Background
In 1969, four electrical engineers began to develop a military specification computer. They
established the ROLM Company by sharing an entrepreneurial interest. ROLM entered the
private branch exchange market by 1973. Two years later, it showed their first
computer-controlled private branch exchange which was shorted as CBX. The value of
ROLM rapidly grew from $11 million to $500 million (Stoddard, et all, 1995). ROLM had
become the second largest manufacturer in the PBX market until 1981. It was the third
with the market share of 15% after AT&T and Northern Telecom in 1993. In 1984, ROLM
was sold to IBM. Although it was said that its share grew, IBM never gained profits from
it. In 1989, IBM had to sell ROLM to Siemens which is one of Germany’s leading
industrial companies at a loss. At same time, the ROLM CO. was established.
Introduction
In order to increase profitability and maintain the market share of Siemens, the managers
initiated a new process, called ROLM 1, which was designed for manufacturing-focus
project. Ten managers from different fields in the United States were hired to work in a
team, ILCPR, which was responsible for project improvements and performance
consultation. These managers of ILCPR mainly worked on improving order fulfillment,
inventory, and IS systems of the project. First of all, the order fulfillment concluding
Design-Early and Standard Design was designed to be an “on-time” installation to achieve
customers’ needs and satisfaction without considering any costs. Secondly, a new
inventory distribution approach which was performed by ROLM 1 “cut the field parts
