Walden Comprehensive Business Consideration for Optimal Performance

Description

As operations managers work toward a productive and profitable organization, it is important for them to select the best processes to deliver the product or service efficiently and effectively. They will want to achieve certain qualitative factors, such as being fast and flexible at being able to adapt to the changing needs of consumers. Process decisions are often capital investments for an organization and changes can be costly. It is imperative that operation mangers understand the market, the competitors, and the consumers.

In this Assignment, you will respond to a set of questions focused on planning layouts, outsourcing decisions, service process design matrixes, aligning product and organizational needs, process flow charts, and capacity.

To prepare for this Assignment:

Review this week’s Learning Resources.

Refer to the Academic Writing Expectations for 2000/3000-Level Courses as you compose your Assignment.

BY DAY 7

Submit your responses to the following prompts.

Describe the following layout types and identify at least two products that are manufactured by each layout type. (225 words, or 3 paragraphs).

Process

Product

Fixed position

Consider the following scenario:

You are an interior designer who specializes in the restaurant industry. You are about to embark on two new projects. Although the restaurants are functional, you would recommend a complete overhaul of all areas for both restaurants. However, both restaurants have budgetary constraints and will only be able to afford to focus on two or three areas of improvement. The areas to consider are the exterior, entrance, waiting area, dining area, kitchen, restrooms, and bar. The first restaurant serves high-end food; its operating hours are from 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 a.m.; it’s located downtown in a city; and most customers are professionals who work downtown during the day and people in their 20s–30s who are out for drinks during the evening. The second restaurant serves inexpensive, homestyle meals; its operating hours are from 6:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.; it’s located in a mid-sized town; and most customers are couples and families who enjoy having a meal together.

Which areas would you prioritize and recommend for the downtown restaurant? Which areas would you prioritize and recommend for the family-style restaurant? Explain your recommendations and provide support for your reasoning. (150 words, or 2 paragraphs)

Identify the factors in the decision framework that an organization would use to determine if a product should be produced in-house or outsourced. (75–150 words, or 1–2 paragraphs)

Describe how an organization can use the service process design matrix when it examines its service processes. (150–225 words, or 2–3 paragraphs)

Consider the following process types. Describe at least one example of a product that each process type can produce. For each example you provide, show why there is a good alignment between the process type and product. (375 words, or 5 paragraphs)

Project

Job-shop

Batch

Repetitive

Continuous flow

What are some aspects of an organization’s needs that should affect the design of a warehouse, as well as its operations? Provide at least three examples and explain the impact of each. (225 words, or 3 paragraphs)

Explain the components of a process flow chart for completing a simple business process or job task. Specifically, you should place each step of the process in order and then describe what is involved for each step. You may also create a visual representation of this process flow chart to accompany your explanation, but that is not required. (75–150 words, or 1–2 paragraphs)

Imagine you are the operations manager for a manufacturing plant. Using specific examples to support your response, illustrate how you would go about making capacity decisions, including what factors you would need to take into consideration. In your response, also be sure to describe how capacity, capacity utilization, and process design are interrelated. (150–225 words, or 2–3 paragraphs)