Etextbook 978 1305664791 Om

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CONTENTS
1-8d Time-Based Competition 20
Part 1 1-8e The Service Revolution 20

1-8f Sustainability 21
BASIC CONCEPTS OF OM 1-8g Data and Analytics 22
AND VALUE CHAINS 1-9 KEY Challenges 23
2 Measuring Performance
in Operations and Value
Chains 28
© Hattanas/Shutterstock.com
2-1 Types of Performance Measures 29

2-1a Financial Measures 30
2-1b Customer and Market Measures 30
2-1c Quality 31
2-1d Time 32
2-1e Flexibility 32
2-1f Innovation and Learning 33
1 Operations Management 2-1g Productivity and Operational Efficiency 34
2-1h Sustainability 35
and Value Chains 2
2-2 Analytics in Operations Management 35
1-1 Operations Management 3
2-2a Linking Internal and External Measures 36
1-2 OM in the Workplace 4
2-2b The Value of a Loyal Customer 37
1-3 Understanding Goods and Services 6
2-3 Designing Measurement Systems
1-4 The Concept of Value 9 in Operations 38
1-5 Customer Benefit Packages 9 2-4 Models of Organizational Performance 39
1-6 Value Chains 11 2-4a Malcolm Baldrige Performance Excellence
1-6a Processes 12 Framework 40
1-7 Value Chain Frameworks 12 2-4b The Balanced Scorecard 41
1-7a Value Chains: An Input-Output Framework 12 2-4c The Value Chain Model 43
1-7b The Value Chain at Buhrke Industries Inc. 13 2-4d The Service-Profit Chain 44
1-7c Value Chains: Pre- and Postproduction Services
Framework 15
1-7d The Value Chain at Amazon 16
3 Operations Strategy 50
1-7e Value Chains: Hierarchical Supply Chain 3-1 Gaining Competitive Advantage 50
Framework 18 3-2 Understanding Customer Wants
1-8 OM: A History of Change and Challenge 19 and Needs 51
1-8a A Focus on Efficiency 20 3-3 Evaluating Goods and Services 52
1-8b The Quality Revolution 20 3-4 Competitive Priorities 54
1-8c Customization and Design 20 3-4a Cost 54
iv Contents
3-4b Quality 55
3-4c Time 55
3-4d Flexibility 56
Part 2
3-4e Innovation 56 DESIGNING OPERATIONS AND
3-5 OM and Strategic Planning 57
3-5a Operations Strategy 58
SUPPLY CHAINS
3-5b Sustainability and Operations
Strategy 59
3-6 A Framework for Operations Strategy 60
3-6a Operations Strategy at McDonald’s 62
4 Technology and Operations

Management 68
LightRocket/Getty Images
4-1 Understanding Technology in Operations 69
4-1a Manufacturing Technology 70
4-1b Computer-Integrated Manufacturing Systems
(CIMSs) 70
4-1c Advances in Manufacturing
5 Goods and Service Design

Technology 72
4-1d Service Technology 73 82
4-2 Technology in Value Chains 74 5-1 Designing Goods and Services 83
4-3 Benefits and Challenges of Technology 75 5-2 Customer-Focused Design 86
4-4 Technology Decisions and Implementation 76 5-3 Designing Manufactured Goods 88
5-3a Tolerance Design and the Taguchi Loss Function 88
5-3b Design for Reliability 90
5-3c Design for Manufacturability 92
5-3d Design for Sustainability 93
5-4 Service-Delivery System Design 93
5-4a Facility Location and Layout 93
5-4b Servicescape 94
5-4c Service Process and Job Design 95
5-4d Technology and Information Support Systems 95
5-5 Service-Encounter Design 95
5-5a Customer-Contact Behavior and Skills 96
5-5b Service-Provider Selection, Development, and
© Bayanova Svetlana/Shutterstock.com
Empowerment 96
5-5c Recognition and Reward 96
5-5d Service Guarantees and Recovery 97
5-6 An Integrative Case Study of LensCrafters 98
6 Supply Chain Design 106

6-1 Global Supply Chains 107
6-1a Decisions in Supply Chain Design 108
Contents v
6-2 Supply Chain Design Trade-Offs 109
6-2a Efficient and Responsive Supply Chains 110
6-2b Push and Pull Systems 110
Part 3
6-2c Vertical Integration, Outsourcing, and Offshoring MANAGING OPERATIONS
AND SUPPLY CHAINS
Decisions 112
6-2d The Economics of Outsourcing Decisions 113
6-2e Offshoring and Reshoring 114
6-3 A Global Supply Chain Example: Inditex/Zara 116
6-4 Location Decisions 119
6-4a Critical Factors in Location Decisions 119
6-4b Location Decision Process 120
Bloomberg/Getty Images
6-4c The Center-of-Gravity Method 123
6-5 Supply Chain Optimization 124
7 Process Selection,
Design, and Analysis 132
7-1 Process Choice Decisions
7-2 The Product-Process Matrix
133
137
9 Forecasting and
7-3 The Service-Positioning Matrix 138
Demand Planning 178
7-4 Process Design 141 9-1 Forecasting and Demand Planning 179
7-4a Process and Value Stream Mapping 142 9-2 Basic Concepts in Forecasting 181
7-5 Process Analysis and Improvement 145 9-2a Forecast Planning Horizon 181
7-6 Process Design and Resource Utilization 146 9-2b Data Patterns in Time Series 181
7-6a Little’s Law 148 9-2c Forecast Errors and Accuracy 183
9-3 Statistical Forecasting Models 185
8 Facility and Work Design 156

9-3a Simple Moving Average 185
9-3b Single Exponential Smoothing 187
8-1 Facility Layout 157 9-4 Regression as a Forecasting Approach 188
8-1a Product Layout 157 9-4a Excel’s Add Trendline Option 188
8-1b Process Layout 159 9-4b Causal Forecasting Models with Multiple
8-1c Cellular Layout 159 Regression 189
8-1d Fixed-Position Layout 160 9-5 Judgmental Forecasting 192
8-1e Facility Layout in Service Organizations 161 9-6 Forecasting in Practice 193
8-2 Designing Product Layouts 162
8-2a Assembly-Line Balancing 162
8-2b Line-Balancing Approaches 164
10 Capacity Management 198
8-3 Designing Process Layouts 167 10-1 Understanding Capacity 199
8-4 Workplace and Job Design 167 10-1a Economies and Diseconomies of Scale 200
8-4a Workplace Design 167 10-2 Capacity Measurement In Operations 201
8-4b Job Design 169 10-2a Safety Capacity 201
8-4c Safety, Ergonomics, and the Work Environment 170 10-2b Capacity Measurement 201
8-4d Workforce Ethics and Global Supply Chains 171 10-2c Using Capacity Measures for Operations Planning 203
10-3 Long-Term Capacity Strategies 205
10-3a Capacity Expansion 205
vi Contents
13 Resource Management
10-4 Short-Term Capacity Management 207
10-4a Managing Capacity by Adjusting Short-Term 266
Capacity Levels 207
13-1 Resource Planning Framework for Goods
10-4b Managing Capacity by Shifting and Stimulating and Services 267
Demand 208
13-1a Resource Planning in Service Organizations 269
10-4c Revenue Management Systems (RMS) 209
13-1b Enterprise Resource Planning 270
10-5 Theory of Constraints 210
13-2 Aggregate Planning Options 271
11 Managing Inventories
13-3 Strategies for Aggregate Planning 272
13-4 Disaggregation in Manufacturing 274
in Supply Chains 216 13-4a Master Production Scheduling 274
11-1 Understanding Inventory 218 13-4b Materials Requirements Planning 275
11-1a Key Definitions and Concepts 218 13-4c Time Phasing and Lot Sizing in MRP 277
11-1b Managing Inventories in Global Supply Chains 219 13-5 Capacity Requirements Planning 282
11-1c Inventory Management Decisions and Costs 220
11-2 Inventory Characteristics 221
11-3 ABC Inventory Analysis 223
14 Operations Scheduling and
Sequencing 290
11-4 Managing Fixed-Quantity Inventory Systems 223
14-1 Understanding Scheduling and Sequencing 291
11-4a The EOQ Model 226
14-2 Scheduling Applications and Approaches 292
11-4b Safety Stock and Uncertain Demand in a Fixed-
Order-Quantity System 228 14-2a Staff Scheduling 293
11-5 Managing Fixed-Period Inventory Systems 232 14-2b Appointment Systems 294
14-3 Sequencing 295
11-6 Single-Period Inventory Model 234
14-3a Sequencing Performance Criteria 296
12 Supply Chain Management 14-3b Sequencing Rules 297

14-4 Applications of Sequencing Rules 297
and Logistics 242 14-4a Single-Resource Sequencing Problem 297
12-1 Managing Supply Chains 243 14-4b Two-Resource Sequencing Problem 301
12-1a The SCOR Model 244 14-5 Schedule Monitoring and Control 303
12-1b Sourcing and Purchasing 245 14-6 Vehicle Routing and Scheduling 304
12-1c Managing Supplier Relationships 246
12-1d Supply and Value Chain Integration 246
12-2 Logistics 247
12-2a Transportation 247
12-2b Inventory Management 249
12-3 Risk Management in Supply Chains 250
12-4 Supply Chains in E-Commerce 253
© View Apart/Shutterstock.com
12-5 Measuring Supply Chain Performance 254

12-5a Total Supply Chain Costs 255
12-5b The Cash-to-Cash Conversion Cycle 257
12-5c Supplier Evaluation and Certification 257
12-6 Sustainability in Supply Chains 258
12-6a Green Sustainable Supply Chains 259
12-6b Manufactured Goods Recovery and Reverse
Logistics 260
Contents vii
15 Quality Management
17-2d Small Batch and Single-Piece Flow 358
314 17-2e Quality and Continuous Improvement 358
15-1 Understanding Quality 315 17-2f Total Productive Maintenance 358
15-2 Influential Leaders in Modern Quality 17-3 Lean Six Sigma 359
Management 318 17-4 Lean Manufacturing and Service Tours 359
15-2a W. Edwards Deming 318 17-4a Timken Company 359
15-2b Joseph Juran 318 17-4b Southwest Airlines 360
15-2c Philip B. Crosby 319 17-5 Just-in-Time Systems 361
15-3 The GAP Model 319 17-5a Operation of a JIT System 362
15-4 ISO 9000:2000 321 17-5b JIT in Service Organizations 364
15-5 Six Sigma 321
15-5a Implementing Six Sigma 323
15-6 Cost-of-Quality Measurement 325
18 Project Management 370
18-1 The Scope of Project Management 373
15-7 The “Seven QC Tools” 327
18-1a Roles of the Project Manager and Team
15-7a Root Cause Analysis 329 Members 373
15-8 Other Quality Improvement Strategies 330 18-1b Organizational Structure 373
15-8a Kaizen 330 18-1c Factors for Successful Projects 374
15-8b Poka-Yoke (Mistake-Proofing) 330 18-2 Techniques for Planning, Scheduling,
and Controlling Projects 374
16 Quality Control and SPC 336 18-2a Project Definition 375

18-2b Resource Planning 376
16-1 Quality Control Systems 337
18-2c Project Scheduling with the Critical Path
16-1a Quality Control Practices in Manufacturing 338 Method 376
16-1b Quality Control Practices in Services 338 18-2d Project Control 379
16-2 Statistical Process Control and Variation 339 18-3 Time/Cost Trade-Offs 382
16-3 Constructing Control Charts 340 18-4 Uncertainty in Project Management 385
16-3a Constructing x- and R-Charts 341
16-3b Interpreting Patterns in Control Charts 343
16-3c Constructing p-Charts 343
Appendix A Areas for the Cumulative Standard
16-3d Constructing c-Charts 344 Normal Distribution 396
16-4 Practical Issues in SPC Implementation 345 Appendix B Factors for Control Charts 398
16-4a Controlling Six Sigma Processes 346 Appendix C Random Digits 399
16-5 Process Capability 347 Endnotes 400
16-5a Process Capability Index 348 Index 405
Tear-out cards
17 Lean Operating
Systems 354
17-1 Principles of Lean Operating
Systems 355
17-2 Lean Tools and Approaches 357
17-2a The 5Ss 357
17-2b Visual Controls 357
17-2c Single Minute Exchange of Dies
(SMED) 358 © Nicescene/Shutterstock.com
viii Contents
B-4 The Economics of Waiting-Line Analysis B12
Supplementary B-5 The Psychology of Waiting B13

Bourbon County Court Case Study B15
Chapters C Modeling Using Linear

AT OM ONLINE C-1
Optimization C2
Developing Linear Optimization Models C3
C-1a Decision Variables C4
C-1b Objective Function C4
C-1c Constraints C4
C-1d Softwater Optimization Model C5
© QiuJu Song/Shutterstock.com
C-2 OM Applications of Linear Optimization C5
C-2a Production Scheduling C5
C-2b Blending Problems C8
C-2c A Linear Programming Model for Crashing
Decisions C10
C-3 Using Excel Solver C12
Holcomb Candle Case Study C18
A Work Measurement,
Learning Curves, and
D Simulation D2
Standards A2 D-1 Developing a Simulation Model of a Queuing
System D4
A-1 Work Measurement A3
D-1a A Fixed-Time-Increment Model D4
A-2 Time-Study Methods A5
D-1b Spreadsheet Implementation D7
A-2a Using Regression Analysis to Determine Standard D-1c A Next-Event Simulation Model D10
Time A9
D-2 A Simulation Model for Inventory
A-2b Methods Using Predetermined Time Management D12
Standards A10
D-3 Verification and Validation D17
A-2c The Debate over Work Standards A10
D-4 Simulation Software D17
A-3 Work Sampling A10
D-4a Simulators D19
A-4 Learning Curves A11
Daniel’s Auto Parts Case Study D22
A-4a Practical Issues in Using Learning Curves A15
The State versus John Bracket Case Study A17
E Decision Analysis E2
B Queuing Analysis B2 E-1 Applying Decision Analysis Tools E3
E-1a Structuring Decision Problems E4
B-1 Analyzing Queues Using Analytical Models B3
E-2 Selecting Decision Alternatives E5
B-1a Arrival Distribution B4
E-2a One-Time Decisions Without Event Probabilities E6
B-1b Service-Time Distribution B4
E-2b Repeated Decisions with Event Probabilities E6
B-1c Queue Discipline B5
E-2c Expected Value of Perfect Information E8
B-1d Queuing Behavior B6
E-3 Decision Trees E8
B-2 Single-Server Queuing Model B6
Trendy’s Pies Case Study E14
B-3 Multiple-Server Queuing Model B9
Contents ix
PART 1 | BASIC CONCEPTS OF OM AND VALUE CHAINS
1 Operations Management
and Value Chains
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
After studying this chapter, you should be able to:
1-1 Explain the concept and importance of operations management.
1-2 Describe what operations managers do.
© Photo Credit Here

1-3 Explain the differences between goods and services. After you finish
1-4 Define the concept of value and explain how the value of goods and services can be enhanced. this chapter go
1-5 Describe a customer benefit package. to PAGE26 for
1-6 Explain the difference between value chains and supply chains, and identify three general STUDY TOOLS.
© Hattanas/Shutterstock.com
types of processes in a business.
1-7 Contrast the three different frameworks for describing value chains.
1-8 Summarize the historical development of OM.
1-9 Describe key challenges facing OM.
Apple has mastered the art of blending physical create new tooling equipment. When the iPad 2
goods with services to create value for its debuted, Apple employees monitored every
customers. Think iPod 1 iTunes, iPhone/iPad 1 handoff point—suppliers, production, loading dock,
apps, Apple stores 1 Genius Bar; well, you get the airport, truck depot, and distribution center—to
picture. Managing all operations involved—from make sure each unit was accounted for and of the
the creation of goods and services through their highest quality.
delivery to the customer and postsale services—is Apple’s retail stores give it a final operational
one of Apple’s core competencies. advantage. The company can track demand by
“Operations expertise is as big an asset for the store and by the hour, and adjust production
Apple as product innovation or marketing,” says forecasts daily. If it becomes clear that a given
Mike Fawkes, the former supply chain chief at part will run out, teams are deployed and given
Hewlett-Packard. “They’ve taken operational approval to spend millions of dollars on extra
excellence to a level never seen before.” equipment to undo the bottleneck. Apple’s
Managers and engineers often work at global significant profit margins are in large part due
supplier and manufacturer sites to refine their to this focus on its global supply chain and
operations, and designers work with suppliers to operational excellence.1
WHAAT DO YOU TH
WH THIN
INK?
K?
Cite some other examples in which digital content has been combined with a physical good. How does this
change the way companies must manage their operations?
2 PART ONE: Basic Concepts of OM and Value Chains
Apple’s significant profit margins are in
large part due to a focus on its global
supply chain and operational excellence.
1-1 OPERA IONS MANAGEMENT

OPERAT The way in which goods and services, and the pro-
cesses that create and support them, are designed and
managed can make the difference between a delightful
Creating and delivering goods and services to customers
or an unhappy customer experience. That is what OM
depends on an effective system of linked facilities and
is all about! Operations management is the only func-
processes, and the ability to manage them effectively
tion by which managers can directly affect the value
around the world. Apple, for example, manages a large,
provided to all stakeholders—customers, employees, in-
global network of suppliers in countries such as Malaysia
vestors, and society (See the box, “What Do Operations
and Indonesia, and factories in the United States, China,
Managers Do?”).
and other countries to produce its physical goods, which
Why is OM important? To answer this, we might first
must be coordinated with the development and produc-
ask the question: What makes a company successful? In
tion of software and other digital content, retail sales,
1887, William Cooper Procter, grandson of the founder of
and service and support. As the opening anecdote sug-
Procter & Gamble, told his employees, “The first job we
gests, coordinating these goods-producing and service-
have is to turn out quality merchandise that consumers will
providing processes can be challenging. Operations
buy and keep on buying.
management (OM) is the science and art of ensuring that
If we produce it efficiently
goods and services are created and delivered successfully to Operations management
and economically, we will (OM) is the science and art of
customers. OM includes the design of goods, services, and
earn a profit, in which ensuring that goods and services
the processes that create them; the day-to-day manage-
you will share.” Procter’s are created and delivered successfully
ment of those processes; and the continual improvement to customers.
statement—which is still
of these goods, services, and processes.
CHAPTER 1: Operations Management and Value Chains 3
What Do Operations Managers Do?
Some key activities that operations managers perform
include the following:
● Forecasting: Predict the future demand for raw materials,
finished goods, and services.
© Ryan Jorgensen-Jorgo/Shutterstock.com
● Supply chain management: manage the flow of
materials, information, people, and money from
suppliers to customers.
● Facility layout and design: determine the best configuration
of machines, storage, offices, and departments to provide
the highest levels of efficiency and customer satisfaction.
● Technology selection: use technology to improve
productivity and respond faster to customers.
● Quality management: ensure that goods, services, and processes will meet customer expectations and requirements.
● Purchasing: coordinate the acquisition of materials, supplies, and services.
● Resource and capacity management: ensure that the right amount of resources (labor, equipment, materials, and
information) is available when needed.
● Process design: select the right equipment, information, and work methods to produce high-quality goods and
services efficiently.
● Job design: decide the best way to assign people to work tasks and job responsibilities.
● Service encounter design: determine the best types of interactions between service providers and customers, and
how to recover from service upsets.
● Scheduling: determine when resources such as employees and equipment should be assigned to work.
● Sustainability: decide the best way to manage the risks associated with products and operations to preserve
resources for future generations.
as relevant today as it was over 100 years ago—addresses customer service manager, plant manager, field service
three issues that are at the core of operations manage- manager, or supply chain manager. The concepts and
ment: efficiency, cost, and quality. Efficiency (a mea- methods of OM can be used in any job, regardless of
sure of how well resources are used in creating outputs), the functional area of business or industry, to better
the cost of operations, and the quality of the goods and create value for internal customers (within the organi-
services that create customer satisfaction all contribute zation) and for external customers (outside the organi-
to profitability and ultimately the long-run success of a zation). OM principles are used in accounting, human
company. A company cannot be successful without peo- resources management, legal work, financial activities,
ple who understand how these concepts relate to each marketing, environmental management, and every
other, which is the essence of OM, and who can apply type of service activity. Thus, everyone should under-
OM principles effectively in making decisions. stand OM and be able to apply its tools and concepts.
Following are some examples of how the authors’ forfor-
mer students (who were not OM majors!) are using
1-2 OM IN THE WORKPLACE OM in their jobs.
After graduating from college, Shelly Decker
Many people who are considered “operations manag- and her sister embarked on an entrepreneurial ven-
ers” have titles such as chief operating officer, hotel or ture to manufacture and sell natural soaps and body
restaurant manager, vice president of manufacturing, products. Shelly was an accounting and information
systems major in college, but she was using OM skills size, or shape), it was removed from inventory to
every day: determine where the process broke down and to
▶ Process design: When a new product was to be initiate corrective action.
introduced, the best way to produce it had to be
Without an understanding of OM, the company would
determined. This involved charting the detailed
never have gotten off the ground!
steps needed to make the product.
Tom James started as a senior software developer for
▶ Inventory management: Inventory was tightly a small software development company that creates sales
controlled to keep cost down and to avoid proposal automation software. Tom uses OM skills in deal-
production that wasn’t needed. Inventory was taken ing with quality and customer service issues related to the
every four weeks and adjusted in the inventory software products, and he is also extensively involved in
management system accordingly. project management activities related to the development
▶ Scheduling: Production schedules were created process, including identifying tasks, assigning developers
to ensure that enough product was available for to tasks, estimating the time and cost to complete projects,
both retail and wholesale customers, taking into and studying the variance between the estimated and
account such factors as current inventory and soap actual time it took to complete the project. He is also in-
production capacity. volved in continuous improvement projects; for example,
▶ Quality management: Each product was he seeks to reduce development time and increase the ef ef-
inspected and had to conform to the highest ficiency of the development team. Tom was an information
quality standards. If a product did not conform technology and management major in college.
to standards (e.g., wrong color, improper Brooke Wilson began as a process manager for
packaging, improper labeling, improper weight, JPMorgan Chase in the credit card division. After several
United Performance Metals: The Life of an Operations Manager

United Performance Metals, formerly known as Ferguson Metals, located in Hamilton, Ohio, is a supplier of stainless
steel and high-temperature alloys for the specialty metal market. Ferguson’s primary production operations include
slitting coil stock and cutting sheet steel to customer specifications with rapid turnaround times from order to delivery.
With only 78 employees, about half of whom are in operations, the director of operations and quality is involved in a
variety of daily activities that draw upon knowledge of not only OM and engineering, but also finance, accounting,
organizational behavior, and other subjects. He typically spends about 50 percent of his time working with foremen,
supervisors, salespeople, and other staff discussing such issues as whether or not the company has the capability to
accomplish a specific customer request, as well as routine production, quality, and shipping issues. The remainder of
his time is spent investigating such issues as the technical feasibility and cost implications of new capital equipment
or changes to existing processes, trying to reduce costs, seeking and facilitating design improvements on the shop
floor, and motivating the workforce. The ability to understand customer needs, motivate employees, work with other
departments, and integrate processes and technology are skills that all operations managers need.
Courtesy of Ferguson Metals
Coiled steel awaiting Slitting coils into finished Some of Ferguson’s finished
processing. strips. products.
years of working as an operations analyst, he was promoted of a transaction between a buyer (customer) and seller
to a production supervisor position overseeing “plastic card (supplier).2 Service-providing firms are found in indus-
production.” Among his OM-related activities are: tries such as banking, lodging, education, health care, and
government. The services they provide might be a mort-
▶ Planning and budgeting: Representing the plastic gage loan, a comfortable and safe place to sleep, a college
card production area in all meetings, developing degree, a medical procedure, or police and fire protection.
annual budgets and staffing plans, and watching Designing and managing operations in a goods-
technology that might affect the production of producing firm is quite different from that in a service
plastic credit cards. organization. Thus, it is important to understand the
▶ Inventory management: Overseeing the management nature of goods and services, and particularly the differ
differ-
of inventory for items such as plastic blank cards; ences between them.
inserts such as advertisements; envelopes, postage, Goods and services share many similarities. They are
and credit card rules and disclosure inserts. driven by customers and provide value and satisfaction
▶ Scheduling and capacity: Daily to annual to customers who purchase and use them. They can be
scheduling of all resources (equipment, people, standardized for the mass market or customized to indi-
inventory) necessary to issue new credit cards and vidual needs. They are created and provided to customers
reissue cards that are up for renewal, replace old or by some type of process involving people and technology.
damaged cards, as well as cards that are stolen. Services that do not involve significant interaction with cus-
▶ Quality: Embossing the card with accurate tomers (e.g., credit card processing) can be managed much
customer information and quickly getting the card the same as goods in a factory, using proven principles of
in the hands of the customer. OM that have been refined over the years. Nevertheless,
some very significant differences exist between goods and
Brooke was an accounting major in college. services that make the management of service-providing
organizations different from goods-producing organizations
and create different demands on the operations function.3
1-3 UNDERSTANDING
STANDING GOOD S
ST 1. Goods are tangible, whereas services are
AND SERVICES intangible. Goods are consumed, but services
are experienced. Goods-producing industries rely
Companies design, produce, and deliver a wide variety on machines and “hard technology” to perform
of goods and services that consumers purchase. A good work. Goods can be moved, stored, and repaired,
is a physical product that you can see, touch, or possibly consume. and generally require physical skills and expertise
Examples of goods include cell phones, appliances, food, during production. Customers can often try them
flowers, soap, airplanes, furniture, coal, lumber, personal before buying. Services, on the other hand, make
computers, paper, and industrial machines. A durable more use of information systems and other “soft
good is one that does not quickly wear out and typically lasts at least technology,” require strong behavioral skills, and are
three years. Vehicles, dishwashers, and furniture are some often difficult to describe and demonstrate. A senior
examples. A nondurable good is one that is no longer useful executive of the Hilton Corporation stated, “We sell
once it’s used, or lasts for less than three years. Examples are tooth- time. You can’t put a hotel room on the shelf.”4
paste, software, cloth-
ing and shoes, and food.
A good is a physical product that you
Goods-producing firms
can see, touch, or possibly consume.
are found in industries
A durable good is one that does such as manufacturing,
not quickly wear out and typically lasts
at least three years.
farming, forestry, mining,
construction, and fishing.
A nondurable good is one that is A service is any pri-
© Bloomua/Shutterstock.com
no longer useful once it’s used, or lasts

for less than three years.
mary or complementary
activity that does not di-
A service is any primary or rectly produce a physical
complementary activity that does not
directly produce a physical product. product. Services repre-
sent the nongoods part
2. Customers participate in many service
processes, activities, and transactions. Many
services require that the customer be present either
physically, on a telephone, or online for service to
commence. In addition, the customer and service
provider often coproduce a service, meaning that
they work together to create and simultaneously
consume the service, as would be the case between
a bank teller and a customer to complete a financial
transaction. The higher the customer participation,
the more uncertainty the firm has with respect
to service time, capacity, scheduling, quality
performance, and operating cost.
A service encounter is an interaction between
the customer and the service provider. Some examples of
© william casey/Shutterstock.com
service encounters are making a hotel reservation,
asking a grocery store employee where to find the
pickles, or making a purchase on a website. Service
encounters consist of one or more moments of
truth—any episodes, transactions, or experiences in which
a customer comes into contact with any aspect of the delivery
system, however remote, and thereby has an opportunity
to form an impression.5 A
physical inventory to absorb
moment of truth might
Customers judge the such fluctuations in demand.
be a gracious welcome by
value of a service For service delivery systems,
an employee at the hotel
availability depends on the
check-in counter, a grocery and form perceptions system’s capacity. For example, a
store employee who seems
too impatient to help, or
through service hospital must have an adequate
supply of beds for the purpose
trying to navigate a confus- encounters. of meeting unanticipated patient
ing website. Customers
demand, and a float pool of
judge the value of a service and form perceptions
nurses when things get very busy. Once an airline
through service encounters. Therefore, employees
seat, a hotel room, or an hour of a lawyer’s day are
who interact directly with customers or design serser-
gone, there is no way to recapture the lost revenue.
vice processes need to understand the importance
of service encounters. 5. Service management skills are paramount to
a successful service encounter. Employees who
3. The demand for services is more difficult to interact with custom-
predict than the demand for goods. Customer ers require service A service encounter is an
arrival rates and demand patterns for such service management skills interaction between the customer
delivery systems as banks, airlines, supermarkets, such as knowledge and the service provider.
call centers, and courts are very difficult to forecast. and technical ex- Moments of truth are episodes,
The demand for services is time-dependent, pertise (operations), transactions, or experiences in which
especially over the short term (by hour or day). This a customer comes into contact with
cross-selling other any aspect of the delivery system,
places many pressures on service firm managers to products and services however remote, and thereby has an
adequately plan staffing levels and capacity. (marketing), and opportunity to form an impression.
4. Services cannot be stored as physical inventory. good human interac- Service management
In goods-producing firms, inventory can be used to tion skills (human integrates marketing, human
decouple customer demand from the production resources). Service resources, and operations functions
to plan, create, and deliver goods and
process or between stages of the production management inte-
services, and their associated service
process and ensure constant availability despite grates marketing, human encounters.
fluctuations in demand. Service firms do not have resources, and operations
functions to plan, create, and deliver goods and services, and 7. Patents do not protect services. A patent on
their associated service encounters. OM principles are a physical good or software code can provide
useful in designing service encounters and support- protection from competitors. The intangible
ing marketing objectives. nature of a service makes it more difficult
6. Service facilities typically need to be in close to keep a competitor from copying a business
proximity to the customer. When customers concept, facility layout, or service encounter
must physically interact with a service facility—for design. For example, restaurant chains are
example, post offices, hotels, and branch banks— quick to copy new menu items or drive-
they must be in a location convenient to customers. through concepts.
A manufacturing facility, on the other hand, can These differences between goods and services have
be located on the other side of the globe, as long important implications to all areas of an organization,
as goods are delivered to customers in a timely and especially to operations. These are summarized
fashion. In today’s Internet age, many services are in Exhibit 1.1. Some are obvious, whereas others are
only a few mouse clicks away. more subtle. By understanding them, organizations can
EXHIBIT 1.1 How Goods and Services Affect Operations Management Activities
OM Activity Goods Services
Forecasting Forecasts involve longer-term time horizons. Goods- Forecast horizons generally are shorter, and forecasts
producing firms can use physical inventory as a buffer are more variable and time-dependent. Forecasting must
to mitigate forecast errors. Forecasts can be aggregated often be done on a daily or hourly basis, or sometimes
over larger time frames (e.g., months or weeks). even more frequently.
Facility Location Goods-producing facilities can be located close to raw Service facilities must be located close to customers/
materials, suppliers, labor, or customers/markets. markets for convenience and speed of service.
Facility Layout Factories and warehouses can be designed for The facility must be designed for good customer
and Design efficiency because few, if any, customers are present. interaction and movement through the facility and its
processes.
Technology Goods-producing facilities use various types of Service facilities tend to rely more on information-based
automation to produce, package, and ship physical hardware and software.
goods.
Quality Goods-producing firms can define clear, physical, Quality measurements must account for customer’s
and measurable quality standards and capture perception of service quality and often must be
measurements using various physical devices. gathered through surveys or personal contact.
Inventory/ Goods-producing firms use physical inventory such Service capacity such as equipment or employees is the
Capacity as raw materials and finished goods as a buffer for substitute for physical inventory.
fluctuations in demand.
Process Design Because customers have no participation or involvement Customers usually participate extensively in service
in goods-producing processes, the processes can be creation and delivery (sometimes called co-production),
more mechanistic and controllable. requiring more flexibility and adaptation to special
circumstances.
Job/Service Goods-producing employees require strong technical and Service employees need more behavioral and service
Encounter production skills. management skills.
Design
Scheduling Scheduling revolves around the movement and location Scheduling focuses on when to assign employees and
of materials, parts, and subassemblies and when equipment (i.e., service capacity) to accomplish the
to assign resources (i.e., employees, equipment) to work most efficiently without the benefit of physical
accomplish the work most efficiently. inventory.
Supply Chain Goods-producing firms focus mainly on the physical Service-providing firms focus mainly on the flow of
Management flow of goods, often in a global network, with the goal people, information, and services, often in a global
of maximizing customer satisfaction and profit, and network, with the goal of maximizing customer
minimizing delivery time, costs, and environmental satisfaction and profit, and minimizing delivery time,
impact. costs, and environmental impact.
A similar classification of OM activities in terms of high/low customer contact was first proposed in the classic article by R. B. Chase, “Where Does the Customer Fit in a
Service Operation?” (Harvard Business Review, November–December 1978, p. 139).
better select the appropriate
mix of goods and services to
meet customer needs and How to Increase Value?
create the most effective op-
erating systems to produce To increase value, an organization must
and deliver those goods and (a) increase perceived benefits while holding price or cost constant;
services.
(b) increase perceived benefits while reducing price or cost; or
(c) decrease price or cost while holding perceived benefits constant.
1-4 T HE CONCEPT In addition, proportional increases or decreases in perceived benefits as well
as price result in no net change in value. Management must determine how to
OF VALUE maximize value by designing processes and systems that create and deliver the
appropriate goods and services customers want to use, pay for, and experience.
Today’s consumers demand
innovative products, high
quality, quick response, im-
peccable service, and low prices; in short, they want vital to create customer value. Coordinating the op-
value in every purchase or experience. One of the most erational capability to design and deliver an integrated
important points that we emphasize in this book is that package of physical and digital goods and services is
the underlying purpose of every organization is to pro- the essence of operations management.
vide value to its customers and stakeholders.
Value is the perception of the benefits associated with a
good, service, or bundle of goods and services in relation to what
1-5 C USTOMER BENEFIT PACKAGES
buyers are willing to pay for them. The decision to purchase
“Bundling” goods, services, and digital content in a
a good or service or a customer benefit package is based
certain way to provide value to customers not only en-
on an assessment by the customer of the perceived ben-
hances what customers receive, but can also differenti-
efits in relation to its price. The customer’s cumulative
ate the product from competitors. Such a bundle is often
judgment of the perceived benefits leads to either satis-
called a customer benefit package. A customer benefit
faction or dissatisfaction. One of the simplest functional
package (CBP) is a clearly defined set of tangible (goods-
forms of value is:
content) and intangible (service-content) features that the cus-
tomer recognizes, pays for, uses, or experiences. The CBP is a
Perceived benefi f ts
fi way to conceptualize and visualize goods and services
Value 5
Price scostd to the customer by thinking broadly about how goods and services are
bundled and configured together.
If the value ratio is high, the good or service is perceived A CBP consists of a primary good or service
favorably by customers, and the organization providing it coupled with peripheral goods and/or services, and
is more likely to be successful. sometimes variants. A
The focus on value has forced many traditional primary good or service Value is the perception of the
is the “core” offering that benefits associated with a good,
goods-producing companies to add services and,
attracts customers and re- service, or bundle of goods and
increasingly, digital content to complement their services in relation to what buyers
sponds to their basic needs.
physical goods. A goods- are willing to pay for them.
producing company can
A customer benefit package
no longer be viewed as (CBP) is a clearly defined set
simply a factory that of tangible (goods-content) and
churns out physical goods, intangible (service-content) features
that the customer recognizes, pays for,
because customer perceptions of
m
uses, or experiences.
.c o
goods are influenced highly by such facilitating serser

o ck
rst
A primary good or service

te
vices as financing and leasing, shipping and installa-

installa
hu t
S
is the “core” offering that attracts

r s/
tion, maintenance and repair, and technical support

dga
customers and responds to their

as e
and consulting. Today we see digital content such as basic needs.

s
t um
apps, streaming videos, and social networks becoming

©
For example, the primary service
of a personal checking account is
EXHIBIT 1.2 A CBP Example for Purchasing a Vehicle
convenient financial transactions.
Peripheral goods or services are Peripheral goods Variant
Fishing
those that are not essential to the primary Free Wash Pond
Anytime
good or service, but enhance it. A personal
checking account might be supported
Free
and enhanced by such peripheral Credit High
goods as a printed monthly account Reports Speed
Primary Good Internet
statement, designer checks and check-
Vehicle
books, a special credit card, and such Free
peripheral services as a customer ser ser- Gourmet
Coffee & Replacement
vice hotline and online bill payment. Tea Parts
It is interesting to note that today,
many business-to-business manu- Financing
and Leasing
facturers such as custom machining Peripheral services
or metal fabricators, think of their
core offering as service—providing
customized design assistance and on-
time delivery—with the actual good as peripheral. Finally, diagram should reflect on the features management se-
a variant is a CBP feature that departs from the standard CBP and lects to fulfill certain customer wants and needs.
is normally location specific or firm specific. Finally, we may bundle a group of CBPs together.
A CBP can easily be expressed in a graphical fash- One example would be a combined land-cruise vacation
ion, as shown in Exhibit 1.2. The CBP attributes and to Alaska, which might consist of a bundle of CBPs such
features (described in the circles) are chosen by man- as the travel agency that books the package and optional
agement to fulfill certain customer wants and needs. For land excursions from the ship; the land-tour operator that
example, financing and leasing, handles hotels, transportation,
which are peripheral services, and baggage handling; and the
meet the customer’s wants and Each good or cruise line that books air travel,
needs of personal financial secu- service in the and provides meals, and enter enter-
rity. In fact, if two vehicles have tainment. Bundled CBPs raise
similar prices and quality levels,
customer benefit some interesting issues about
then the leasing program may package requires a pricing strategies and partner
partner-
be the key to which vehicle the process to create ships among firms. For example,
customer buys. Vehicle replace- a firm might actually be able to
ment parts, a peripheral good, and deliver it to charge a premium price for the
meet the customer’s wants and customers. bundled CBPs than if purchased
needs of fast service and safety. separately, or alliances between
A variant might be a fishing pond where kids can fish hotels and airlines provide discounted vacation packages
while parents shop for vehicles. that are less expensive than if booked separately.
When defining a CBP, don’t confuse the features In most cases, many “goods” and “services” that we
determined by management with customers’ wants and normally think of have a mixture of both goods and ser ser-
needs. For example, if a customer need is to ensure the vice content. Exhibit 1.3 illustrates a continuum of goods
safety of their valuables and service content with several examples. Toothpaste,
in a hotel, a CBP feature for instance, is high in goods content, but when you pur pur-
Peripheral goods or services that management might chase it, you are also purchasing some services, such as
are those that are not essential to the
primary good or service, but enhance it. select is a room safe. a telephone call center to field customer questions and
Thus, you would not put complaints. Similarly, a bicycle might seem like a pure
A variant is a CBP feature that
“safety of valuables” on a good, but it often includes such services as safety instruc-
departs from the standard CBP and is
normally location or firm specific. CBP diagram, but rather tion and maintenance. At the other extreme in Exhibit 1.3
“room safe.” A CBP are psychiatric services, which are much higher in service
Buying More
Than a Car
People usually think that when they buy a new car,
they are simply purchasing the vehicle. Far from it.
Most automobiles, for example, bundle a good, the
automobile, with many peripheral services. Such
© Gajus/Shutterstock.com
services might include the sales process, customized
leasing, insurance, warranty programs, loaner cars
when a major service or repair is needed, free car
washes at the dealership, opportunities to attend a
manufacturer’s driving school, monthly newsletters
sent by e-mail, and Web-based scheduling of oil bundling is described by the customer benefit
changes and other service requirements. Such package framework.6
content but might include goods such as a bill, books, and

medical brochures that support the service. Attending a
1-6 VALUE CHAINS
VALUE
symphony, play, or movie is essentially a pure service but
A value chain is a network of facilities and processes that de-
may include program brochures and ticket stubs that of of-
scribes the flow of materials, finished goods, services, information,
fer discounts at local restaurants as peripheral goods.
and financial transactions from suppliers, through the facilities and
Today, we are seeing more digital content being
processes that create goods and services, and those that deliver
bundled with both goods and services. For example,
them to the customer. Value chains involve all major func-
General Electric manufactures locomotives, jet engines,
tions in an organization. This includes not only operations
and appliances, yet their future is intelligent machines
but also purchasing, marketing and sales, human resource
that make smart operating decisions and monitor them-
management, finance and accounting, information sys-
selves for maintenance and repair. Netflix sells digital
tems and technology, distribution, and service and sup-
content in the form of movies, and television shows and
port. A supply chain is the portion of the value chain that
series. iTunes sells music.
focuses primarily on the physical movement of goods and materials,
and supporting flows of informa-
EXHIBIT 1.3 Examples of Goods and Service Content tion and financial transactions
through the supply, production,
and distribution processes. We
Medicine
Prescription will focus on supply chains
Fast-Food
Restaurant in Chapters 6 and 12.
Symphony, Play,
and Movie
A value chain is a network of
Toothpaste Computer facilities and processes that describes
Automobile
Diagnosis and Psychiatric the flow of materials, finished goods,
Automobile Loan and
Repair Session services, information, and financial
Brakes and Leasing
transactions from suppliers, through the
Mufflers
facilities and processes that create goods
Bicycle and services, and those that deliver
College them to the customer.
A supply chain is the portion of
the value chain that focuses primarily
on the physical movement of goods
High Goods Low Goods and materials, and supporting flows of
Content Content information and financial transactions
(Tangible) (Intangible) through the supply, production, and
(Pure Goods) (Pure Service) distribution processes.
customer, and collect payment. In designing such a pro-
cess, operations managers need to consider the process
goals, such as speed of service, a clean car, no vehicle dam-
age, and the quality of all service encounters. OM manag-
ers would ask questions such as: Should the car be cleaned
inside as well as outside? How long should a customer ex-
pect to wait? What types of chemicals should be used to
© zaozaa19/Shutterstock.com
clean the car? What training should the employees who
wash the cars and interact with the customer have?
Key processes in business typically include:
1. Core processes focused on producing or
delivering an organization’s primary goods or
services that create value for customers, such as
Many organizations use the terms “value chain” and filling and shipping a customer’s order, assembling
“supply chain” interchangeably; however, we differenti- a dishwasher, or providing a home mortgage.
ate these two terms in this book. A value chain is broader 2. Support processes such as purchasing materials
in scope than a supply chain and is easier to apply to and supplies used in manufacturing, managing
service-providing organizations as well as to goods- inventory, installation, health benefits, technology
producing firms, as we shall see later in this chapter. acquisition, day care on-site services, and research
It is important for you to understand how operations and development.
management influences the design and management of
3. General management processes, including
value chains. Today’s organizations face difficult decisions in
accounting and information systems, human
balancing cost, quality, service, and sustainability objectives
resource management, and marketing.
to create value for their customers and stakeholders, and
in coordinating the many activities that take place within It is important to realize that nearly every major
value chains. Modern firms increasingly deliver goods and activity within an organization involves a process that
services to multiple markets and operate in a global busi- crosses traditional organizational boundaries. For ex-
ness environment. As a result, many companies have re- ample, an order fulfilment process might involve a sales-
configured their value chains and moved some operations person placing the order; a marketing representative
out of the United States to keep costs competitive, remain entering it on the company’s computer system; a credit
profitable, and improve customer service. As one chief fi- check by finance; picking, packaging, and shipping by
nancial officer wrote in a CFO Magazine survey, “You can- distribution and logistics personnel; invoicing by finance;
not compete globally unless you use global resources.”7 and installation by field service engineers. Thus, a pro-
Thus, we emphasize the importance of understanding the cess does not necessarily reside within a department or
global business environment and local culture, and their traditional management function.
impact on value chain design and operations.
1-6a Processes 1-7 VALUE CHAIN FRAMEWORKS

Each good or service in the customer benefit package
requires a process to create and deliver it to customers. A We will describe a value chain from three different
process is a sequence of activities that is intended to create a cer
cer- perspectives: an input-output framework, a pre- and
tain result, such as a physical good, a service, or information. postproduction services framework, and a hierarchical
A practical definition, according to AT&T, is that a process supply chain perspective.
is how work creates value for customers.8 Processes are
the means by which goods and services are produced and 1-7a Value Chains: An Input-Output
delivered. For example, a car wash process might consist
of the following steps: check the car in, perform the wash,
Framework
inspect the results, notify As shown in Exhibit 1.4, a value chain can be depicted as
the customer that the car a “cradle-to-grave” input-output model of the operations
A process is a sequence of activities
that is intended to create a certain result. is finished, quickly de- function. The value chain begins with suppliers who pro-
liver the car back to the vide inputs to a goods-producing or service-providing
EXHIBIT 1.4 An Input-Output Framework of a Value Chain
Support and General Management Processes
Inputs
Core Processes Goods and
People Services Postsale
Suppliers Information Outputs and Services
Physical goods Outcomes
Land, Labor, Capital, and Information

Resources
Measurement and Feedback
process or network of processes. Suppliers might be re- Some examples of value chains that illustrate the elements
tail stores, distributors, employment agencies, dealers, in Exhibit 1.4 are shown in Exhibit 1.5. The success of
financing and leasing agents, information and Internet the entire value chain depends on how it is designed and
companies, field maintenance and repair services, archi- managed. This includes measuring performance (which
tectural and engineering design firms, and contractors, we address in Chapter 2) and using the feedback from
as well as manufacturers of materials and components. measurements to improve all aspects of the value chain.
The inputs they provide might be physical goods such as
automobile engines or microprocessors provided to an 1-7b The Value Chain at Buhrke
assembly plant; meat, fish, and vegetables provided to a
restaurant; trained employees provided to organizations
Industries Inc.
by universities and technical schools; or information To illustrate the input-output perspective of a value
such as market research or a medical diagnosis. chain, we highlight Buhrke Industries Inc., located in
Inputs are transformed into value-added goods and Arlington Heights, Illinois, which provides stamped
services through processes that are supported by such metal parts to many industries, including automotive,
resources as equipment and facilities, labor, money, and appliance, computer, electronics, hardware, housewares,
information. Note that what is being transformed can power tools, medical, and telecommunications. A simpli-
be almost anything—for instance, people in a hospi- fied view of Buhrke’s value chain is shown in Exhibit 1.6.
tal, a physical good in an oil refinery, information in an Buhrke’s objective is to be a customer’s best total
e-publishing business, or a mixture of people, physical value producer with on-time delivery, fewer rejects, and
goods, and information. Value chain processes include the high-quality stampings. However, the company goes be-
three types we defined: core processes (those that directly yond manufacturing goods; it prides itself in providing
create and deliver goods and services), support processes the best service available as part of its customer value
(those “behind the scenes,” but which support core pro- chain. Service is more than delivering a product on time.
cesses), and general management processes (those that are It’s also partnering with customers by providing person-
needed for efficient and effective business performance). alized service for fast, accurate response; customized
At a hospital, for example, value creation such as surgery engineering designs to meet customer needs; preventive
and drug administration are used to transform sick people maintenance systems to ensure high machine uptime;
into healthy ones, whereas support processes such as lab experienced, highly trained, long-term employees; and
testing and purchasing help to ensure that surgery and troubleshooting by a knowledgeable sales staff.
drug administration accomplish their goals. Finally, the Suppliers and other value chain inputs include peo-
value chain outputs—goods and services—are delivered ple, information, and physical goods—for example, engi-
or provided to customers and targeted market segments. neering blueprints and specifications, rolled steel, factory
EXHIBIT 1.5 Examples of Goods-Producing and Service-Providing Value Chains
Transformation Customers and
Organization Suppliers Inputs Process Outputs Market Segments
Auto Engine plant Labor Welding Automobiles Economy
assembly Tires Energy Machining Trucks Luxury
plant Frame Auto parts Assembly Rental
Axles Specifications Painting Trucking
Paint Ambulance
Seats Police
Hospital Pharmaceutical Patients Admissions Healthy people Heart clinics

companies Beds Lab testing Lab results Pediatrics
Equipment suppliers Staff Doctor diagnosis Accurate bills Emergency and
Food suppliers Drugs Food service Community health trauma services
Organ donors Diagnostic Surgery education Ambulatory services
Medical suppliers equipment Schedules Medical specialties
Knowledge Drug administration and hospital wards
Rehabilitation
State Highway and building Labor Health care Good use of tax- Disabled people
Government contractors Energy benefits payers’ monies Low-income people
Employment Information Food stamps Safety net Criminals and prisons
agencies Trash Legal services Security Corporate taxes
Food suppliers Crimes Prisons Reallocate taxes Boat licenses
Equipment suppliers Disputes Trash removal Clean, safe, Building inspections
Other governments Sick people Park services and fun parks Weekend vacationers
Low- income people License services Child custody
Police services services
Tax services Legal court services
EXHIBIT 1.6 The Value Chain at Buhrke Industries

Estimating Sales Engineering Tooling
Assembly and
Inspection Production Finishing
Packaging
Courtesy of Buhrke-Olson, IMS Companies, LLC
Final Audit
Shipping
Inspection
equipment and lubricants, pallets and boxes, employment Production of the metal parts is accomplished on
agencies, inbound shipping, and outside training and in- a full range of presses, from 15 tons to 200 tons, with
dustrial marketing firms. Value-creation processes include speeds of up to 1,500 parts per minute. Inspection of raw
tooling, inspection, production, finishing, and sometimes materials (inputs), work-in-process, and finished prod-
assembly into a complete subassembly. Outputs include the ucts (outputs) helps ensure zero defects. The company
stamped metal parts and postsale service outcomes such as provides a full range of secondary and finishing opera-
out-in-the-field consulting and troubleshooting by company tions, from heat-treating to powder coating to tapping, to
employees. General management processes coordinate add value to customers. Customers do not need to ship
processes, often in different functional areas, while support stampings elsewhere or arrange for another service pro-
processes include hiring, medical benefits, and accounting. vider to finish the job.
As many as 100 processes are required for Buhrke to per per- At the customer’s request, Buhrke will assemble the
form its work and create value for its customers. stampings with other components to deliver a complete
The major stages of Buhrke’s value chain, shown in subassembly. Buhrke will even procure parts for assem-
Exhibit 1.6, begin with a customer request for a quotation. bly, such as plastics that the company does not manufac-
The estimating department processes such job parameters ture. Buhrke is also able to package finished stampings
as specifications, metals, finishing or packaging services, or subassemblies. Before stampings are boxed up and
the presses that will be used to run the job, and customer shipped (and even after the incoming inspection and in-
deadlines in developing a quote. Next, a sales engineer is process audits), Buhrke provides a final audit inspection.
assigned to monitor each stamping job from start to finish, Finally, Buhrke offers the convenience of shipping the
so the customer may have the convenience of a single finished product where and when customers want. For
point of contact. Sales engineers work closely with the further information and video tours of the plant, visit
engineering staff to convey customer needs. Engineers www.buhrke.com.
then design the best tooling for the job, using computer-
assisted design processes to ensure precise designs and 1-7c Value Chains: Pre- and Postproduction
timely completion. After a tool is designed and built, it is
maintained in an on-site tool room. Buhrke’s toolmakers
Services Framework
have decades of experience constructing tools for metal A second view of the value chain can be described
stamping, and they are put on a strict maintenance regi- from the pre- and postservice framework as shown in
men to ensure long life and consistent stampings. Exhibit 1.7. Pre- and postproduction services complete
EXHIBIT 1.7 Pre- and Postservice View of the Value Chain
Gaining a Customer Value Creation Keeping the Customer
Preproduction Services Core Processes Postproduction Services

Good and service design Create the good or service Servicing loans/financing
Supplier services Process type and capability Installation, maintenance, and
Purchasing services Good and service field repair services
Contract negotiations characteristics/f
characteristics/features Transportation services
Financing Price/cost, quality, time, Warranty/claims services
Good and service guarantees safety, flexibility, innovation Training services
Consulting services and learning, market and Postsale visits and services
Education/training services financial performance Consulting and technical services
Sales/marketing services Value and productivity Recycle and remanufacture
Warehouse/inventory management
Both perspectives enhance
management’s understanding
of where and how they cre-
ate value for customers. Au-
tomobile companies such as
Ford Motor Company might
use the pre- and postservice
model to highlight service
processes, and associated cus-
tomer service encounters and
experiences.
1-7d The Value Chain
© baranq/Shutterstock.com
at Amazon
To illustrate the pre- and
postproduction services per
per-
spective of a value chain, we
highlight Amazon.
the ownership cycle for the good or service. Preproduc- Amazon.com, started in 1995 as an online bookstore,
tion services include customized and team-oriented has evolved into the world’s largest seller of a wide vari-
product design, consulting services, contract negotia- ety of products. It provides customer value by focusing
tions, product and service guarantees, customer financ- on the complete customer experience that begins when
ing to help purchase the product, training customers to a customer visits its website and continues through on-
use and maintain the product, purchasing and supplier going customer relationship management activities long
services, and other types of front-end services. The focus after an individual order is processed. Exhibit 1.8 depicts
here is on “gaining a customer.” Amazon’s value chain from the perspective of the model
Postproduction services include on-site installa- shown in Exhibit 1.7.
tion or application services, maintenance and repair in Preproduction services that focus on gaining a
the field, servicing loans and financing, warranty and customer include:
claim services, warehouse and inventory management ▶ Product variety—Amazon sells pretty much
for the company and sometimes for its customers, everything that you can imagine. Amazon
training, telephone service centers, transportation de- manufactures its own products and services, such
livery services, postsale visits to the customer’s facility as the Kindle e-book reader and the Kindle Store.
by knowledgeable sales and technical-support people, Amazon’s virtual storefront provides much greater
recycling and remanufacturing initiatives, and other product selection than can be found in a typical
back-end services. The focus here is on “keeping the “bricks-and-mortar” store.
customer.”
▶ Amazon.com website—Amazon’s website
This view of the value chain emphasizes the notion
facilitates the customer experience. Customers
that service is a critical component of traditional manu-
can conveniently shop by department, search
facturing processes. Preproduction services for Ford
products, see new releases, peruse their browsing
Motor Company include engineering design, supplier,
history, access account information, manage orders
sales, and leasing processes, and postproduction services
and credit cards, and so on. From an efficiency
include financing, maintenance and repair, warranty
perspective, order entry uses customer labor!
and claims, and customer education and training pro-
grams. Service is a key differentiating factor in the eyes ▶ Low prices—Amazon strives to offer the lowest
of customers for many manufacturing firms. Ford Motor prices possible. It does this through operations and
Company is continuing to develop a competitive strat- supply chain management—continually improving
egy where service is at the core of their global strategy. efficiencies and leveraging economies of scale.
Note that the Buhrke Industries Inc. value chain can also ▶ Seller and distributor partnerships—Amazon
be defined using the pre- and postservice perspectives. partners with third-party sellers who would
EXHIBIT 1.8 A Value Chain Model of Amazon
Gaining a Customer Value Creation Keeping the Customer
Preproduction Services Core Processes Postproduction Services

Product variety Order fulfillment Order tracking
Amazon.com website Distribution center location Customer service and returns
Low prices Shipping options Product suggestions
Seller partnerships Customer loyalty
Payment management
ordinarily be competitors, thus expanding its ▶ Seller support—Sellers are an important customer
offerings and providing competitive prices and group. Amazon Services launched a new version
services to its customers. Amazon also partners of Amazon WebStore (http://webstore.amazon.
with third-party transportation firms such as UPS com), providing business customers with tools to
and FedEx to deliver orders to customers. easily design, build, and manage their multichannel,
e-commerce businesses using Amazon’s technology.
Amazon creates and delivers value to customers
through a set of key core processes. These include: Postproduction services, which focus on keeping the
▶ Order fulfillment—Amazon’s fulfillment centers customer include:
are designed for efficient order picking and ▶ Order tracking—Amazon sends e-mail updates
packaging, using information technology, bar to inform customers when products ship.
code sorting, and order-matching processes to Through its website, customers can view current
ensure accuracy. Its information system stores the and past orders.
locations of individual products and creates routes ▶ Customer service and returns—New, unopened
for order pickers. items can be returned within 30 days. Damaged or
▶ Distribution center location—Amazon has defective items will be replaced or exchanged.
fulfillment centers close to major metropolitan
Amazon provides return labels and authorization
markets. Being closer to customers not only
forms that can be printed.
provides faster service (e.g., same-day delivery) but
also reduces transportation costs. ▶ Product suggestions—Amazon provides customized
▶ Shipping options—Amazon offers free shipping featured recommendations based on past orders and
for many orders over $35. Customers can split searches on its website and via e-mail. Items can be
orders for faster service. For a fixed annual saved on a “Wish List” for future reference.
fee, Amazon Prime provides unlimited two-day ▶ Customer loyalty—Amazon Prime members
shipping and optional next-day delivery for an receive free movies and a lending library for
additional, low price. e-books. Prime members typically spend more
▶ Customer pickup locations—Amazon has opened than other customers; this feature helps develop
pickup points at numerous locations such as customer loyalty.
college campuses (the first was opened at Purdue ▶ Payment management—Customers can easily
University) to make it easier for customers to manage credit and gift cards and can store their
receive products at a secure location and at times shipping and credit card information and order
that are convenient. goods with just one click.
EXHIBIT 1.9 Typical Goods-Producing Supply Chain Structure
Suppliers
Raw material
and component
part inventory
Manufacturing plant
Work-in-process
and component
part inventory
Regional warehouse
Finished goods
inventory
Retail store
Finished goods
inventory
Transportation of
materials and goods
Customers
Orders, information,
and transactions
As we see, the value chain for Amazon includes A goods-producing supply chain generally consists
many features and services that extend far beyond a of suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, retailers,
physical-goods-focused value chain paradigm. and customers arranged in a hierarchical structure, as
illustrated in Exhibit 1.9. Raw materials and compo-
1-7e Value Chains: Hierarchical Supply nents are ordered from suppliers and must be trans-
Chain Framework ported to manufacturing facilities for production and
assembly into finished goods. Finished goods are
Supply chains are the foundation of most value chains. shipped to distributors who operate distribution centers.
For example, Hewlett-Packard (HP) ships thousands
of computers and peripherals daily and spends some
$50 billion, or about 64 percent of its revenue, on sup-
ply chain activities. Supply chain optimization “has
a direct impact on customer satisfaction, stock price
© photosync/Shutterstock.com
and profitability,” says an HP senior vice president of

supply chain.9
The basic purpose of a supply chain is to coordinate
the flow of materials, services, and information among
the elements of the supply chain to maximize customer
value. The key functions generally include purchasing and
procurement of materials and supplies, sales and order HP ships computers, peripherals, and supplies each day,
processing, operations, inventory and materials man- with more than 60 percent of its revenue spent on supply
agement, transportation and distribution, information chain activities.
management, finance, and customer service.
Distribution centers (DCs) are warehouses that act as For consumers who want to buy fish from a grocery store,
intermediaries between factories and customers, shipping directly the supply chain is more complex and would include
to customers or to retail stores where products are made available wholesale delivery and storage by the retailer.
to customers. At each factory, distribution center, and re-
tail store, inventory generally is maintained to improve
the ability to meet demand quickly. Inventory [refers to
raw materials, work-in-process, or finished goods that are main-
1-8 OM: A HISTORY OF CHANGE
tained to support production or satisfy customer demand. As AND CHALLENGE
inventory levels diminish, orders are sent to the previ-
ous stage upstream in the process for replenishing stock. In the last century, operations management has un-
Orders are passed up the supply chain, fulfilled at each dergone more changes than any other functional area
stage, and shipped to the next stage. of business and is the
Not all supply chains have each of the stages illus- most important factor Distribution centers (DCs) are
in competitiveness. That warehouses that act as intermediaries
trated in Exhibit 1.9. A simple supply chain might be one
between factories and customers,
that supplies fresh fish at a Boston restaurant. Being close is one of the reasons shipping directly to customers or to
to the suppliers (fisherman), the restaurateur might purpur- why every business stu- retail stores where products are made
chase fish directly from them daily and cut and fillet the dent needs a basic un- available to customers.
fish directly at the restaurant. A slightly more complex derstanding of the field. Inventory refers to raw materials,
supply chain for a restaurant in the Midwest might in- Exhibit 1.10 is a chronol- work-in-process, or finished goods that
clude processing and packaging by a seafood wholesaler ogy of major themes that are maintained to support production or
satisfy customer demand.
and air transportation and delivery to the restaurant. have changed the scope
EXHIBIT 1.10 Seven Major Eras of Operations Management
Focus on cost and

efficiency
Focus on quality
Focus on customization and

design
Focus on time
Focus on service
and value
Focus on
sustainability
Focus on
data and analytics
.........1960s..................1970s..................1980s...................1990s.....................2000s.................2010s.................2020s
Cost minimization....……........………………………………………............................…..........................Sustainability
Mass production………………………………....................….......................…............................Mass customization
Manufacturing-based technology.....……...…………...................................................Information-based technology
Focus on goods……………………………….....................………….................................Focus on value and service
Local markets………….......................………………………..……….......................….........................Global markets
and direction of operations management over the last service variety and continual product improvement. New
half century. To better understand the challenges facing types of operating systems emerged that enabled compa-
modern business and the role of OM in meeting them, nies to manufacture goods and services better, cheaper,
let us briefly trace the history and evolution of these and faster than their competitors, while facilitating inno-
themes. vation and increasing variety.
1-8a A Focus on Efficiency 1-8d Time-Based Competition

During the Industrial Revolution, many inventions came As information technology matured, time became an
into being that allowed goods to be manufactured with important source of competitive advantage. Quick
greater ease and speed, and led to the development of response is achieved by continually improving and
modern factories. In the 1940s, Toyota developed new reengineering processes—that is, fundamentally re-
ways of creating manufacturing efficiencies, which we thinking and redesigning processes to achieve dra-
study in Chapter 17. The development of computers and matic improvements in cost, quality, speed, and
other forms of technology during the last 50 years has service. That task includes developing products faster
revolutionized operations. than competitors, speeding ordering and delivering
processes, rapidly responding to changes in custom-
ers’ needs, and improving the flow of paperwork.
1-8b The Quality Revolution
After World War II, Japanese companies embarked on
a massive effort to train the workforce, using statisti-
1-8e The Service Revolution
cal tools developed at Western Electric and other in- In 1955, about 50 percent of the U.S. workforce was
novative management tools to identify causes of quality employed in goods-producing industries and 50 per-
problems and fix them. By the mid-1970s, the world cent in service-providing industries. Today, about four
discovered that Japanese goods had fewer defects, were of every five U.S. jobs are in services, as summarized
more reliable, and better met consumer needs than did in Exhibit 1.11.
American goods. As a result, Japanese firms captured In addition, estimates are that at least 50 percent
major shares of world markets in many different in- of the jobs in goods-producing industries are service-
dustries such as automobiles and electronics. There- and information-related, such as human resources
after, quality became an obsession with top managers management, accounting, financial, legal, advertis-
of nearly every major company and continues to be so ing, purchasing, engineering, and so on. Thus, today,
today. In 1987, the U.S. government established the about 90 percent of the jobs in the U.S. economy are in
Malcolm Baldrige Award to fo-
cus national attention on quality.
1-8c Customization
and Design
As the goals of low cost and high
product quality became “givens,”
companies began to emphasize
innovative designs and product
features to gain a competitive
edge. Inflexible mass-production
methods that produced high
volumes of standardized goods
© alphaspirit/Shutterstock.com
and services using unskilled or

semiskilled workers and expen-
sive, single-purpose equipment,
though very efficient and cost-
effective, were inadequate for the
new goals of increased goods and
EXHIBIT 1.11 U.S. Employment by Economic Sector EXHIBIT 1.12 Examples of Sustainability Practices
2012 2022 (projected) Environmental Sustainability
Waste management: Reduce waste and manage
Goods, excluding 12.6% 12.1%
recycling efforts
agriculture
Energy optimization: Reduce consumption during peak
Services 79.9% 80.9% energy demand times
Agriculture, forestry, 1.5% 1.2% Transportation optimization: Design efficient vehicles
fishing, and hunting and routes to save fuel
Technology upgrades: Develop improvements to save
Nonagriculture self- 6.0% 5.8%
energy and clean and reuse water in manufacturing
employed, and unpaid
processes
family workers
Air quality: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Sustainable product design: Design goods whose parts
can be recycled or safely disposed of
Social Sustainability
service-providing processes. This means that if you are Product safety: Ensure consumer safety in using goods
and services
employed in the United States, you will most likely work
Workforce health and safety: Ensure a healthy and safe
in a service- or information-related field. work environment
Ethics and governance: Ensure compliance with
1-8f Sustainability legal and regulatory requirements and transparency in
management decisions
In today’s world, sustainability has become one of the Community: Improve the quality of life through industry–
most important issues that organizations face. Sustain- community partnerships
ability refers to an organization’s ability to strategically address Economic Sustainability

Performance excellence: Build a high-performing
current business needs and successfully develop a long-term strat-
organization with a capable leadership and workforce
egy that embraces opportunities and manages risk for all products, Financial management: Make sound financial plans to
systems, supply chains, and processes to preserve resources for fu- ensure long-term organizational survival
ture generations. Sustainability can be viewed from three Resource management: Acquire and manage all
resources effectively and efficiently
perspectives: environmental, social, and economic. Emergency preparedness: Have plans in place for
▶ Environmental sustainability is an organization’s business, environmental, and social emergencies
commitment to the long-term quality of our environment.
Environmental sustainability is important because
environmental concerns are placing increased pres-
sure on all goods-producing and service-providing represents a broad and,
Sustainability refers to an
organizations across the globe. to many, a new paradigm organization’s ability to strategically
for organizational perfor
perfor- address current business needs and
▶ Social sustainability is an organization’s
mance. Not only do sus- successfully develop a long-term
commitment to maintain healthy communities and strategy that embraces opportunities
tainability practices lead
a society that improves the quality of life. Social and manages risk for all products,
to better public percep-
sustainability is important because every systems, supply chains, and processes
tion, they can improve to preserve resources for future
organization must protect the health and well-
productivity, eliminate generations.
being of all stakeholders and their respective
waste, and help organi- Environmental sustainability
communities, treat all stakeholders fairly, and
zations become more is an organization’s commitment to the
provide them with essential services. long-term quality of our environment.
competitive. OM plays a
▶ Economic sustainability is an organization’s vital role in helping oror- Social sustainability is an
commitment to address current business needs and ganizations accomplish organization’s commitment to maintain
economic vitality, and to have the agility and strategic healthy communities and a society that
these goals. Exhibit 1.12
management to prepare successfully for future business, improves the quality of life.
provides examples of
markets, and operating environments. Economic Economic sustainability is
business practices that an organization’s commitment to
sustainability is important because staying in support these three di- address current business needs and
business for the long term, expanding markets, and mensions. We will dis- economic vitality, and to have the
providing jobs are vital to national economies. cuss the role of OM in agility and strategic management to
prepare successfully for future business,
These three dimensions of sustainability are often achieving sustainability
markets, and operating environments.
referred to as the “triple bottom line.” Sustainability throughout the book.
1-8g Data and Analytics
Today, all organizations have access to an enormous amount
of data and information. In OM, data are used to evaluate
operations performance, quality, order accuracy, customer
satisfaction, delivery, cost, environmental compliance, and
many other areas of the business. Leveraging such data is
fast becoming a necessity in creating competitive advan-
© Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock.com
tage. A new discipline has emerged in recent years called
business analytics. Business analytics is a process of trans-
forming data into actions through analysis and insights in the context
of organizational decision making and problem solving.10 Business
analytics is used to understand past and current perfor
perfor-
mance (descriptive analytics), predict the future by detect-
ing patterns and relationships in data (predictive analytics),
and identify the best decisions (prescriptive analytics). that we will present throughout the text to facilitate the use
The supplementary chapters available at OM6 Online of analytic techniques. If the templates are not yet acces-
provide an introduction to some key analytical techniques sible, ask your instructor to make these spreadsheet tem-
used in OM. With this book we also provide your instructor plates available to you in OM Online. Table 1.1 summarizes
with a unique set of Microsoft Excel spreadsheet templates where the templates are best used.
TABLE 1.1 Summary of Excel Spreadsheet Templates

Template Chapter Reference Description
Break-Even 6 Computes a break
break-even point and optimal outsourcing decision
Statistical Analysiss 2 Computes basic statistical measures and a frequency distribution and histogram
VLCC 2 Computes the value of a loyal customer (VLC)
T
Taguchi 5 C
Computes the TTaguchi loss function and economic tolerance
Little’s Law
w 7 Computes flowtime, throughput, or work-in-process using Little’s Law
Location Analysis 6 C
Computes total costs to determine least-cost location for production
Center of Gravityy 6 Finds and plots the center of gravity
Capacityy 10
10 C
Computes capacity measures
Moving Average 9 Calculates and plots moving average forecasts
Exponential Smoothing 9 Calculates and plots exponential smoothing forecasts
ABC 11 Conducts ABC inventory analysis
EOQ 11 Finds the economic order quantity and plots the cost functions
FQS Saf
Safety Stock 11 Computes
mputes saf
safety stock and reorder point for fixed-quantity inventory systems
FPS Saf
Safety Stock 11 Computes
mputes saf
safety stock and reorder point for fixed-period inventory systems
Single-Period Inventoryy 1
11 Finds the optimal ordering quantity for a single-period inventory systems with uniform or normal demand
Total Supply Chain Cost 12 Evaluates total supply chain costs for supplier selection decisions
Agg. Plan–Level 13 Evaluates aggregate planning using a level produc production
tion strategy
Agg. Plan–Chase 13 Evaluates aggregate planning using a chase production strategy
Aggregate Planning 13 General TTemplate
emplate fforor Aggregate Planning
Sequencing 14 Computes flowtime, lateness, and tradiness for job sequencing problems
Six Sigmaa 14
14 C
Computes DPU, dpmo, and sigma level
Pareto 15 Finds and plots a Pareto distribution
x-Bar and R-Chartt 16
16 P
Plots an x-bar and R-chart ffor quality control
p-Chartt 16
16 P
Plots a p-chartt ffor quality control
c-Chartt 16
16 P
Plots a c-chartt ffor quality control
Process Capability 16 Computes process capability measures and a frequency distribution and histogram
Gantt Chart 18 Creates a visual chart depicting the schedule for a project
Work Measurement Supplementary Chapter A C
Calculates normal and standard times for work measurement studies
Learning Curve Supplementary Chapter A C
Computes the time to produce the first 100 units for a learning curve
Single-Server Queue Supplementary Chapter B C
Calculates measures for a single-server queue
Multiple-Server Queue Supplementary Chapter B C
Calculates measures for a multiple-server queue
Queue Simulation Supplementary Chapter D P
Performs a single-server queuing simulation for discrete arrival and service time distributions
Inventory Simulation Supplementary Chapter D P
Performs a fixed-quantity inventory simulation
Decision Analysis Supplementary Chapter E C
Computes decision strategies for payoff tables for both minimize and maximize objectives
1-9 K EY CHALLENGES lower-cost labor. For example, labor costs are far
cheaper outside the U.S. (where manufacturing labor
averages about $40 per hour); in Asia, Mexico, and
OM is continually changing, and all managers need to stay
South America, labor costs range from $3 to $10 per
abreast of the challenges that will define the future work-
hour. In addition, managing operations in countries
place. Here are some issues facing contemporary OM:
with vastly different cultures can be problematic.
▶ Customers. Consumers demand an increasing ▶ Sustainability. Performance in global operations
variety of high-quality goods with new and and supply chains use to mean a focus on cost,
improved features that are delivered faster than quality, and time. Today, sustainability is a
ever—along with outstanding service and support. fourth major performance area. Global sourcing
Being first to market means more now than ever managers, for example, must qualify suppliers on
before, and OM plays a vital role. at least these four performance areas. A global
▶ Technology. Technology continues to evolve at a supplier that is best at cost, quality, and delivery
rapid pace, Applications in design and manufacturing performance but uses child labor or pollutes
as well as the use of information technology in community drinking water is not going to do
services have provided the ability to develop business with the modern companies of today.
innovative products and more effectively manage ▶ Optimizing supply chains. Value chains now span
and control extremely complex operations. OM across many continents. Companies today face
needs to continue to leverage and exploit technology many challenges in designing and optimizing
advances such as 3D printing and nanotechnology. their supply chains. These include determining
▶ Workforce. Today’s workforce requires new skills, where to best source raw materials, components,
continual learning, more diversity, and better and finished goods. Sourcing abroad, of course,
management. These tasks often fall on the shoulders requires efficient transportation and scheduling,
of operations managers. Organizations will need and also incurs risks related to intellectual property
to become more flexible with how and where their and supply chain disruptions from natural disasters
workforces operate in global value chains. and other factors.
▶ Globalization. Globalization no longer means just Coordinating this Business analytics is a process
an opportunity for organizations to enter new entire process to of transforming data into actions
minimize total costs through analysis and insights in the
markets. We now live in an era of the “borderless
context of organizational decision
marketplace.” Today, firms have to contend with is a continuing making and problem solving.
a growing number of competitors and sources of challenge.
Operations and Supply Chain Management Professional Websites

If you want to check out careers and issues in operations, distribution, and supply chain management try these
professional association websites.
● American Production & Inventory Control Society (APICS)–www.apics.org
● American Society for Quality (ASQ)–www.asq.org
● American Society of Transportation & Logistics (AST&L)–www.astl.org
● Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP)–www.cscmp.org
● European Logistics Associations (ELALOG)–www.elalog.edu
● Production Managers Association (PMA)–www.pma.org.uk
● Project Management Association (PMI)–www.pmi.org
● Reverse Logistics Association (RIA)–www.ria.org
Many of these associations have certification programs to document the participant’s expertise and knowledge.
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DANCE ON STILTS AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI
Newala, too, suffers from the distance of its water-supply—at least

the Newala of to-day does; there was once another Newala in a lovely
valley at the foot of the plateau. I visited it and found scarcely a trace
of houses, only a Christian cemetery, with the graves of several
missionaries and their converts, remaining as a monument of its
former glories. But the surroundings are wonderfully beautiful. A
thick grove of splendid mango-trees closes in the weather-worn
crosses and headstones; behind them, combining the useful and the
agreeable, is a whole plantation of lemon-trees covered with ripe
fruit; not the small African kind, but a much larger and also juicier
imported variety, which drops into the hands of the passing traveller,
without calling for any exertion on his part. Old Newala is now under
the jurisdiction of the native pastor, Daudi, at Chingulungulu, who,
as I am on very friendly terms with him, allows me, as a matter of
course, the use of this lemon-grove during my stay at Newala.
FEET MUTILATED BY THE RAVAGES OF THE “JIGGER”
(Sarcopsylla penetrans)
The water-supply of New Newala is in the bottom of the valley,

some 1,600 feet lower down. The way is not only long and fatiguing,
but the water, when we get it, is thoroughly bad. We are suffering not
only from this, but from the fact that the arrangements at Newala are
nothing short of luxurious. We have a separate kitchen—a hut built
against the boma palisade on the right of the baraza, the interior of
which is not visible from our usual position. Our two cooks were not
long in finding this out, and they consequently do—or rather neglect
to do—what they please. In any case they do not seem to be very
particular about the boiling of our drinking-water—at least I can
attribute to no other cause certain attacks of a dysenteric nature,
from which both Knudsen and I have suffered for some time. If a
man like Omari has to be left unwatched for a moment, he is capable
of anything. Besides this complaint, we are inconvenienced by the
state of our nails, which have become as hard as glass, and crack on
the slightest provocation, and I have the additional infliction of
pimples all over me. As if all this were not enough, we have also, for
the last week been waging war against the jigger, who has found his
Eldorado in the hot sand of the Makonde plateau. Our men are seen
all day long—whenever their chronic colds and the dysentery likewise
raging among them permit—occupied in removing this scourge of
Africa from their feet and trying to prevent the disastrous
consequences of its presence. It is quite common to see natives of
this place with one or two toes missing; many have lost all their toes,
or even the whole front part of the foot, so that a well-formed leg
ends in a shapeless stump. These ravages are caused by the female of
Sarcopsylla penetrans, which bores its way under the skin and there
develops an egg-sac the size of a pea. In all books on the subject, it is
stated that one’s attention is called to the presence of this parasite by
an intolerable itching. This agrees very well with my experience, so
far as the softer parts of the sole, the spaces between and under the
toes, and the side of the foot are concerned, but if the creature
penetrates through the harder parts of the heel or ball of the foot, it
may escape even the most careful search till it has reached maturity.
Then there is no time to be lost, if the horrible ulceration, of which
we see cases by the dozen every day, is to be prevented. It is much
easier, by the way, to discover the insect on the white skin of a
European than on that of a native, on which the dark speck scarcely
shows. The four or five jiggers which, in spite of the fact that I
constantly wore high laced boots, chose my feet to settle in, were
taken out for me by the all-accomplished Knudsen, after which I
thought it advisable to wash out the cavities with corrosive
sublimate. The natives have a different sort of disinfectant—they fill
the hole with scraped roots. In a tiny Makua village on the slope of
the plateau south of Newala, we saw an old woman who had filled all
the spaces under her toe-nails with powdered roots by way of
prophylactic treatment. What will be the result, if any, who can say?
The rest of the many trifling ills which trouble our existence are
really more comic than serious. In the absence of anything else to
smoke, Knudsen and I at last opened a box of cigars procured from
the Indian store-keeper at Lindi, and tried them, with the most
distressing results. Whether they contain opium or some other
narcotic, neither of us can say, but after the tenth puff we were both
“off,” three-quarters stupefied and unspeakably wretched. Slowly we
recovered—and what happened next? Half-an-hour later we were
once more smoking these poisonous concoctions—so insatiable is the
craving for tobacco in the tropics.
Even my present attacks of fever scarcely deserve to be taken
seriously. I have had no less than three here at Newala, all of which
have run their course in an incredibly short time. In the early
afternoon, I am busy with my old natives, asking questions and
making notes. The strong midday coffee has stimulated my spirits to
an extraordinary degree, the brain is active and vigorous, and work
progresses rapidly, while a pleasant warmth pervades the whole
body. Suddenly this gives place to a violent chill, forcing me to put on
my overcoat, though it is only half-past three and the afternoon sun
is at its hottest. Now the brain no longer works with such acuteness
and logical precision; more especially does it fail me in trying to
establish the syntax of the difficult Makua language on which I have
ventured, as if I had not enough to do without it. Under the
circumstances it seems advisable to take my temperature, and I do
so, to save trouble, without leaving my seat, and while going on with
my work. On examination, I find it to be 101·48°. My tutors are
abruptly dismissed and my bed set up in the baraza; a few minutes
later I am in it and treating myself internally with hot water and
lemon-juice.
Three hours later, the thermometer marks nearly 104°, and I make
them carry me back into the tent, bed and all, as I am now perspiring
heavily, and exposure to the cold wind just beginning to blow might
mean a fatal chill. I lie still for a little while, and then find, to my
great relief, that the temperature is not rising, but rather falling. This
is about 7.30 p.m. At 8 p.m. I find, to my unbounded astonishment,
that it has fallen below 98·6°, and I feel perfectly well. I read for an
hour or two, and could very well enjoy a smoke, if I had the
wherewithal—Indian cigars being out of the question.
Having no medical training, I am at a loss to account for this state
of things. It is impossible that these transitory attacks of high fever
should be malarial; it seems more probable that they are due to a
kind of sunstroke. On consulting my note-book, I become more and
more inclined to think this is the case, for these attacks regularly
follow extreme fatigue and long exposure to strong sunshine. They at
least have the advantage of being only short interruptions to my
work, as on the following morning I am always quite fresh and fit.
My treasure of a cook is suffering from an enormous hydrocele which
makes it difficult for him to get up, and Moritz is obliged to keep in
the dark on account of his inflamed eyes. Knudsen’s cook, a raw boy
from somewhere in the bush, knows still less of cooking than Omari;
consequently Nils Knudsen himself has been promoted to the vacant
post. Finding that we had come to the end of our supplies, he began
by sending to Chingulungulu for the four sucking-pigs which we had
bought from Matola and temporarily left in his charge; and when
they came up, neatly packed in a large crate, he callously slaughtered
the biggest of them. The first joint we were thoughtless enough to
entrust for roasting to Knudsen’s mshenzi cook, and it was
consequently uneatable; but we made the rest of the animal into a
jelly which we ate with great relish after weeks of underfeeding,
consuming incredible helpings of it at both midday and evening
meals. The only drawback is a certain want of variety in the tinned
vegetables. Dr. Jäger, to whom the Geographical Commission
entrusted the provisioning of the expeditions—mine as well as his
own—because he had more time on his hands than the rest of us,
seems to have laid in a huge stock of Teltow turnips,[46] an article of
food which is all very well for occasional use, but which quickly palls
when set before one every day; and we seem to have no other tins
left. There is no help for it—we must put up with the turnips; but I
am certain that, once I am home again, I shall not touch them for ten
years to come.
Amid all these minor evils, which, after all, go to make up the
genuine flavour of Africa, there is at least one cheering touch:
Knudsen has, with the dexterity of a skilled mechanic, repaired my 9
× 12 cm. camera, at least so far that I can use it with a little care.
How, in the absence of finger-nails, he was able to accomplish such a
ticklish piece of work, having no tool but a clumsy screw-driver for
taking to pieces and putting together again the complicated
mechanism of the instantaneous shutter, is still a mystery to me; but
he did it successfully. The loss of his finger-nails shows him in a light
contrasting curiously enough with the intelligence evinced by the
above operation; though, after all, it is scarcely surprising after his
ten years’ residence in the bush. One day, at Lindi, he had occasion
to wash a dog, which must have been in need of very thorough
cleansing, for the bottle handed to our friend for the purpose had an
extremely strong smell. Having performed his task in the most
conscientious manner, he perceived with some surprise that the dog
did not appear much the better for it, and was further surprised by
finding his own nails ulcerating away in the course of the next few
days. “How was I to know that carbolic acid has to be diluted?” he
mutters indignantly, from time to time, with a troubled gaze at his
mutilated finger-tips.
Since we came to Newala we have been making excursions in all
directions through the surrounding country, in accordance with old
habit, and also because the akida Sefu did not get together the tribal
elders from whom I wanted information so speedily as he had
promised. There is, however, no harm done, as, even if seen only
from the outside, the country and people are interesting enough.
The Makonde plateau is like a large rectangular table rounded off
at the corners. Measured from the Indian Ocean to Newala, it is
about seventy-five miles long, and between the Rovuma and the
Lukuledi it averages fifty miles in breadth, so that its superficial area
is about two-thirds of that of the kingdom of Saxony. The surface,
however, is not level, but uniformly inclined from its south-western
edge to the ocean. From the upper edge, on which Newala lies, the
eye ranges for many miles east and north-east, without encountering
any obstacle, over the Makonde bush. It is a green sea, from which
here and there thick clouds of smoke rise, to show that it, too, is
inhabited by men who carry on their tillage like so many other
primitive peoples, by cutting down and burning the bush, and
manuring with the ashes. Even in the radiant light of a tropical day
such a fire is a grand sight.
Much less effective is the impression produced just now by the
great western plain as seen from the edge of the plateau. As often as
time permits, I stroll along this edge, sometimes in one direction,
sometimes in another, in the hope of finding the air clear enough to
let me enjoy the view; but I have always been disappointed.
Wherever one looks, clouds of smoke rise from the burning bush,
and the air is full of smoke and vapour. It is a pity, for under more
favourable circumstances the panorama of the whole country up to
the distant Majeje hills must be truly magnificent. It is of little use
taking photographs now, and an outline sketch gives a very poor idea
of the scenery. In one of these excursions I went out of my way to
make a personal attempt on the Makonde bush. The present edge of
the plateau is the result of a far-reaching process of destruction
through erosion and denudation. The Makonde strata are
everywhere cut into by ravines, which, though short, are hundreds of
yards in depth. In consequence of the loose stratification of these
beds, not only are the walls of these ravines nearly vertical, but their
upper end is closed by an equally steep escarpment, so that the
western edge of the Makonde plateau is hemmed in by a series of
deep, basin-like valleys. In order to get from one side of such a ravine
to the other, I cut my way through the bush with a dozen of my men.
It was a very open part, with more grass than scrub, but even so the
short stretch of less than two hundred yards was very hard work; at
the end of it the men’s calicoes were in rags and they themselves
bleeding from hundreds of scratches, while even our strong khaki
suits had not escaped scatheless.
NATIVE PATH THROUGH THE MAKONDE BUSH, NEAR

MAHUTA
I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time
back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have
no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human
occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very
slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not
yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid
timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed
forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled
his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process
may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main
road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe—
not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few
steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been
cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more,
between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last
pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a
melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them—
cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also
piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and
son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too
busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites
so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles
of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken
the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their
smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if
they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes,
perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.
This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the
virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already
cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble
of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the
secondary bush.
After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the
hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the
country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact,
receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in
the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains,
where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its
abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have
the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working
for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were
accustomed to rule.
But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no
harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has
been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in
time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe
and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and
lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and
desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by
man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and
even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth
is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible,
impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black
occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and
come back to his starting point.
The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.
According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing
else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been
settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great
stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the
south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence
their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the
Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast,
to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied
African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of
population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth
could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on
the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however,
correct.
The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us
of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the
thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau,
instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks
and springs of the low country.
“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern
side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was
nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never
washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.
He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree
growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the
bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and
was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the
Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a still-
born child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the
valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which
was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of
Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In
course of time, the couple had many more children, and called
themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the
Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their
forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to
bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who
was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also
warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams,
for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to
have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest watering-
place; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”
The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is
somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I
extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by
Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my
results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?
Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the
supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other
people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself
by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short,
woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is
likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is
nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from
various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood,
ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and
representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia,
Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well
done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the
keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and
meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably)
would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the
scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures
were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial
deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded
by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely
be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that
they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably
unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.
The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the
Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru
valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the
travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their
descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with
its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible
at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent
to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie
within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly
the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a
point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive
Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.
Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they
had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health
conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the
African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled
by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil
spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to
assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish
districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.
This knowledge is crystallized in the
ancestral warning against settling in the
valleys and near the great waters, the
dwelling-places of disease and death. At the
same time, for security against the hostile
Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted
that every settlement must be not less than a
certain distance from the southern edge of the
plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the
present day. It is not such a bad one, and
certainly they are both safer and more
comfortable than the Makua, the recent
intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF
good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR
plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of
country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings
anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain,
especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a
Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the
most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly
spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with
the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.
The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during
the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings
or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a
veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts
only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists
merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone
have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening
the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but
ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood
or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in
two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If
the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s
upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely
against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle
of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece
horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.
It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few
inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course
cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the
owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding
out how the back door is fastened.
MAKONDE LOCK AND KEY AT JUMBE CHAURO

This is the general way of closing a house. The Makonde at Jumbe
Chauro, however, have a much more complicated, solid and original
one. Here, too, the door is as already described, except that there is
only one post on the inside, standing by itself about six inches from
one side of the doorway. Opposite this post is a hole in the wall just
large enough to admit a man’s arm. The door is closed inside by a
large wooden bolt passing through a hole in this post and pressing
with its free end against the door. The other end has three holes into
which fit three pegs running in vertical grooves inside the post. The
door is opened with a wooden key about a foot long, somewhat
curved and sloped off at the butt; the other end has three pegs
corresponding to the holes, in the bolt, so that, when it is thrust
through the hole in the wall and inserted into the rectangular
opening in the post, the pegs can be lifted and the bolt drawn out.[50]
MODE OF INSERTING THE KEY
With no small pride first one householder and then a second

showed me on the spot the action of this greatest invention of the
Makonde Highlands. To both with an admiring exclamation of
“Vizuri sana!” (“Very fine!”). I expressed the wish to take back these
marvels with me to Ulaya, to show the Wazungu what clever fellows
the Makonde are. Scarcely five minutes after my return to camp at
Newala, the two men came up sweating under the weight of two
heavy logs which they laid down at my feet, handing over at the same
time the keys of the fallen fortress. Arguing, logically enough, that if
the key was wanted, the lock would be wanted with it, they had taken
their axes and chopped down the posts—as it never occurred to them
to dig them out of the ground and so bring them intact. Thus I have
two badly damaged specimens, and the owners, instead of praise,
come in for a blowing-up.
The Makua huts in the environs of Newala are especially
miserable; their more than slovenly construction reminds one of the
temporary erections of the Makua at Hatia’s, though the people here
have not been concerned in a war. It must therefore be due to
congenital idleness, or else to the absence of a powerful chief. Even
the baraza at Mlipa’s, a short hour’s walk south-east of Newala,
shares in this general neglect. While public buildings in this country
are usually looked after more or less carefully, this is in evident
danger of being blown over by the first strong easterly gale. The only
attractive object in this whole district is the grave of the late chief
Mlipa. I visited it in the morning, while the sun was still trying with
partial success to break through the rolling mists, and the circular
grove of tall euphorbias, which, with a broken pot, is all that marks
the old king’s resting-place, impressed one with a touch of pathos.
Even my very materially-minded carriers seemed to feel something
of the sort, for instead of their usual ribald songs, they chanted
solemnly, as we marched on through the dense green of the Makonde
bush:—
“We shall arrive with the great master; we stand in a row and have
no fear about getting our food and our money from the Serkali (the
Government). We are not afraid; we are going along with the great
master, the lion; we are going down to the coast and back.”
With regard to the characteristic features of the various tribes here
on the western edge of the plateau, I can arrive at no other
conclusion than the one already come to in the plain, viz., that it is
impossible for anyone but a trained anthropologist to assign any
given individual at once to his proper tribe. In fact, I think that even
an anthropological specialist, after the most careful examination,
might find it a difficult task to decide. The whole congeries of peoples
collected in the region bounded on the west by the great Central
African rift, Tanganyika and Nyasa, and on the east by the Indian
Ocean, are closely related to each other—some of their languages are
only distinguished from one another as dialects of the same speech,
and no doubt all the tribes present the same shape of skull and
structure of skeleton. Thus, surely, there can be no very striking
differences in outward appearance.
Even did such exist, I should have no time
to concern myself with them, for day after day,
I have to see or hear, as the case may be—in
any case to grasp and record—an
extraordinary number of ethnographic
phenomena. I am almost disposed to think it
fortunate that some departments of inquiry, at
least, are barred by external circumstances.
Chief among these is the subject of iron-
working. We are apt to think of Africa as a
country where iron ore is everywhere, so to
speak, to be picked up by the roadside, and
where it would be quite surprising if the
inhabitants had not learnt to smelt the
material ready to their hand. In fact, the
knowledge of this art ranges all over the
continent, from the Kabyles in the north to the
Kafirs in the south. Here between the Rovuma
and the Lukuledi the conditions are not so
favourable. According to the statements of the
Makonde, neither ironstone nor any other
form of iron ore is known to them. They have
not therefore advanced to the art of smelting
the metal, but have hitherto bought all their
THE ANCESTRESS OF
THE MAKONDE
iron implements from neighbouring tribes.
Even in the plain the inhabitants are not much
better off. Only one man now living is said to
understand the art of smelting iron. This old fundi lives close to
Huwe, that isolated, steep-sided block of granite which rises out of
the green solitude between Masasi and Chingulungulu, and whose
jagged and splintered top meets the traveller’s eye everywhere. While
still at Masasi I wished to see this man at work, but was told that,
frightened by the rising, he had retired across the Rovuma, though
he would soon return. All subsequent inquiries as to whether the
fundi had come back met with the genuine African answer, “Bado”
(“Not yet”).
BRAZIER
Some consolation was afforded me by a brassfounder, whom I

came across in the bush near Akundonde’s. This man is the favourite
of women, and therefore no doubt of the gods; he welds the glittering
brass rods purchased at the coast into those massive, heavy rings
which, on the wrists and ankles of the local fair ones, continually give
me fresh food for admiration. Like every decent master-craftsman he
had all his tools with him, consisting of a pair of bellows, three
crucibles and a hammer—nothing more, apparently. He was quite
willing to show his skill, and in a twinkling had fixed his bellows on
the ground. They are simply two goat-skins, taken off whole, the four
legs being closed by knots, while the upper opening, intended to
admit the air, is kept stretched by two pieces of wood. At the lower
end of the skin a smaller opening is left into which a wooden tube is
stuck. The fundi has quickly borrowed a heap of wood-embers from
the nearest hut; he then fixes the free ends of the two tubes into an
earthen pipe, and clamps them to the ground by means of a bent
piece of wood. Now he fills one of his small clay crucibles, the dross
on which shows that they have been long in use, with the yellow
material, places it in the midst of the embers, which, at present are
only faintly glimmering, and begins his work. In quick alternation
the smith’s two hands move up and down with the open ends of the
bellows; as he raises his hand he holds the slit wide open, so as to let
the air enter the skin bag unhindered. In pressing it down he closes
the bag, and the air puffs through the bamboo tube and clay pipe into
the fire, which quickly burns up. The smith, however, does not keep
on with this work, but beckons to another man, who relieves him at
the bellows, while he takes some more tools out of a large skin pouch
carried on his back. I look on in wonder as, with a smooth round
stick about the thickness of a finger, he bores a few vertical holes into
the clean sand of the soil. This should not be difficult, yet the man
seems to be taking great pains over it. Then he fastens down to the
ground, with a couple of wooden clamps, a neat little trough made by
splitting a joint of bamboo in half, so that the ends are closed by the
two knots. At last the yellow metal has attained the right consistency,
and the fundi lifts the crucible from the fire by means of two sticks
split at the end to serve as tongs. A short swift turn to the left—a
tilting of the crucible—and the molten brass, hissing and giving forth
clouds of smoke, flows first into the bamboo mould and then into the
holes in the ground.
The technique of this backwoods craftsman may not be very far
advanced, but it cannot be denied that he knows how to obtain an
adequate result by the simplest means. The ladies of highest rank in
this country—that is to say, those who can afford it, wear two kinds
of these massive brass rings, one cylindrical, the other semicircular
in section. The latter are cast in the most ingenious way in the
bamboo mould, the former in the circular hole in the sand. It is quite
a simple matter for the fundi to fit these bars to the limbs of his fair
customers; with a few light strokes of his hammer he bends the
pliable brass round arm or ankle without further inconvenience to
the wearer.
SHAPING THE POT
SMOOTHING WITH MAIZE-COB
CUTTING THE EDGE

FINISHING THE BOTTOM
LAST SMOOTHING BEFORE

BURNING
FIRING THE BRUSH-PILE

LIGHTING THE FARTHER SIDE OF
THE PILE
TURNING THE RED-HOT VESSEL
NYASA WOMAN MAKING POTS AT MASASI

Pottery is an art which must always and everywhere excite the
interest of the student, just because it is so intimately connected with
the development of human culture, and because its relics are one of
the principal factors in the reconstruction of our own condition in
prehistoric times. I shall always remember with pleasure the two or
three afternoons at Masasi when Salim Matola’s mother, a slightly-
built, graceful, pleasant-looking woman, explained to me with
touching patience, by means of concrete illustrations, the ceramic art
of her people. The only implements for this primitive process were a
lump of clay in her left hand, and in the right a calabash containing
the following valuables: the fragment of a maize-cob stripped of all
its grains, a smooth, oval pebble, about the size of a pigeon’s egg, a
few chips of gourd-shell, a bamboo splinter about the length of one’s
hand, a small shell, and a bunch of some herb resembling spinach.
Nothing more. The woman scraped with the
shell a round, shallow hole in the soft, fine
sand of the soil, and, when an active young
girl had filled the calabash with water for her,
she began to knead the clay. As if by magic it
gradually assumed the shape of a rough but
already well-shaped vessel, which only wanted
a little touching up with the instruments
before mentioned. I looked out with the
MAKUA WOMAN closest attention for any indication of the use
MAKING A POT. of the potter’s wheel, in however rudimentary
SHOWS THE a form, but no—hapana (there is none). The
BEGINNINGS OF THE embryo pot stood firmly in its little
POTTER’S WHEEL
depression, and the woman walked round it in
a stooping posture, whether she was removing
small stones or similar foreign bodies with the maize-cob, smoothing
the inner or outer surface with the splinter of bamboo, or later, after
letting it dry for a day, pricking in the ornamentation with a pointed
bit of gourd-shell, or working out the bottom, or cutting the edge
with a sharp bamboo knife, or giving the last touches to the finished
vessel. This occupation of the women is infinitely toilsome, but it is
without doubt an accurate reproduction of the process in use among
our ancestors of the Neolithic and Bronze ages.
There is no doubt that the invention of pottery, an item in human
progress whose importance cannot be over-estimated, is due to
women. Rough, coarse and unfeeling, the men of the horde range
over the countryside. When the united cunning of the hunters has
succeeded in killing the game; not one of them thinks of carrying
home the spoil. A bright fire, kindled by a vigorous wielding of the
drill, is crackling beside them; the animal has been cleaned and cut
up secundum artem, and, after a slight singeing, will soon disappear
under their sharp teeth; no one all this time giving a single thought
to wife or child.
To what shifts, on the other hand, the primitive wife, and still more
the primitive mother, was put! Not even prehistoric stomachs could
endure an unvarying diet of raw food. Something or other suggested
the beneficial effect of hot water on the majority of approved but
indigestible dishes. Perhaps a neighbour had tried holding the hard
roots or tubers over the fire in a calabash filled with water—or maybe
an ostrich-egg-shell, or a hastily improvised vessel of bark. They
became much softer and more palatable than they had previously
been; but, unfortunately, the vessel could not stand the fire and got
charred on the outside. That can be remedied, thought our
ancestress, and plastered a layer of wet clay round a similar vessel.
This is an improvement; the cooking utensil remains uninjured, but
the heat of the fire has shrunk it, so that it is loose in its shell. The
next step is to detach it, so, with a firm grip and a jerk, shell and
kernel are separated, and pottery is invented. Perhaps, however, the
discovery which led to an intelligent use of the burnt-clay shell, was
made in a slightly different way. Ostrich-eggs and calabashes are not
to be found in every part of the world, but everywhere mankind has
arrived at the art of making baskets out of pliant materials, such as
bark, bast, strips of palm-leaf, supple twigs, etc. Our inventor has no
water-tight vessel provided by nature. “Never mind, let us line the
basket with clay.” This answers the purpose, but alas! the basket gets
burnt over the blazing fire, the woman watches the process of
cooking with increasing uneasiness, fearing a leak, but no leak
appears. The food, done to a turn, is eaten with peculiar relish; and
the cooking-vessel is examined, half in curiosity, half in satisfaction
at the result. The plastic clay is now hard as stone, and at the same
time looks exceedingly well, for the neat plaiting of the burnt basket
is traced all over it in a pretty pattern. Thus, simultaneously with
pottery, its ornamentation was invented.
Primitive woman has another claim to respect. It was the man,
roving abroad, who invented the art of producing fire at will, but the
woman, unable to imitate him in this, has been a Vestal from the
earliest times. Nothing gives so much trouble as the keeping alight of
the smouldering brand, and, above all, when all the men are absent
from the camp. Heavy rain-clouds gather, already the first large
drops are falling, the first gusts of the storm rage over the plain. The
little flame, a greater anxiety to the woman than her own children,
flickers unsteadily in the blast. What is to be done? A sudden thought
occurs to her, and in an instant she has constructed a primitive hut
out of strips of bark, to protect the flame against rain and wind.
This, or something very like it, was the way in which the principle
of the house was discovered; and even the most hardened misogynist
cannot fairly refuse a woman the credit of it. The protection of the
hearth-fire from the weather is the germ from which the human
dwelling was evolved. Men had little, if any share, in this forward
step, and that only at a late stage. Even at the present day, the
plastering of the housewall with clay and the manufacture of pottery
are exclusively the women’s business. These are two very significant
survivals. Our European kitchen-garden, too, is originally a woman’s
invention, and the hoe, the primitive instrument of agriculture, is,
characteristically enough, still used in this department. But the
noblest achievement which we owe to the other sex is unquestionably
the art of cookery. Roasting alone—the oldest process—is one for
which men took the hint (a very obvious one) from nature. It must
have been suggested by the scorched carcase of some animal
overtaken by the destructive forest-fires. But boiling—the process of
improving organic substances by the help of water heated to boiling-
point—is a much later discovery. It is so recent that it has not even
yet penetrated to all parts of the world. The Polynesians understand
how to steam food, that is, to cook it, neatly wrapped in leaves, in a
hole in the earth between hot stones, the air being excluded, and
(sometimes) a few drops of water sprinkled on the stones; but they
do not understand boiling.
To come back from this digression, we find that the slender Nyasa
woman has, after once more carefully examining the finished pot,
put it aside in the shade to dry. On the following day she sends me
word by her son, Salim Matola, who is always on hand, that she is
going to do the burning, and, on coming out of my house, I find her
already hard at work. She has spread on the ground a layer of very
dry sticks, about as thick as one’s thumb, has laid the pot (now of a
yellowish-grey colour) on them, and is piling brushwood round it.
My faithful Pesa mbili, the mnyampara, who has been standing by,
most obligingly, with a lighted stick, now hands it to her. Both of
them, blowing steadily, light the pile on the lee side, and, when the
flame begins to catch, on the weather side also. Soon the whole is in a
blaze, but the dry fuel is quickly consumed and the fire dies down, so
that we see the red-hot vessel rising from the ashes. The woman
turns it continually with a long stick, sometimes one way and
sometimes another, so that it may be evenly heated all over. In
twenty minutes she rolls it out of the ash-heap, takes up the bundle
of spinach, which has been lying for two days in a jar of water, and
sprinkles the red-hot clay with it. The places where the drops fall are
marked by black spots on the uniform reddish-brown surface. With a
sigh of relief, and with visible satisfaction, the woman rises to an
erect position; she is standing just in a line between me and the fire,
from which a cloud of smoke is just rising: I press the ball of my
camera, the shutter clicks—the apotheosis is achieved! Like a
priestess, representative of her inventive sex, the graceful woman
stands: at her feet the hearth-fire she has given us beside her the
invention she has devised for us, in the background the home she has
built for us.
At Newala, also, I have had the manufacture of pottery carried on
in my presence. Technically the process is better than that already
described, for here we find the beginnings of the potter’s wheel,
which does not seem to exist in the plains; at least I have seen
nothing of the sort. The artist, a frightfully stupid Makua woman, did
not make a depression in the ground to receive the pot she was about
to shape, but used instead a large potsherd. Otherwise, she went to
work in much the same way as Salim’s mother, except that she saved
herself the trouble of walking round and round her work by squatting
at her ease and letting the pot and potsherd rotate round her; this is
surely the first step towards a machine. But it does not follow that
the pot was improved by the process. It is true that it was beautifully
rounded and presented a very creditable appearance when finished,
but the numerous large and small vessels which I have seen, and, in
part, collected, in the “less advanced” districts, are no less so. We
moderns imagine that instruments of precision are necessary to
produce excellent results. Go to the prehistoric collections of our
museums and look at the pots, urns and bowls of our ancestors in the
dim ages of the past, and you will at once perceive your error.
MAKING LONGITUDINAL CUT IN
BARK
DRAWING THE BARK OFF THE LOG
REMOVING THE OUTER BARK

BEATING THE BARK
WORKING THE BARK-CLOTH AFTER BEATING, TO MAKE IT

SOFT
MANUFACTURE OF BARK-CLOTH AT NEWALA

To-day, nearly the whole population of German East Africa is
clothed in imported calico. This was not always the case; even now in
some parts of the north dressed skins are still the prevailing wear,
and in the north-western districts—east and north of Lake
Tanganyika—lies a zone where bark-cloth has not yet been
superseded. Probably not many generations have passed since such
bark fabrics and kilts of skins were the only clothing even in the
south. Even to-day, large quantities of this bright-red or drab
material are still to be found; but if we wish to see it, we must look in
the granaries and on the drying stages inside the native huts, where
it serves less ambitious uses as wrappings for those seeds and fruits
which require to be packed with special care. The salt produced at
Masasi, too, is packed for transport to a distance in large sheets of
bark-cloth. Wherever I found it in any degree possible, I studied the
process of making this cloth. The native requisitioned for the
purpose arrived, carrying a log between two and three yards long and
as thick as his thigh, and nothing else except a curiously-shaped
mallet and the usual long, sharp and pointed knife which all men and
boys wear in a belt at their backs without a sheath—horribile dictu!
[51]
Silently he squats down before me, and with two rapid cuts has
drawn a couple of circles round the log some two yards apart, and
slits the bark lengthwise between them with the point of his knife.
With evident care, he then scrapes off the outer rind all round the
log, so that in a quarter of an hour the inner red layer of the bark
shows up brightly-coloured between the two untouched ends. With
some trouble and much caution, he now loosens the bark at one end,
and opens the cylinder. He then stands up, takes hold of the free
edge with both hands, and turning it inside out, slowly but steadily
pulls it off in one piece. Now comes the troublesome work of
scraping all superfluous particles of outer bark from the outside of
the long, narrow piece of material, while the inner side is carefully
scrutinised for defective spots. At last it is ready for beating. Having
signalled to a friend, who immediately places a bowl of water beside
him, the artificer damps his sheet of bark all over, seizes his mallet,
lays one end of the stuff on the smoothest spot of the log, and
hammers away slowly but continuously. “Very simple!” I think to
myself. “Why, I could do that, too!”—but I am forced to change my
opinions a little later on; for the beating is quite an art, if the fabric is
not to be beaten to pieces. To prevent the breaking of the fibres, the
stuff is several times folded across, so as to interpose several
thicknesses between the mallet and the block. At last the required
state is reached, and the fundi seizes the sheet, still folded, by both
ends, and wrings it out, or calls an assistant to take one end while he
holds the other. The cloth produced in this way is not nearly so fine
and uniform in texture as the famous Uganda bark-cloth, but it is
quite soft, and, above all, cheap.
Now, too, I examine the mallet. My craftsman has been using the
simpler but better form of this implement, a conical block of some
hard wood, its base—the striking surface—being scored across and
across with more or less deeply-cut grooves, and the handle stuck
into a hole in the middle. The other and earlier form of mallet is
shaped in the same way, but the head is fastened by an ingenious
network of bark strips into the split bamboo serving as a handle. The
observation so often made, that ancient customs persist longest in
connection with religious ceremonies and in the life of children, here
finds confirmation. As we shall soon see, bark-cloth is still worn
during the unyago,[52] having been prepared with special solemn
ceremonies; and many a mother, if she has no other garment handy,
will still put her little one into a kilt of bark-cloth, which, after all,
looks better, besides being more in keeping with its African
surroundings, than the ridiculous bit of print from Ulaya.
MAKUA WOMEN

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1-8d Time-Based Competition 20

Part 1 1-8e The Service Revolution 20

AND VALUE CHAINS 1-9 KEY Challenges 23

2-1 Types of Performance Measures 29

4 Technology and Operations

5 Goods and Service Design

6 Supply Chain Design 106

8 Facility and Work Design 156

12 Supply Chain Management 14-3b Sequencing Rules 297

12-5 Measuring Supply Chain Performance 254

16 Quality Control and SPC 336 18-2a Project Definition 375

Supplementary B-5 The Psychology of Waiting B13

Chapters C Modeling Using Linear

1-1 Explain the concept and importance of operations management.

1-2 Describe what operations managers do.

© Photo Credit Here

1-8 Summarize the historical development of OM.

1-9 Describe key challenges facing OM.

2 PART ONE: Basic Concepts of OM and Value Chains

1-1 OPERA IONS MANAGEMENT

CHAPTER 1: Operations Management and Value Chains 3

United Performance Metals: The Life of an Operations Manager

CHAPTER 1: Operations Management and Value Chains 5

no longer useful once it’s used, or lasts

8 PART ONE: Basic Concepts of OM and Value Chains

goods are influenced highly by such facilitating ser- ser

A primary good or service

vices as financing and leasing, shipping and installa-

is the “core” offering that attracts

tion, maintenance and repair, and technical support

customers and responds to their

and consulting. Today we see digital content such as basic needs.

apps, streaming videos, and social networks becoming

CHAPTER 1: Operations Management and Value Chains 9

10 PART ONE: Basic Concepts of OM and Value Chains

content but might include goods such as a bill, books, and

CHAPTER 1: Operations Management and Value Chains 11

1-6a Processes 1-7 VALUE CHAIN FRAMEWORKS

Support and General Management Processes

Land, Labor, Capital, and Information

Measurement and Feedback

Hospital Pharmaceutical Patients Admissions Healthy people Heart clinics

EXHIBIT 1.6 The Value Chain at Buhrke Industries

14 PART ONE: Basic Concepts of OM and Value Chains

EXHIBIT 1.7 Pre- and Postservice View of the Value Chain

Support and General Management Processes

Gaining a Customer Value Creation Keeping the Customer

Preproduction Services Core Processes Postproduction Services

Measurement and Feedback

CHAPTER 1: Operations Management and Value Chains 15

1-7d The Value Chain

Support and General Management Processes

Gaining a Customer Value Creation Keeping the Customer

Preproduction Services Core Processes Postproduction Services

Measurement and Feedback