Operations Management for MBAs, 5th Edition

CHAPTER 2

Process Planning and Design

CHAPTER IN PERSPECTIVE

Chapter 1 described some operations strategies to enhance an organization's competitiveness and identified critical factors in providing value to the customer. As shown in the accompanying diagram, the next task is the selection and design of the transformation process that can deliver those factors—low cost, high quality, innovative outputs, customization, fast reponse, and so on—in an efficient and effective manner. If an organization is using the wrong transformation process, frequently because the organization has changed or the market has changed over time, it will not be competitive on some of these critical value factors. The chapter begins with an overview of the five major types of transformation processes and their respective advantages and disadvantages. Next, issues related to the selection of a competitive transformation process, such as considerations of volume, variety, and product life cycles, are discussed. Last, explicit attention is given to some of the unique aspects of designing service operations.

INTRODUCTION

• Louis Vuitton, one of the luxury goods brands of giant LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, has the unusual problem of making its products in volume for the world's rich, and aspiring rich, ...