Lesson-3

1. What are some capacity problems faced by the following organizations or facilities?

Capacity Problem can be defined as an overused or underused of capacity or not having a proper used capacity in order to produce the goods or services. Capacity planning is very important for meeting future requirements of goods or services of customers so that it could be very helpful for organization to achieve its competitive advantage over its rivals.  In this paper, I will discuss the capacity problems faced by some of the organizations, and they are as follows:

An airline terminal: An airline terminal refers to a building at an airport for supporting passengers to transfer between ground transportation and the facilities that allow them to board and disembark from aircraft. An airline company typically faces the capacity problems when they have no proper arrangement for managing their passengers such as congested flight arrival/departure scheduling-long waiting lines, distance from boarding gates, ground crew requirements, runways, baggage handling etc. 

University Computing Lab: The capacity problems at university computing lab appeals when there will be no enough numbers of computer workstations or it doesn’t fit the students’ requirements. These problems can be narrow size of room, mix of different computer types, and no space for waiting students.

Clothing Manufacture: The capacity problems can occur at clothing manufacturers when clothes are produced more than demand or projections.

Hospital:  Hospitals may face capacity problems when there will be no proper size and composition of nursing staffs, operating room, emergency room, and services.

In short, it can be said that until and unless the capacity problems are resolved, the organizations cannot improve its productivity and performance as projected by them. Thus, they should manage the capacity problems optimally in order to improve the productivity and achieve competitive advantage.

References

Russell & Taylor. (2011). Operations Management: Creating Value Along The Supply Chain. USA: JOHN WILEY & SONS.INC.

Stevenson, W. J. (2015). Operation s Management. Penn Plaza, New York: McGraw- Hill Education.

2. Management may choose to build up capacity in anticipation of demand or in response to developing demand. Cite the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches.

Management can benefit from building up inventory and increasing its capacity in response expected demand. This strategy is effective when business knows that there will be higher demand in the future such as a holiday buying, festival seasons, major sport events or a release of new technology. Effective capacity is the maximum amount of work that an organization is capable of completing in a given period due to constraints such as quality problems, delays, material handling etc (Stevenson, 2015).

This strategy can result a lot of advantages such reducing overtime and manufacturing costs, more flexible yield management options and less chances of sellouts or lost sales. However, this strategy sometimes can give some disadvantages such as intense competitive markets, only appropriate for small firms, higher risks and higher chances of market being lost due to higher production or lower productions or not meeting the customers’ demand timely and appropriately.

References

Russell & Taylor. (2011). Operations Management: Creating Value Along The Supply Chain. USA: JOHN WILEY & SONS.INC.

Stevenson, W. J. (2015). Operation s Management. Penn Plaza, New York: McGraw- Hill Education.

3. It has been noted that during World War II Germany made a critical mistake by having its formidable Tiger tanks produced by locomotive manufacturers, while the less formidable US Sherman tank was produced by American car manufacturers. Using the product versus process, explain this mistaken its likely result.

 It is very important that there are different process strategies available for operation managers to choose from. Choosing the best process strategy is one of the critical tasks, and most importantly it would be the major reason for achieving particular goals.

            It is said that Germany made a critical mistake during World War II by using more formidable Tiger tanks produced by locomotive manufacturers which was made of project and process technology with low volume and higher cost. On the other hand, less formidable Sherman tanks were produced by America car manufacturer that were made in higher volume with low cost per unit.  Germany made this mistake by producing higher volume at a higher cost whereas US car manufacturers were making better tanks at a lower cost. Hence, having said that, US chose a better process strategy than that of Germany during World War II so that Germany made a mistake of choosing wrong technology and process, which in turn resulted in losing the war.

References

Russell & Taylor. (2011). Operations Management: Creating Value Along The Supply Chain. USA: JOHN WILEY & SONS.INC.

Stevenson, W. J. (2015). Operation s Management. Penn Plaza, New York: McGraw- Hill Education.

4. How would a flowchart help in planning the service-scape layout? What sorts of features would act as focal points or otherwise draw customers along certain paths through the service? ? In a supermarket, what departments should be located first along a customer's path? Which should be located last?

A flowchart can be defined as a pictorial representation of work or manufacturing process, organizational chart or similar formalized structure in a logical sequence. It basically deals with how the work is done with a project or process to help the service-scape layout.

The flow charts aid in monitoring the flow of customer through the service area. This would provide the means of for providing a layout that minimizes the distance required for customer to reach the product. The focal points could include the K-Mart style blue lights and end cap displays. In supermarkets, the first thing is the customer path should be shopping carts and convenience items such as delicatessen. In other hand, the items like milks and eggs are kept at the rear of the store to cause the customer to walk and enhance the purchase. Hence, in my points of view, First there should be the floral department, the floral clerk should be the first one to speak, asking customer if they need any special assistance. Last there should be complain department, they can complain about products so that necessary steps can be taken further considering customer feedback (www.aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu).

Therefore, flowchart helps in planning the services cape layout to show the process flow and develop an efficient sequence of activities to satisfy internal and external requirement. Flowchart integrates layout, technology, services cape and organizational structure, showing the points of contact with the customer (Stevenson, 2015).

References

Russell & Taylor. (2011). Operations Management: Creating Value Along The Supply Chain. USA: JOHN WILEY & SONS.INC.

Stevenson, W. J. (2015). Operation s Management. Penn Plaza, New York: McGraw- Hill Education.