Assessment 4 due in 48 hours

OP3002: Product Flow and Product-Process Strategy – Employ product flow processes and product-process strategies for an organization

Written Response Submission Form

Your Name: First and last

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Instructions

Write your responses where it reads “Enter your response here.” Write as much, as needed, to satisfy the requirements indicated. Each item contains the Rubric, which will be used to evaluate your responses.

Item 1

Identify the factors in the decision framework that an organization would use to determine if a product should be produced in-house or outsourced. Your response should be 75–150 words (1–2 paragraphs) in length. Be sure to reference at least one scholarly source to support your answer.

Your Response

An organization should use factors such as the availability and quality of contract services, cost effectiveness, timeliness, risk management, availability of in-house staff to perform the function, whether the function can legally be outsources, whether it’s an ownership or management function and whether it can compromise the ownership role. The function to be outsources should legally outsourced and it should be a management function (Merola et al, 2018). It should not compromise the ownership role. There should also be quality contract services for a product to be outsourced. The outsourcing option should be more cost effective than producing in-house.

Rubric

Module 1: Process Design
	0 Not Present	1 Needs Improvement	2 Meets Expectations
Identify the factors in the decision framework that an organization would use to determine if a product should be produced in-house or outsourced. LO1.1: Identify factors that determine outsourcing decisions	Response is not present.	Identification of the factors in the decision framework that an organization would use to determine if a product should be produced in-house or outsourced is vague, inaccurate, and/or incomplete.	Response provides a clear, accurate, and complete identification of the factors in the decision framework that an organization would use to determine if a product should be produced in-house or outsourced.

Item 2

Describe how an organization can use the service process design matrix when it examines its service processes. Your response should be 150–225 words (2–3 paragraphs) in length. Be sure to reference at least one scholarly source to support your answer.

Your Response

The service process design matrix uses characteristics such as the degree of labor intensity, a jointly measured degree of customer interaction and customization to classify the service industry firms. An organization can use the service process design matrix to investigate the strategic changes in service operations. The design matrix has four quadrants including the service factory, service shop, mass service and professional service (Merola et al, 2018). Organizations can locate where they are in the design matrix and identify the unique managerial challenges that are associated with each matrix. Service firms can improve their performance by identifying the challenges that are associated with their quadrant.

Service firms in the service shop include auto repair shops, restaurants and hospitals. These are characterized by a high degree of customization and interaction and low labor intensity. Those in the mass service quadrant are schools and wholesale or retail firms. In the professional service quadrant, there is a high degree of interaction, customization and labor intensity. Those in the service factory have to closely monitor technological advances. If a firm has low customer interaction, it faces more marketing challenges. Therefore, the matrix can be used to analyze the services offered in terms of their advantages and disadvantages.

Rubric

Module 1: Process Design
	0 Not Present	1 Needs Improvement	2 Meets Expectations
Describe how an organization can use the service process design matrix when it examines its service processes. LO1.2.1: Explain the features and function of the service process design matrix	Response is not present.	Description of how an organization can use the service process design matrix when it examines its service processes is vague, inaccurate, and/or incomplete.	Response provides a clear, accurate, and complete description of how an organization can use the service process design matrix when it examines its service processes.

Item 3

When considering the design process of a product, what would a product-oriented organization hope to accomplish most from the design? What would a service-oriented organization hope to accomplish most with a service process design? Your response should be 150 words (2 paragraphs) in length. Be sure to reference at least one scholarly source to support your answer.

Your Response

A product-oriented organization should hope to accomplish the development of a new product that would be competitive in the industry. The organization should meet customer demand by designing a product that has the characteristics and features desired by the customers. “Product design should be aimed at creating a good that has excellent functional utility and sales appeal at an acceptable cost and within a reasonable time” (). A product-oriented organization should produce a product that is better than the existing ones in terms of service life, price, quality, performance and appearance.

A service-oriented organization must hope to accomplish customer satisfaction by providing quality and affordable services. A company should also hope to increase its profitability and improve the quality of services it provides to the customers. Ideas have to be conceptualized and evaluated and turned into services. An organization should hope to reduce its cost and improve the performance of a particular service.

Rubric

Module 1: Process Design
	0 Not Present	1 Needs Improvement	2 Meets Expectations
Explain what a product-oriented organization would hope to accomplish most from the design process of a product. LO1.3.1: Describe how products can be produced according to various process types	Response is not present.	Explanation of what a product-oriented organization would hope to accomplish most from the design process of a product is vague, inaccurate, and/or incomplete.	Response provides a clear, accurate, and complete explanation of what a product-oriented organization would hope to accomplish most from the design process of a product.
Explain what a service-oriented organization would hope to accomplish most with a service process design. LO1.2.2: Explain the features and function of the service process design matrix	Response is not present.	Explanation of what a service-oriented organization would hope to accomplish most with a service process design is vague, inaccurate, and/or incomplete.	Response provides a clear, accurate, and complete explanation of what a service-oriented organization would hope to accomplish most with a service process design.

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Item 4

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.

· Project

· Job-shop

· Batch

· Repetitive

· Continuous flow

Your response should be 375 words (5 paragraphs) in length. Be sure to reference at least one scholarly source to support your answer.

Your Response

In the project process type, only one unit is manufactured at a time. This production type is used for individual customers or very large projects. The operational manager must maintain frequent communication with customers because their preferences and needs play a decisive role in the output. An example of a product would be a yacht. There is a good alignment between the project-based process type and a yacht because operation managers must communicate with the yacht owner while they produce it. The operation manager can only produce one yacht at a time.

An example of a product that can be manufactured by job-shop is clothes. Customized clothes can be manufactured using the job-shop process type. Various types of clothes can be manufactured in small lot sizes. Job-shop production involves producing small batches of various custom products (Holweg et al, 2018). Clothes such as dresses, skirts, suits and socks can be manufactured using job shop production. A small batch of clothing material can be produced and used for the production of complete clothes such as skirts and dresses. A clothing company can also produce dresses and then trousers.

An example of a product to be manufactured using batch production is a plate or a cup. Cups can be mass-produced in batches. When producing cups, a company may want to make minor changes to the cups such as their sizes and colors. These changes can be done between the batches (Holweg et al, 2018). The company can input all the materials to undergo a single production stage before they are moved to another stage to make the cups. Cups fit the batch process type because they can be produced in smaller quantities.

An example of a product that fits the repetitive process type is a tissue paper. Tissue papers are conveniently produced in production lines. One cannot produce a single tissue paper as this will not be cost effective. The tissue papers fit the repetitive process type because a company can create standardized tissue papers because there is no need for changes. For a company to be economical, it has to produce as many tissue papers as possible.

An example of a product that fits continuous flow is steel. This is because steel is a homogenous product and can be produced 24/7 to increase efficiency and reduce costs. The production system of steel can also be highly automated. The process can run be kept running every time as stopping it would be a waste of production time.

Rubric

Module 1: Process Design
	0 Not Present	1 Needs Improvement	2 Meets Expectations
Describe at least one example of a product that each process type (project, job-shop, batch, repetitive, and continuous flow) can produce. LO1.3.2: Describe how products can be produced according to various process types	Response is not present.	Description of at least one example of a product that each process type (project, job-shop, batch, repetitive, and continuous flow) can produce is vague, inaccurate, and/or incomplete.	Response provides a clear, accurate, and complete description of at least one example of a product that each process type (project, job-shop, batch, repetitive, and continuous flow) can produce.
For each example you provide, identify why there is good alignment between the process type and product. LO1.4: Apply the alignment of products to various process types	Response is not present.	Identification for each example of why there is good alignment between the process type and product is vague, inaccurate, and/or incomplete.	Response provides a clear, accurate, and complete identification for each example of why there is good alignment between the process type and product.

Item 5

Describe the following layout types and identify at least two products that are manufactured by each layout type.

· Process

· Product

· Fixed position

Your response should be 225 words (3 paragraphs) in length. Be sure to reference at least one scholarly source to support your answer.

Your Response

Process layouts group resources based on similar functions or processes. Companies that have intermittent processing systems are likely to use process layouts. There is no specific production sequence used to arrange machinery in a process layout. “You would see a process layout in an environment with a large variety of products produced in low volumes” (de Negreiros et al, 2019). Because various items are produced, it is impossible to dedicate a team to each item. Resources are based on their functions. The two products manufactured by a process layout are women clothes, screwdrivers and car parts. One can see the women clothes in a particular area while men clothes placed in another different area.

In product layout, the machines, equipment and tools are located according to the way the product is made. This layout type can also be called the assembly line because products are passed from one station to another as they are made. The sequence of operations is used to arrange products. Only one product can be produced in a particular operating area. Examples are products that can produced in large quantities such as tissue paper and juices.

Fixed position layout occurs where the product stays stationary or remains in the same position and the workers come to build it on site. It is ideal for large products or the ones that are fragile. Examples of products using the fixed position layout are aircrafts, automated car washes and shipbuilding.

Rubric

Module 2: Layout Planning
	0 Not Present	1 Needs Improvement	2 Meets Expectations
Describe the process, product, and fixed position layout types, including at least two products that are manufactured by each layout type. LO2.1.1: Describe types of planning layouts that organizations use	Response is not present.	Description of the process, product, and fixed position layout types, including at least two products that are manufactured by each layout type, is vague, inaccurate, and/or incomplete.	Response provides a clear, accurate, and complete description of the process, product, and fixed position layout types, including at least two products that are manufactured by each layout type.

Item 6

Describe cellular manufacturing layouts. Explain why organizations would want to use this type of layout and what are some reasons for organizations to avoid this type of layout. Your response should be 75–150 words (1–2 paragraphs) in length. Be sure to reference at least one scholarly source to support your answer.

Your Response

Cellular manufacturing layout occurs whereby multiple cells are used in an assembly line form. Each cell has various machines that complete a particular task. Products have to move from one cell to another cell until the manufacturing process is completed. Companies would want to use cellular manufacturing to decrease costs and increase flexibility (de Negreiros et al, 2019). Cellular manufacturing would guarantee faster processing times, less work-in-progress inventory, reduced set up time and less material handling. Organizations can avoid this layout because it would be difficult to handle increases as demand as the cells would have to be aligned again to match the increased requirements.

Rubric

Module 2: Layout Planning
	0 Not Present	1 Needs Improvement	2 Meets Expectations
Describe cellular manufacturing layouts, including why an organization would want to use this type of layout and what some of the reasons are for organizations to avoid this type of layout. LO2.1.2: Describe types of planning layouts that organizations use	Response is not present.	Description of cellular manufacturing layouts, including why an organization would want to use this type of layout and what some of the reasons are for organizations to avoid this type of layout is vague, inaccurate, and/or incomplete.	Response provides a clear, accurate, and complete description of cellular manufacturing layouts, including why an organization would want to use this type of layout and what some of the reasons are for organizations to avoid this type of layout.

Item 7

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. Your response should be 150 words (2 paragraphs) in length. Be sure to reference at least one scholarly source to support your answer.

Your Response

For the downtown restaurant, I would prioritize the dining area, bar and the kitchen. Since the downtown restaurant is attended by professionals, they must need a bar where they can have their favorite drinks. The professionals need a comfortable place to sit while enjoying their meals and drinks (Zhang et al, 2019). The dining area should be improved to ensure that it is welcoming and the customers feel comfortable. The restaurant kitchen needs improvements such as new commercial equipment that can make the high-end foods for people in their 20s-30s.

For the family-style restaurant, I would prioritize the waiting area, entrance and exterior. The waiting area should be able to accommodate a large number of people because the restaurant is likely to be attended by a large number of people. I would also ensure that the entrance is attractive by using a good theme. The exterior should be attractive for the families to come to the restaurant.

Rubric

Module 2: Layout Planning
	0 Not Present	1 Needs Improvement	2 Meets Expectations
Choose areas to prioritize for improvements to a high-end and a family-style restaurant, including an explanation of recommendations for both restaurants and support for your reasoning. LO2.2: Choose appropriate layout improvements for a business	Response is not present.	Illustration of areas to prioritize for improvements to a high-end restaurant and a family-style restaurant, including an explanation of recommendations for both restaurants and support for the reasoning, is vague, inaccurate, and/or incomplete.	Response provides a clear, accurate, and complete illustration of areas to prioritize for improvements to a high-end restaurant and a family-style restaurant, including an explanation of recommendations for both restaurants and support for the reasoning.

Item 8

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. Your response should be 225 words (3 paragraphs) in length. Be sure to reference at least one scholarly source to support your answer.

Your Response

The aspects of an organization’s need that should affect warehouse design and operations are flow, accessibility, space and time. An organization needs to move its products freely. Therefore, it should design the warehouse in such a way that products can be moved freely. Minimum amount of time should be spent moving the goods to and from the warehouse. The activities that are closely related should be placed together to reduce time wastage. An organization should consider the traffic and likelihood of clashes when moving goods.

The available space also affects the design of a warehouse. An organization should allocate more space for storing goods than the space allocated for minor activities. If a warehouse stores cement or raw materials for manufacturing tissue paper, there should be more space for storing the raw materials and less space for removing the raw materials from the warehouse (Zhang et al, 2019). Organizations can put up flexible walls that can be changed anytime as technology allows them to construct walls that stand alone.

The throughput also affects the warehouse design. Some organizations may store products that are more delicate. Their storage should consider the fact that the products can be broken anytime. Some of the products may also need to be moved from the warehouse frequently. If a product flows at a high speed through a system, the warehouse should be designed in a way that it allows constant movement.

Rubric

Module 2: Layout Planning
	0 Not Present	1 Needs Improvement	2 Meets Expectations
Explain aspects of an organization’s needs that should affect the design of a warehouse, including three examples and an explanation of the impact of each. LO2.3: Explain the impact of an organization’s needs on the design of a warehouse	Response is not present.	Explanation of aspects of an organization’s needs that should affect the design of a warehouse, including three examples and an explanation of the impact of each, is vague, inaccurate, and/or incomplete.	Response provides a clear, accurate, and complete explanation of aspects of an organization’s needs that should affect the design of a warehouse, including three examples and an explanation of the impact of each.
Explain aspects of an organization’s needs that should affect its warehouse operations, including three examples and an explanation of the impact of each. LO2.4: Explain the impact of an organization’s needs on the operation of a warehouse	Response is not present.	Explanation of aspects of an organization’s needs that should affect its warehouse operations, including three examples and an explanation of the impact of each, is vague, inaccurate, and/or incomplete.	Response provides a clear, accurate, and complete explanation of aspects of an organization’s needs that should affect its warehouse operations, including three examples and an explanation of the impact of each.

Item 9

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. Your response should be 75–150 words (1–2 paragraphs) in length. Be sure to reference at least one scholarly source to support your answer.

Your Response

The components of a process flow chart are the event, activity, flow, gateway and participants. In a process flow chart, there must be an event that triggers the process to begin or to end. The activity refers to the tasks performed by a system or people. The flows are connecting lines that show the direction of the process (Yang et al, 2019). Gateways are the decisions that may change the path of a process while the participants are the systems or people doing various tasks. The process flow chart must follow the order of an event, flow, activity, flow, gateway, activity and finally an event.

Rubric

Module 2: Layout Planning
	0 Not Present	1 Needs Improvement	2 Meets Expectations
Explain the components of a process flow chart for completing a simple business process or job task, including placing the steps of the process in order and then describing what is involved for each step. LO2.5: Explain how a process is represented in a process flow chart	Response is not present.	Explanation of the components of a process flow chart for completing a simple business process or job task, including placing the steps of the process in order and then describing what is involved for each step, is vague, inaccurate, and/or incomplete.	Response provides a clear, accurate, and complete explanation of the components of a process flow chart for completing a simple business process or job task, including placing the steps of the process in order and then describing what is involved for each step.

Item 10

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. Your response should be 150–225 words (2–3 paragraphs) in length. Be sure to reference at least one scholarly source to support your answer.

Your Response

To make capacity decisions, I would first assess the existing capacity in the plant. For example, the number of cars being manufactured in a day would be evaluated. I would consider factors such as facilities, products, processes, human factors, operational and external factors. It would be good to ensure that there is provision for expansion when designing facilities. Factors such as transportation costs, labor supply and energy sources would also be considered as locational factors (Yazgan et al, 2018). Product design would also affect capacity utilization. If the output is uniform, the methods used for production can be standardized. For example, a restaurant that provides only tea and coffee can serve its customers faster.

Capacity utilization refers to how much of a factory’s production capacity is currently being utilized. It is the manufacturing capability that an enterprise utilizes at a given time. The maximum amount of manufacturing operation that can be produced is the capacity. The process design must be done in such a way that it fully utilizes the available capacity. It should also be done in such a way that it can handle increases in customer demand.

Rubric

Module 3: Capacity Planning
	0 Not Present	1 Needs Improvement	2 Meets Expectations
Illustrate how to make capacity decisions, including specific examples, factors that would need to be considered, as well as a description of the interrelationship of capacity, capacity utilization, and process design. LO3.1: Illustrate how capacity decisions are made LO3.2: Describe the relationships among capacity, capacity utilization, and process design	Response is not present.	Illustration of how to make capacity decisions, including specific examples, factors that would need to be considered, as well as a description of the interrelationship of capacity, capacity utilization, and process design, is vague, inaccurate, and/or incomplete.	Response provides a clear, accurate, and complete illustration of how to make capacity decisions, including specific examples, factors that would need to be considered, as well as a description of the interrelationship of capacity, capacity utilization, and process design.

References

Provide a citation for each resource you used to write your response to this Assessment. A sample citation is provided below:

de Negreiros, A. W. F., da Silva, P. R., Arezes, P. M. F. M., Dangelino, R., & Padula, R. S. (2019). Manufacturing assembly serial and cells layouts impact on rest breaks and workers’ health. International Journal of Industrial Ergonomics, 70, 22-27.

Holweg, M., Davies, J., De Meyer, A., Lawson, B., & Schmenner, R. W. (2018). Process theory: The principles of operations management. Oxford University Press.

Merola, E., Padoano, E., & Zuliani, V. (2016). An analytic hierarchy process-based framework to support outsourcing decisions on hospital sterilisation. International Journal of Business and Systems Research, 10(2-4), 142-161.

Yang, G. L., Fukuyama, H., & Song, Y. Y. (2019). Estimating capacity utilization of Chinese manufacturing industries. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, 67, 94-110.

Yazgan, E., & Yilmaz, A. K. (2018). Designing flow chart for aircraft type training in aviation training process management. Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology.

Zhang, H., Guo, Z., Zhang, W., Cai, H., Wang, C., Yu, Y., ... & Wang, J. (2019). Layout design for intelligent warehouse by evolution with fitness approximation. IEEE Access, 7, 166310-166317.

Professional Skills Assessment

In this Competency Assessment, you will be assessed on the following Professional Skills: Written Communication, Information Literacy, and Inquiry & Analysis. These skills count toward your achievement of the Competency and the Professional Skills.

Professional Skills Assessment	0 Not Present	1 Needs Improvement	2 Meets Expectations
Written Communication: Write with clarity, coherence, and purpose.
LO1: Construct complete and correct sentences (AWE 2; Sentence Level Skills)	Sentences are incoherent and impede reader’s access to ideas.	Sentences are incomplete and/or include fragments and run-on sentences, limiting reader’s access to ideas.	Sentence structure effectively conveys meaning to the reader.
LO2: Demonstrate the effective use of grammar and mechanics (AWE 2; Sentence Level Skills)	Multiple inaccuracies in grammar and mechanics impede reader’s access to ideas.	Some inaccuracies in grammar and mechanics limit reader’s access to ideas.	Use of grammar and mechanics is straightforward and effectively conveys meaning to reader.
LO3: Create cohesive paragraphs with a clear central idea (AWE 2; Paragraph Level Skills)	Paragraphs, or lack of paragraphs, impede reader’s access to ideas.	Construction of main idea and/or supporting paragraphs limits reader’s access to ideas.	Main idea and/or supporting paragraphs effectively convey meaning to reader.
LO4: Use supporting material to support a claim (AWE 2; Use of Evidence)	Supporting material is not present.	Supporting material is used inconsistently or inappropriately.	Supporting material is used to enhance meaning. Writing is appropriately paraphrased and uses direct quotes as applicable.
LO5: Demonstrate appropriate essay level writing skills, providing transitions between an introduction, body, and conclusion (AWE 2; Essay Level Skills)	Ideas are disorganized with no/poor transitions.	Ideas are loosely organized with unclear paragraphing and transitions.	Ideas are organized with cohesive transitions.
LO6: Identify sources (AWE 2; Credit to source)	Sources are missing.	Writing inconsistently identifies or misrepresents sources.	Writing clearly identifies the source of nonoriginal material and/or ideas.
Information Literacy: Apply strategies to evaluate information in order to effectively analyze issues and make decisions.
LO1: Identify and locate credible sources	No sources or non-credible sources are present.	Sources are inconsistently credible, appropriate, and relevant to the topic and/or assessment.	Sources are mostly credible, appropriate, and relevant to the topic and/or assessment.
LO2: Analyze information sources	Analysis is not present.	Analysis superficially applies aspects of sources that are most relevant to the topic and/or assessment, and/or analysis is unclear.	Analysis thoroughly and clearly applies aspects of sources that are most relevant to the topic and/or assessment.
Inquiry & Analysis: Apply strategies to identify, frame, and evaluate problems.
LO1: Identify a problem or question in a selected area of study	No problem or question is presented.	The problem or question is vague or inappropriate to the selected field of study.	The problem or question is clearly stated in a form appropriate to the selected field of study.
LO2: Use a logical organizing principle to identify the key parts or elements of a problem or question in a selected field of study	Elements or parts of the problem or question are not presented.	Elements or parts of the problem or question are presented in a disorganized manner.	Elements or parts of the problem or question are presented in an organized manner.

Mastery Rubric

In order to achieve mastery of this Competency, you must achieve a “2” on every rubric row in addition to meeting the additional expectation indicated in the Mastery Rubric.

Mastery Rubric	No	Yes
Exceeds Expectations: In-Depth Analysis: Explores issues/objects/works through the collection and analysis of evidence that result in informed conclusions/judgments.
LO1: Analyze multiple, relevant sources and examples to employ product flow processes and product-process strategies for an organization	Responses to the items do not consistently integrate information from relevant sources and examples to employ product flow processes and product-process strategies for an organization.	Responses to the items consistently integrate information from relevant sources and examples to employ product flow processes and product-process strategies for an organization.

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