If a new technology does not reduce costs. Should it be used?

. If costs are not reduced, but time is reduced, then it should be considered to be used. Cost is no doubt important, but it is not the case always, rather sometimes other factors are more crucial such as waiting time of customers. If a new technology reduces shipping time from 5 days to 2 days, then it is viable to use such technology as it is providing great efficiency and speed.

1.                  What human weaknesses favor automation?  What human strengths favor people over machines?

If errors are made by humans, and they are taking more time to complete tasks, then such situations can favor automation. There could be various processes, which can be done faster than the humans, as machines can be programmed to do simple tasks faster than humans. The real advantage the human possess is their instinct. If they see any issue during the process, they can identify it and fix it. But if there is an issue, then machine may not identify it, and it can take more time to fix the process.

2.   How serious is the problem of being late to market?  Can the design team do much about the problem?  Explain?

It can be very serious in various situations. If you are late in the market, then customers will always have alternative option in shape of other companies and brands available in the market. The product, which is already available in the market, cannot get great value, when you introduce it, because customers already have seen it. Now, it’s up to design team that what extra features they can add in the product to make it attractive for the customers. If a product is innovative and have extra features, only then it can get viable attention from the market.

3.  If a surge in demand projected by the marketing department were to occur, what would be the potential effects on manufacturing?  How should manufacturing respond?

The manufacturing would be negatively affected because they were not ready to handle such issues. The backorders issue could start or quality of the product can go down. It is important for the manufacturing process, machines as well as humans to work efficiently so that such problems are avoided at the first place.

4. A local fast-food restaurant processes several customer orders at once.  Service clerks cross paths, sometimes nearly colliding, while they trace different paths to fill customer orders.  If customers order a special combination of toppings on their hamburger, they must wait for quiet sometime while the special order is cooked.  How would you modify the restaurant’s operations to achieve competitive advantage?  Because demand surge at lunchtime, volume flexibility is a competitive priority in the fast food business.  How would you achieve volume flexibility?

I would like to come up with a production line, where orders are processed in a timely manner, rather one order being processed by different clerks. A station will take the order, then other will split the buns, and others would put meat in it, then next step would be adding toppings, and in the end order is delivered to the customer. The topping section will have an extra employee, because it is a customized process, which needs help from an extra resource. That is how process can be quicker and orders can be delivered in time. That is how we can come up with a safe and effective work environment.