Assignment
Classify the following types of processes as continuous, assembly line, batch, job shop, or project:
Doctor’s office
Automatic car wash
College curriculum
Studying for an exam
Registration for classes
Electric utility
Why are assembly-line processes usually so much more efficient but less flexible than batch processes? Give three reasons.
The rate of productivity improvement in the service industries has been much lower than in manufacturing.
Can this be attributed to process selection decisions?
What problems would be involved in using more efficient processes in service industries?
Several industries—including those that produce furniture, houses, sailboats, and fashion clothing—have never progressed down the diagonal of the product process matrix to become highly standardized and efficient. Why do you think this is so?
Compare the expensive restaurant, fast-food restaurant, and cafeteria in terms of process characteristics, such as capital, product type, labor, planning, and control systems.
A company is in the business of making souvenir spoons to customer order. The customers select the size of the spoons and may specify the design to be embossed on them. One or more spoons may be ordered. The company is considering going into the make-to-stock spoon business for souvenir spoons and everyday tableware as well. What will it have to do differently? How is the business likely to change?
What are the strategies of the following organizations?
Is the strategy defined in terms of product or process or both?
McDonald’s
AT&T Telephone Co.
General Motors
Harvard Business School
Suppose that a firm is considering moving from a batch process to an assembly-line process to better meet evolving market needs. What concerns might the following functions have about this proposed process change: marketing, finance, human resources, accounting, and information systems?
Give an example of mass customization not discussed in the chapter.
What techniques or approaches can be used to achieve mass customization in practice?
Search the Internet to find applications of 3D printing.
What is the difference between economies of scale and economies of scope? How do firms consider these when investing in processes?
What are some of the classic signs of an unfocused operation?
What are the pros and cons of organizing a plant-within-a-plant?
Why should operations be concerned with environmental issues?
What are the main ways in which processes are man- aged to accommodate environmental regulations?
72 Part Two Process Design
