MGT302 week 3Discussion

Mark Bosco

Monday23 Mar at 19:27

Manage discussion entry

I used to work for Walmart, as the backroom supervisor, and I still frequently use Walmart for my personal shopping and grocery needs. When working as the backroom supervisor, my team was responsible for unloading freight trucks. When my managers discussed the expectations of my teams were they described my shift as the heart of the operation. Using the material flow mapping concept, which is a method to identify the sequence of activities. (Wisner, 2017) My team would need to get the product from the truck to the backroom to the floor in a timely manner.  If we were slow unloading the truck, then the overnight stockers would be stressed to get their job done while they had to wait on us to deliver the stock to the floor. Then when the overnight stockers do not finish on time, then the day warehouse crew would have to pick up the slack of placing the overstock in the back room.  Then when the overstock is not stored on the shelves than when I came in to set up for the next truck, I would have to work around the overstock from the previous night. My recommendation to allow the lead to come in earlier than one hour ahead of time. The one hour I was allotted to get the warehouse ready for the day seemed to go by too quickly every day.  Giving lead two hours to prepare for the truck would give him or her the time they need to set the team up for success. 

References

Wisner, J. D. (2017).  Operations management: A supply chain process approach . Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu

Jessica Fishback

Yesterday24 Mar at 13:23

Manage discussion entry

Theory of Constraints:

“Theory of constraints, or TOC, is a philosophy that a system is only as strong as its weakest part” (Wisner, 2017, Ch. 4.3). This means that having a weak area in an organization can affect the rest of the organization because an organization works as a whole. The TOC might be used to explain operating conditions at a business or organization I frequently visit, such as Amazon.  Amazon is an American multinational e-commerce company that sells almost anything you could imagine. While it is not a physical store, they still use TOC because even when constraints, such as internet connection or the interaction from transactions to the warehouse, can cause the business to have a weakness that would affect their overall business process. One process that I would recommend to improve this organization would be some of the items are not of good quality or have clear descriptions of the items.  For instance, when purchasing from Amazon, it is essential to read the reviews before purchasing and never purchase anything with zero reviews. By updating this process within their business, it will help with customer service and returns of items. Customer service would be a huge benefit because those customers that are unhappy with the purchase, it will give them a preconceived notion with their future purchases with Amazon. So, building that loyalty and confidence in the customer would bring returning customers as well. This would help reduce costs because the company would spend less on stock of those items and spend less on warehouses to house returns.

 

Resource

Wisner, J.D. (2017). Operations management: A supple chain process approach. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu