rohner textil ag
Albin Kälin, Managing Director of Rohner Textil A.G., was responsible for weaving and dyeing the compostable fabric for DesignTex. He was responsible also for assembling a network of suppliers, such as wool farmers, wool spinners, yarn twisters, and fabric finishers to create the product. Because of his commitment to McDonough's rule-based imperatives, Kälin faced a series of decisions which had ethical, environmental, technological, and economic risks. This case series takes students into five sequential decision scenarios Kälin faced.
CHOOSING A TWISTING MILL: Mr. Kälin needed to choose a twisting mill supplier. He had two alternatives, each of which was nominally able to ensure they could uphold the McDonough/EPEA protocol. The choice thus appears trivial. However, as Kälin delved into the details of each alternative, he found that both options posed significant, long-term differences in product quality, reliability, and performance, among other criteria.
CHANGING STANDARDS: Rohner's biggest potential customer, Steelcase, Inc., decided to update its manufacturing machinery right at the production phase. The new machinery posed additional strength requirements on the fabric. Since Steelcase was one of the world's largest furniture manufacturers, such a change effectively constituted an industry standard change. The only solution Kälin could find was to coat the fabric with a chemical that McDonough and the EPEA only reluctantly approved. Kälin thus needed to choose between losing his largest customer or barely meeting the protocol's requirements.
PROCEDURES/CODES: The Rohner Textil Dyemaster, an experienced and knowledgeable employee, substituted a dye material without EPEA inspection for one that Rohner was currently using for the DesignTex project. In his experienced opinion the dye posed no environmental threat, and it cost much less than what they were currently using. Did the dyemaster act appropriately?
NETWORK FAILING: After the fabric had been produced and sold, one of the spinning mill suppliers went bankrupt, effectively cutting Rohner Textil off from its supply of Ramie yarn, an essential component to the DesignTex fabric. Kälin was faced with the urgent situation of finding another mill who could replace the bankrupt mill. There were only four mills in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria who had the technological capability of spinning Ramie yarn. Each was very different in character. Which spinning mill should Kälin choose? This case serves as a series capstone case.
Case E
ENVIRONMENTAL COST ACCOUNTING: Kälin needed to find a way to meet the short-term demands of improving productivity of a textile mill in a highly-competitive industry undergoing significant structural changes. He also needed to worry about long-term environmental regulation because his products had a ten to fifteen year lifecycle. Could investment in environmental product development and process design get him out of the short and long term jams? Could an accounting system communicate short and long-term costs to the owners of the mill to get them to pay attention to the company's stability? Could such a system make Rohner a more attractive to bankers for loans and to insurance companies for lower insurance rates?