Operations Processes and Life Cycles

Craft Era
Before the industrial revolution,
characterised by artisans making
customised goods from their small
businesses
Simple Project: simple house
construction, large sculptures
Job Shop: hand made shoes, furniture
or jewellery making
Batch Process: bakery, wine making,
woollen products

Mass Production Era
After the industrial revolution, 4
process typed emerged
Complex Projects: large scale bridge,
road building
Batch Production: newspaper
printing, industrial bakery, classroom
education
Assembly Line: domestic goods,
computers, automotive assembly
Flow Process: paper manufacturing, oil
and steel production

Strategic Operations Era
Modern day, more is required of businesses to meet the increasing demand of customers
Lean Production: removal of all waste from processes
Agile Manufacuring: ability to alter any aspect of an operation to meet demand
Mass Customisation: production of low cost goods in quantities customised for individual users
Innovation and Continuous Improvement: innovation is rapid and there is significant change.
CI is incremental change

Process Types in Materials Processing Operations
Project Made or provided on site as it is too large/difficult to move
afterwards
Recourses are brought to the site and reallocated once their
part of the task is completed
Examples dams, tunnels, roads, bridges
Job Shop One off or special product, product is transportable
One person or small group do everything
Examples: speciality furniture, spectacles
Batch Production Standard, repeat products where volume of demand justifies
the process investment
Eg machined parts, printing, bakery products
Mass (Line)
Production
Standard, repeat, high volume, mass products
Sequential process
Examples car assembly, domestic goods assembly
Continuous
Processing
Standard, very high volume of products
Materials are processed through successive stages, automatic
transfer of the product from stage to stage




Process Types in Customer Processing Operations
Professional Service High degree of labour intensity, low degree of capital intensity
High degree of interaction and customisation (high contact)
Examples doctors, lawyers, accountants, architects
Mass Service Equipment based (high degree of capital intensity)
Low degree of interaction and customisation
Examples retailing, airport, underground train service
Service Shop Mix between people and equiptment
Medium degree of interaction and customisation
Examples: hospital outpatients, auto repair services

Challenges for Professional Services and Mass Services
Professional Service Mass Service
Hiring Attention to physical surroundings
Training Capital decisions
Reacting to customer intervention in process Technological advances
Gaining employee loyalty
Flexibility of process design
Maintaining quality

Product Life Cycle


Service Firm Life Cycle
Entrepreneurship
concept development
owner is central
limited cost control and technology
can vary output
Multi Size Rationalization
development of service
flat hierarchy develops
standards emerge
Growth
geographic growth
function specialists come into play
developed cost systems and production systems
Maturity
unit costs developed
tasks uncertainty is completely gone
all procedures are in place
Decline