Hana Demi Dee

Technology, Production, & Operations Management Quiz no. 4 Answers

1. What are some of the factors that cause organizations to redesign their products or
services?

Organizations redesign their products and services for a variety of reasons. Among them
are customer dissatisfaction, government regulation, competition, liability claims,
technological innovation (products and methods), and changes in costs and availability of
such inputs as materials, labor, and energy.

2. Contrast applied research and basic research.

Basic research is curiosity-driven. It is motivated by a desire to expand knowledge and

involves the acquisition of knowledge for knowledge's sake. It is intended to answer why
what or how questions and increase understanding of fundamental principles. Basic
research does not have immediate commercial objectives and although it certainly could,
it may not necessarily result in an invention or a solution to a practical problem. Applied
research is designed to answer specific questions aimed at solving practical problems. New
knowledge acquired from applied research has specific commercial objectives in the form
of products, procedures, or services.

3. Explain the term remanufacturing.

Remanufacturing, a process of bringing used products to a “like-new” functional state and

is being regarded as a more sustainable mode of manufacturing because it can be profitable
and less harmful to the environment than conventional manufacturing.

4. What is meant by the term “product life-cycle”? Explain briefly.

The term product life cycle refers to the length of time a product is introduced to consumers
into the market until it's removed from the shelves. The life cycle of a product is broken
into four stages—introduction, growth, maturity, and decline. This concept is used by
management and by marketing professionals as a factor in deciding when it is appropriate
to increase advertising, reduce prices, expand to new markets, or redesign packaging.

5. Name 3 factors that could make service design much different from product design.
Explain.

-Tangibility. Service design is the coordination and combination of people,

communication, and material components to create quality service. Product design is the
combination of manufacturing capabilities with product and business knowledge to convert
ideas into physical and usable objects.
 -Services are often produced and received at the same time (e.g. a haircut, a car wash).
Thus, there is less latitude in finding and correcting errors before the customer has a chance
to discover them. Consequently, training, process design, and customer relations are
particularly important.

-Location is often important to service design, with convenience as a major factor. Hence,
the design of services and choice of location often are closely linked.

6. For sustainability, should you use “plastic or paper” for packaging material? What is the
best option? Explain your position.

Paper-based packaging is growing in popularity with the general public as end-consumers

demand more sustainable packaging solutions. Comparing green credentials between
plastic and paper isn’t as straightforward as some would think, however. Paper is far more
biodegradable than plastic and very easily recycled. But it often ends up in landfills, where
its degradation rate slows – while it takes up more space than the same weight of plastic.
Additionally, some paper-based packaging is often laminated with plastic/aluminum or
coated with resin, therefore becoming non-recyclable. Plastic’s properties make plastic
packaging ideally suited for efficiently containing and protecting products during shipment
and delivery to customers. However, despite its advantages, plastic is made of a non-
renewable resource, whereas paper is made of trees. However, renewable isn’t a great thing
if the paper is coming from global deforestation. Furthermore, plastic can be recycled but
it is currently difficult to achieve high levels of post-consumer recycled content in plastics
due to post-consumer waste contamination. So, is there a perfect sustainable solution? The
quick answer is no. While paper does have many benefits when it comes to sustainability,
many factors make it worse than plastic. As with anything, the context and application are
key to deciding what material is best. Hopefully in the future there will be an alternative
solution that is far more sustainable than both paper and plastic.

7. Discuss the ten critical decision areas of operations management.

a. Goods and service design. This includes looking for ways to implement consistency in
costs, quality, and resources across all business divisions.

b. Quality. Customer has a very high-quality standard nowadays and operation

management decisions in quality must be clear and strict for its members to understand and
comply. It must set a quality, standard and operating procedure to meet customers’ high
expectations.

c. Process and Capacity Design. Operation management (product) should decide what
process it, what type of technology, and to what extent, human resources, quality, and
maintenance determine its basic cost structure. Service operations decision on this area is
much simpler and It can determine by customers who directly involved in the process.
d. Location. In developing a location strategy consider the supply chain and how the
location will receive supplies, the movement of goods and services internally and to
customers, and the role of marketing and public relations in the location choice.

e. Layout design. Consider the placement of desks, workstations, and how materials are
delivered and used. For services, besides capacity, the layout will enhance its attributes and
features to the customers.

f. Human Resources and Job Design. Implement continuous improvement programs with
regular reviews, provide continuous training for employees, and institute employee
satisfaction programs to achieve success in this area.

g. Supply Chain Management. Decisions that have to take place of what to produce, what
material to buy, from where, how is the cost and how are the delivery from supplier to the
final end customers in on-time delivery and minimum cost possible. It is more critical in
the production of goods than services.

h. Inventory. Different markets mean different challenges when it comes to inventory but
all need to strategize and plan their inventory control. Weather, supply shortages, and labor
all influence how an organization maintains its inventory.

i. Scheduling. Consider both production and people. Ask questions such as how much
product is required to be produced for the customer in the required time? How many people
and how many machines are required to do the job effectively and efficiently? For services,
the demand is more direct and volatile and often a concern with HR and KSA availability
to meet current and customers' needs.

j. Maintenance. This includes maintaining people and machines, as well as, processes.
What do you need to do to maintain quality and keep resources reliable and stable?
Decision must be made regarding the desired level of reliability, stability and systems must
be established by management to maintain that reliability and stability.
 8. Design a simple service blueprint for a “milk-tea store or coffee-shop” using flow chart.

Customer enters coffee shop

Customer waits in line Call customers name Serve customer’s order

Get customer’s order Prepare beverage Customer leaves coffee shop

Yes
Is product
available? Process customer’s order payment

No

Recommend specials or other available

products

Yes
Does customer still
want to order?

No