Chapter 7: Mass customization of products has become a common approach in manufacturing organizations. Explain the ways in which mass customization can be applied to service firms as well. While mass customization is a viable option in manufacturing with digital factories and employing lean manufacturing designs, service firms have to employ a more productive environment to make mass customization profitable. Mass customization refers to using mass production technologies to quickly and cost-effectively assemble goods that are uniquely designed to fit the demands of individual customers (Daft, 2016, p. 271). The key challenge for service mass customization is to translate information about consumer preferences gained through market research into a format that can be easily used for service modularization decisions and customer-contact personnel training (Haas & Kunz, n.d., p. 603). In the service arena, mass customization becomes an ongoing configuration process with direct involvement of the customer coupled with professional advice by service personnel who understand the configuration rules and know them by heart. A clear understanding of the customer’s needs is required, as well as a requirement by service personnel to provide the customer clear and concise configuration options that strike the perfect balance between flexibility and complexity. Also, a continuous interaction between frontline contact personnel and the customer is a consequence that must be
Optimization of machinery so that production setups are not required for small customizations which can be managed manually.
In this task I will be looking at costumer service and the affects it has on businesses. I will be looking into the Morrison’s organisation who is the UK’s fourth largest food retailer with over 400 stores. There business is mainly food and grocery where costumers go for their weekly shop. Every week nine million customers pass through their doors and 132,000 colleagues across the business work hard each day to deliver great service to them. Morrison’s started in 1889 by William Morrison who started from a stall in a Bradford market came to the inspiration to innovate and lead the way in supermarket retailing.
Real-world businesses with customers which require product flexibility, in lower volumes, have the beginnings of a job shop production process (Choudhari, Adil, & Ananthakumar, 2012). Such a beginning is further evidenced when the job force is made up of highly skilled employees that are able to help create a wide array of products (Pederson, Dresdow, & Benson, 2013). The job shop process is also very widely used because of its many advantages, and despite the scheduling challenges which it presents (Meredith & Shafer, 2013). Organizations
This course focuses on services management in general and service operations in particular. It explores the elements that unite services, that differentiate service processes from non-service processes and that differentiate various types of services from each other. Customers generally participate in the service process, often with direct and uncensored interactions with employees and facilities. The resulting
12. Research has shown that only about three out of every four customers are, on average, satisfied by a firm’s marketing programs. Give an example of a purchase you made where you were not satisfied and what the firm could have changed to satisfy you. If customer satisfaction is so important to firms, why don’t they score better in this area?
3. (TCO H) Marketers recognize that the marketing of services is different than the marketing of a product because of the different characteristics that distinguish them from physical products. How do marketers communicate the value of services to consumers? How do they make these intangible services appear tangible to the consumer? What are some marketing strategies that might be employed with services to
In the manufacturing company of Wrangler Jeans (manufacturing environment), the output is better described as goods. These goods have a tangible sense to them. These goods to a consumer can be felt, seen, touched and manipulated as desired. However, with the services environment consumers are more of an intangible product offered. Plainly put these explanations give us the distinct difference between these two environments with regards to how the consumer is able to see these products. As an example with these companies Wrangler Jeans manufacturers pants that are worn by a consumer, whereas Verizon provides services for consumers including television and cell service.
Customer demand and product preference should be focused on to produce more of what the customer wants and to allow for stock reduction.
The main idea in the article “Product Placement and Advergming” by Michael Solomon is the usage of real products or brands in fictional movies, television shows, and video games and its effects on todays’ growing economy. The first point that the author brings up is that at one time in history the television networks ordered that if a name brand product was to be operated into in any film, it needed to be altered. Solomon gives the example of Melrose Place transforming the name of a cell phone from “Nokia” to “Nokio”. However, in today’s media world there is a widespread variety of name brands incorporated into the networks. Sometimes companies pay billions of dollars to get recognition and other times they just get lucky with free advertisement. Correspondingly, the author states that now- a- days it is so common to see products
* The challenges of serving corporate customers with a variety of needs in terms of size of organization and how progressive and open to change these companies were. Based on the
Tangible goods, or rather manufactured goods, have been the dominant medium of exchange for centuries. However, recent decades have proved that it is no longer the case as there has been a prevalence of being service oriented (Vargo and Lusch, 2004:1-2). Services, as defined by Vargo and Lusch (2004), are “the application of specialized competences (knowledge and skills) through deeds, processes, and performances for the benefit of another entity or the entity itself (p.2).” Utilizing services gives businesses an edge, a competitive advantage, particularly in an evolving competitive market, something which Metalfrio is definitely part of (Vargo and Lusch, 2004:9). Those businesses that learn to adapt tend to do well. In addition, Vargo and Lusch (2004) write this shift to services is also a shift from producer perspective to a customer perspective (p.2). Thus, it leads to more of a collaborative effort where co-creation leads to adding value to the service rather than a product having value (Vargo and Lusch, 2004:6). Also, customers rather develop relationships with those that can provide a range of related services over an extended period of time, thus allowing businesses retain their clients for the long term (Vargo and Lusch, 2004:13). Overall, service oriented marketing is a direction that businesses should be headed towards to ensure that they can remain relevant and competitive in the
Q#1 Marketing has been described as being both an "art" and a "science." Discuss the differences and similarities between these two marketing thrusts. Provide your theoretical response and a "real-life" example where you have seen both processes work effectively at creating customer value and loyalty
From a production management perspective Hobday (1998) discusses that product characteristics – especially those of complex product and systems (CoPS) – play a major role in shaping organisational structures and industrial coordination. Novak & Eppinger (2001) further argue that product complexity and vertical integration are also directly related. Vertical integration is the degree to which a firm decides to own its upstream or downstream supply chain (Novak and Eppinger, 2001). Novak & Eppinger (2001) argue that coordination of product engineers, designers and purchasing agents will result in improved performance, as they each play a role in “make or buy” decisions that determine the level of vertical integration (Novak and Eppinger, 2001: 202). Salvador et al. (2002) claim that despite the interdependence of product, process and supply chain design there is
Chan H (2001) states, “note here that the business drives the specification of the product and the consumer chooses whether or not to buy a prefabricated product. An example of this in the traditional commerce is purchasing suits of the rack”.
While the customized nature of B&B’s products isn’t conducive to the type of streamlining seen in volume manufacturing applications, they can