Operations Management Improving a Process

Operations Management

Improving a Process at Apple

In any organization there will be numerous small processes which are part of the larger operations of the firm, either forming part of the internal supply chain process, or a function supporting the operations. In a very basic approach toward process improvement, Porter argues that anything that is not needed as part of a process, does not add value or is not needed to support the processes should be eliminated or modified to minimize the waste if a firm wishes to maximize value and efficiency (Mintzberg et al., 2008). The aim of this paper is to look at a single process in a firm and consider how it may be improved, the firm is Apple and the process is the sales process in the firms own stores.

Slide

In any organization there will always be room for improvement; very few processes will be perfect. To undertake an improvement it is necessary to look at how improvements may be found. The first approach is to look at processes in order to identified inefficiencies which create waste. In this case waste may be considered in a board sense, it is not only physical material, such as those used for production purposes, but includes less tangible aspects such as the way equipment is used which may waste the facilities of that resources, as well as time being wasted, labor and even overheads, such as the use of utilities, may also cause inefficiencies. In other words; where any tangible or intangible resources is not used to its maximum capacity

Johnson and Clark (2005) argue that as well as reducing inefficiencies, improvements to a process, especially a service process, may be through the creation of additional value, for example improving the service which may make the firm preferable compared to competitors, improving the competitive position.

The last consideration will be to asses of an area that has been identified as having the potential is viable for improvement; for example, is there actually a better way of doing it, is it practical and is it cost effective? If these criteria are not meet other areas of improvement may be sought.

With this in mid the existing process at Apple may be assessed to identify areas where there may be waste or there is room for improvement.

Slide 3

The flow chart showing the process has been examined, with the areas where there are waste or inefficiencies marked in red. The first follows the initial enquiry by the sales assistant to see if the customer would like help, if they say no, they are just left alone; there may be wasted opportunities here, especially if a customer subsequently wants help.

The second area of waste is seen when the customer is asked if they want help for a new product or an existing product, where there is an exiting product query the costumer is taken to a different member of staff. This occurs despite the fact most of the staff have a very good knowledge f the existing products, undertaken as part of their training. This also increases the complexity and staffing requirements of the scheduling to ensure both sections of the store are staffed. It may create a disjointed feeling for the customers who have a query on an existing product; it also increases the costs due to the staff arrangements and lack of inter-changeability when the staff are working.

The last area of inefficiency is seen when a sale is made. If the customer wants a printed receipt it is sent wireless from the hand held sales unit to the printer, with the member of staff walking over to the printer, this can be problematic in several ways as there is only one printer. When the store is busy there may be a short delay due to a print queue or the need to refill it with paper or ink, however the greatest delay is due to the walk that the staff have to make, sometimes through a very busy store, causing delays, and sometimes a degree of uncertainty on the part of the customers as they wait for sales person to return.