Process Types and Strategies
Choice of process types is a strategic decision in Operations Management. Answer the following and include references to this week’s course materials, specifically “Operations Management Reading: Designing, Managing, and Improving Operations,” to support your response.
- Identify 2 different processes used in your industry and classify them into process types such as job shop, batch processing, assembly line, etc. Explain the rationale for your process type classifications.
- Which companies or similar organizations in your industry would you consider to be recognized leaders in any of these process types? How does that compare to your organization?
- What should management focus on in managing those process types?
Post your initial response by Wednesday, midnight of your time zone, and reply to at least 2 of your classmates’ initial posts by Sunday, midnight of your time zone.
1st person to respond to is Melaine
Good morning Professor and class –
Identify 2 different processes used in your industry and classify them into process types such as job shop, batch processing, assembly line, etc. Explain the rationale for your process type classifications.
I work for a firm that solicits government contracts, and my work has always revolved around designing a successful process to ensure that we give the best service as contractors. We help government agencies by staffing their programs. I would classify our process as a project because the inputs are brought into the assignment as needed, and there is flow in our process. Also, we deal with a unique product every time we have a project to staff government programs. We bring together resources as needed while coordinating them using project management techniques that require teamwork. Process strategy is huge in government contracting to make sure that offer something different so the government will choose us but also something different to potential candidates to get the highest quality employees to fill our staffing positions.
Which companies or similar organizations in your industry would you consider to be recognized leaders in any of these process types? How does that compare to your organization?
As one of the government contractors, the firm I work for is a recognized leader in project, as our process type, since government contractors have to adhere to strict regulations. We compete with other federal contractors who also wish to staff government programs, and we provide the best people to handle any government assignment. Our process focus strategy is to ensure that we align the right people skilled enough to handle the assignment or address a need. We have often exceeded the client’s expectations. We are always developing processes to monitor how we are doing and if there is something that comes up in that process that needs changing, we have a lot of discussions to determine a new way of doing something or changing it to make it work better.
What should management focus on in managing those process types?
The selected process type impacts resources, decisions, and work methods. Therefore, management should focus on ensuring that the process type settled on is the most suitable for the industry and the specific assignment being handled. For instance, a project process may be ideal for a construction site; a job shop for a print shop; a batch process for a bakery; an assembly line for an automobile; and continuous flow for a refinery. Management must match an operation with the right process type.
2nd person to respond 2
Greetings Dr. Chin and Colleagues
The key to any successful business is action. That is, every organization is doing something in the form of value in exchange for money. Value, in this case, could be creating a product or rendering a service. However, business success is not about what the company offers but about maximizing the processes & operations involved in the delivery.
I work in the technology sphere in an organization that operates in the manufacturing industry. Cummins is one of the global leaders in the manufacturing industry, specifically in the heavy-duty engine business.
Several processes go into the creation of an engine. I will focus on the engine blocks and assembly for the emphasis of this discussion. I classify these approaches as batch processing and assembly line (2). The build process starts with boring the cylinder holes in an engine block depending on the specifications of the shop order, be it 4 or 6 cylinders. This step falls under bulk processing as the same boring goes through all blocks on the line. Putting the pieces together to compose the whole engine is an assembly line process (2). The assembly line is sequenced to ensure all components fit in a particular order and are machine-paced (2).
Navistar and Detroit diesel are other significant players in the industry (3). I do not have much insight into their assembly line process composition. However, it’s been efficient enough to make them vital key players.
While the manufacturing lines at Cummins are efficient, the company is living up to its value of innovation. The company is investing in new lines with inbuilt flexibility for different engine configurations. This technology means incorporating patch and line processing in one (2). Focusing on this improvement will yield more output with more variants of the same products.
Regards
Wale.
References
- Cummins (2022) Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cummins.’
- Shapiro, R.D. (2013) “Designing, Managing, and Improving Operations,” Harvard Business School.
- Detroit Diesel ’s competitors, revenue, number of employees … – owler https://www.owler.com/company/detroitdiesel.
