector: A small device that can connect to the USB port in any computer or phone and project the devices screen on a screen or wall, for quick, on-the-fly presentations.

STEP 2: Complete the FAD template.

Download the FAD template if you have not already done so. Open the document and answer each question regarding your product idea. The questions will help you develop and explain your concept. Remember to complete the table of considerations for item #6.

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STEP 3: Submit your Touchstone.

Once you have completed the template and reviewed your work to make sure it is clear, complete, and correct, it is time to submit your document.

Please submit work entered directly into the template provided to ensure all questions are answered and the touchstone is complete.

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B. Requirements

1. All content must be original, created for this assignment, and appropriate for an academic audience.
2. Plagiarism of any kind is strictly prohibited, including the use of AI-generated content.
3. Submission must include your name, the date, and the title of your paper.
4. Use a conventional 12-point font like Times New Roman.
5. Include all of the assignment components in a single .doc or .docx file.

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C. Rubric

	Advanced (100%)	Proficient (85%)	Acceptable (75%)	Needs Improvement (50%)	Non-Performance (0%)
Coherence Student answers all questions clearly, completely, and with internal consistency. (40%)	Touchstone is complete, answering all questions and meeting the length requirement, is internally consistent, and is clearly presented.	Touchstone is mostly complete but may not quite meet the length requirement and/or may be missing complete answers on one question.	Touchstone is not complete and does not meet the length requirement and/or may be missing complete answers on two to three questions.	Touchstone is missing significant information and/or does not meet the length requirement and/or may be missing complete answers on more than three questions.	So little work is evident in the Touchstone, no credit can be given.
Concepts Student demonstrates thorough understanding of product design and development concepts covered in the tutorials. (40%)	Touchstone applies at least three concepts from the tutorials in Unit 1, and answers are realistic and consistent with the tutorial information.	Touchstone applies at least three concepts from the tutorials in Unit 1, but answers may be slightly unrealistic or not consistent with the tutorial information.	Touchstone applies at least two concepts from the tutorials, and/or some answers are unrealistic or not consistent with the tutorial information.	Touchstone only applies one or more concepts from the tutorials, and answers are unrealistic or not consistent with the tutorial information.	So little work is evident in the Touchstone, no credit can be given.
Conventions Student meets conventions for grammar, punctuation, and spelling. (20%)	Includes virtually no minor errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	Includes fewer than five minor errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	Includes five minor errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	Includes more than five minor errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	Includes consistent significant errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and usage.

Touchstone 2: Make Inventory Recommendations

OVERVIEW: In this Touchstone, you will demonstrate your ability to make decisions about inventory based on supply chain factors and demand predictions.

BACKGROUND: Old Towne Root Beer (OTRB) is a private family-owned business in Maine that produces only root beer and one of the few companies making the beverage with the traditional sassafras root. Although the process involves fermentation, the drink is nonalcoholic.

OTRB sells most of their product as 42-gallon barrels throughout New England to various vendors like restaurants and poolside concessions. Wholesale, these cost $450 each. OTRB sells 300800 barrels per month, lagging in winter and peaking in the summer. They sell 6,800 barrels a year in this manner.

To avoid ever delaying an order, they produce slightly more than expected orders and end up with a surplus of inventory at the end of every summer, when their busy season is winding down and they have to make room for new supplies. To remedy this, they sell $3 growlers (half-gallon bottles) on-site in a 2-week annual sale; these sales are extremely popular and serve their purpose in dumping inventory, but OTRB loses money. The sale earns about $50,000 against $70,000 to produce that amount of root beer and another $30,000 in additional labor to run the event.

There is no template for this assignment. Please include all of the assignment components in a single .doc or .docx file. Remember to include your name, date, and the name of the class in the document.

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A. Assignment

STEP 1: Analyze the problem.

You are hired specifically to advise OTRB on inventory issues. At present, there are four primary ingredients in the root beer and the finished product. Each item has unique inventory considerations.

Item	Inventory Issues
Water	OTRB uses filtered tap water and does not need to keep inventory.
Extract	OTRB is one of few companies in North America that still makes root beer with sassafras root, the historic recipe for root beer. The root beer company outsources to another local company, Oronoco Growers, for the sassafras extract. The root is native to Southwest Maine, and the root can be stored for up to 1 year if refrigerated. Oronoco Growers delivers 5,000 gallons of extract per year, and OTRB is their only customer for that product. At $60 a gallon, this is OTRBs biggest annual cost other than labor. It costs $2,400 in labor to order the stock, make room for it, unpack the truck, store it safely, and do quality checks throughout the year. OTRBs refrigeration unit costs an average of $100 a month for energy costs, and another $200 a month must be set aside for repairs and eventual replacement of the unit, adding up to $3,600 a year. OTRB insures the extract as a special rider on their business insurance because of the catastrophic losses to the company if the refrigerator were to break down. This costs $14,000 a year. OTRB uses about 90% of the sassafras extract; they always over-order just in case. They freeze the surplus but have not used it. They are concerned a plant blight or other problem could make the extract cost skyrocket or even make it unavailable, in which case they would use the frozen extract, but also know that root beer will have a noticeable drop in quality if they use frozen extract. For now, 10% of the value, or $30,000, can be described as shrinkage. OTRB has considered making other products, like cream soda or ginger ale, but their commitment to using fresh, natural ingredients and the space needed for the extract prevents them from taking this move. However, with their restaurant partnerships and brand recognition, even a conservative estimate would put the opportunity cost for not branching out at $50,000 a year. hint You should calculate the holding costs using this information. Total the costs like labor, refrigeration, and storage; divide this by the total value of the extract.
Molasses	The root beer is sweetened with molasses. They use 2,6002,700 gallons per year at $10/gallon. It is sold in crates of 24 gallons and can be delivered any time. Molasses is kept at room temperature and has a shelf life of 18 months, but OTRB staff notice crystallization after 3 months. This is still usable but takes extra time to prepare. Although they do use FIFO, they have no real system for ordering; they simply stock up and restock when supplies run low. Holding costs can be calculated at 10%.
Yeast	A small amount of yeast is added to the molasses to cause fermentation; this is enough to cause natural carbonation but not enough to make the beverage alcoholic. Although yeast requires special treatment, it takes up very little space. Better yet, since OTRB can grow yeast from other cultures it already has, it does not require ordering and only requires the small labor costs to grow it in-house.
Finished Product	As detailed above, another inventory issue is the finished root beer, which is overstocked and sold at a loss each year. Although holding costs are typically a modest 15% of the value of stock at any time, this loss of product makes overall holding costs 20%.

STEP 2: Make recommendations.

Your assignment is to write a short paper and make recommendations on the inventory issues for Old Towne Root Beer described above. The structure of the paper will be:

1. Introduction
2. Extract
3. Molasses
4. Finished Goods
5. Conclusion

Your task as consultant is to propose and defend an inventory management system for the root beer company by answering the following questions:

Each description will:

• Summarize the problem you are trying to solve.
• Describe one or more inventory processes OTRB should be using for that item. Each item may use a different method.
• Explain why this inventory method is the best to mitigate the challenges OTRB faces, both within the business itself and the effects of their decisions up and down the supply chain.
• Recommend order amounts that are appropriate to that inventory method.
• Explain how you reached the methods and figures for ordering.

hint

You may need to use formulas like Holding Costs, Economic Order Quantity, or Total Cost Formula; these are explained (and a tool provided to help calculate them) in the tutorial for inventory management techniques; the link is below.

For help with these questions, see these tutorials:

STEP 3: Submit your Touchstone.

Once you have reviewed your work to make sure it is clear, complete, and correct, it is time to submit your document. Please include all of the assignment components in a single .doc or .docx file. Remember to include your name, date, and the name of the class in the document.

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B. Requirements

1. All content must be original, created for this assignment, and appropriate for an academic audience.
2. Plagiarism of any kind is strictly prohibited, including the use of AI-generated content.
3. Submission must include your name, the date, and the title of your paper.
4. The choice of formatting decisions like font size are up to you, but make sure it is easy to read and consistently formatted.
5. Include all of the assignment components in a single .doc or .docx file.

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C. Rubric

	Advanced (100%)	Proficient (85%)	Acceptable (75%)	Needs Improvement (50%)	Non-Performance (0%)
Coherence Student answers all questions clearly, completely, and with internal consistency. (40%)	Touchstone is complete, addressing recommendations on inventory processes, best options, and order amounts. It is internally consistent and clearly presented.	Touchstone is mostly complete but may be missing complete answers on inventory processes, best options, and order amounts.	Touchstone is incomplete and/or may be missing significant details on inventory processes, best options, and order amounts.	Touchstone is missing significant information and/or does not meet the length requirement and/or may be missing any details on inventory processes, best options, and order amounts.	So little work is evident in the Touchstone, no credit can be given.
Concepts Student demonstrates thorough understanding of inventory management and supply chain factors as covered in the tutorials. (40%)	Touchstone applies at least three concepts from the tutorials, and answers are realistic and consistent with the tutorial information. The answers display an excellent understanding of inventory and supply chain management.	Touchstone applies at least two concepts from the tutorials, but answers may be slightly unrealistic or not consistent with the tutorial information. The answers display a good understanding of inventory and supply chain management.	Touchstone applies only one concept from the tutorials, and/or answers are not completely consistent with the tutorial information. The answers display an acceptable level of understanding of inventory and supply chain management.	Touchstone only partly applies one concept from the tutorials, and answers are unrealistic or not consistent with the tutorial information. The answers display only a minor understanding of inventory and supply chain management concepts.	So little work is evident in the Touchstone, no credit can be given.
Conventions Student meets conventions for grammar, punctuation, and spelling. (20%)	Includes virtually no minor errors in grammar, punctuation, or spelling.	Includes fewer than five minor errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	Includes five minor errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	Includes more than five minor errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling.	Includes consistent significant errors in grammar, punctuation, spelling, capitalization, and usage.

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