RECENT ASSIGNMENT

2. Visit a furniture store and a sandwich or snack shop Observe how each shop operates, for
example, where customers go, how staff interact with them, how big it is, how the shop
has chosen to use its space, what variety of products it offers, and so on. Talk with the
staff and managers if you can. Think about how the shops you have visited are similar to
IKEA and Pret A Manger, and how they differ. Then consider the question, ‘What
implications do the differences between the shops you visited and the two described in
Chapter 1 have for their operations management?’ (Marks 4+4=8)
3. Read again the description of fast-food drive-through processes at the beginning of the
chapter 4. Now draw a process map of a Burger production. (Marks 4)
4. Case Study
When Daimler-Chrysler started to examine the feasibility of the Smart town car, the challenge
was not just to examine the economic feasibility of the product but also to build in environmental
sensitivity to the design of the product and the process that was to make it. This is why
environmental protection is now a fundamental part of all production activities in its ‘Smartville’
plant at Hambach near France’s border with Germany. The product itself is designed on
environmentally compatible principles. Even before assembly starts, the product’s disassembly
must be considered. In fact, the modular construction of the Smart car helped to guarantee
economical dismantling at the end of its life. This also helps with the recycling of materials.
Over 85 per cent of the Smart’s components are recyclable and recycled material is used in its
initial construction. For example, the Smart’s instrument panel comprises 12 per cent recycled
plastic material. Similarly, production processes are designed to be ecologically sustainable. The
plant’s environmentally friendly painting technique allows less paint to be used while
maintaining a high quality of protection. It also involves no solvent emission and no hazardous
waste, as well as the recycling of surplus material. But it is not only the use of new technology
that contributes to the plant’s ecological credentials. Ensuring a smooth and efficient movement
of materials within the plant also saves time, effort and, above all, energy. So, traffic flow
outside and through the building has been optimized, buildings are made accessible to suppliers
delivering to the plant, and conveyor systems are designed to be loaded equally in both directions
so as to avoid empty runs. The company even claims that the buildings themselves are a model
for ecological compatibility. No construction materials contain formaldehyde or CFCs and the
outside of the buildings are lined with ‘TRESPA’, a raw material made from European timber
that is quick to regenerate.
Questions-
a) What you have learned through this case? (marks 5)
b) Could it be applied in Bangladesh? If yes, How? If not, Why? (marks 5)