OperationsManagement：The Application of OM in Fastfood Production

Abstract：Operations management is essential for gaining competitiveness in most manufacturing or serviceoffering organizations. Therefore，this report is going to analyze the way in which effective operations managers use process strategy as a competitive weapon. Besides，based on relevant theories，a case of fast food production process will be studied.

Key Words：Operations Management； Fastfood Production； Application

1 Introduction

Operations management （OM） is the set of activities that creates value in the form of goods and services by transforming inputs into outputs\". For good operations managers，they not only perform the management process，but also guarantee quality，create value，and deal with the flow of information，products and services. Moreover，the fast distribution speed and flexible reginal distribution solution are also its competitive advantage.

2 The Application of Process Strategy in Industrial Fast Food Production

Process strategy aims to achieve competitive priority and find a better way to meet customers’ demands. Generally speaking，there are four kinds of process strategies： process focus，repetitive focus，product focus，and mass customization. According to different volume and variety of products，effective operations managers will choose suitable process strategy as a competitive weapon. Its application in fast food organizations will be presented in the following parts.

2.1 Analysis on Repetitive Process Focus in Industrial Fastfood Production

Any process strategy has its own characteristics. It enjoys advantage and disadvantage. If it is fit for volume and variety，the process will be used as a competitive weapon. For fast food industry，a repetitive process using modules are usually chosen. Because this kind of production is suitable to customization.

To be specific，how to use the repetitive process to gain a competitive priority for an effective operations manager？ This issue could be explained in the following five aspects. （1） The fast food production process applies modules to produce standardized products with choices. The use of an assembly line and special equipment could reduce cost and extend useful time. （2） Repetitive process reduces the training and changes in job guidelines，once the staff are trained. （3） Justintime purchase and inventory techniques are applied in the repetitive process. （4） The transportation and visual inspection of goods are taken up for a short time，which is measured in hours and days. （5） Flexible scheduling are expected，because the production is based on different modules and the finished products enjoys frequent forecasts. So combing with the literature and practice of operations management，effective operation managers not only understand the advantage of process strategy，but also apply the repetitive process in fast food production process as a competitive weapon.

2.2 Discussion about Repetitive Process’ Influences on Strategic Decisionmaking

This part is going to critically examine the repetitive process chosen by fast food production and its influence on the structural and infrastructure operational strategic decisionmaking.

First，for structural decisionmaking，repetitive focus has more structured than process focus，less structured than product focus. For example，McDonald’s uses modules combined with many output options to serve Hamburgh with the same flavor in the whole world. Facilities in Fast food firms are often organized by assembly lines. But the characteristic of modules also bring the consequently less flexibility than processfocused facilities. The cost of change are higher. Thus，when making a decision of changing modules，it is necessary to consider the advantages and disadvantages，which means fixed costs and higher variable costs.

Second，the repetitive process’s influence on structure include customercontact position，productprocess position and layout. In the fast food industry，there are not so frequent customer contact and standard service is offered. The repetitive focus bring the staff with the same routine work to all customers. But the disadvantage may be the shortage of meeting customers’ individual demands. For manufacturing the repetitive products，fast food organization enjoys the advantage of high volume，high standardization and continuous flows.

Third，The repetitive process line is the typical assembly line. It is widely used in fast food firms to offer customers faster and standardized service and products. It makes the basic infrastructure of fast food industry to be fully utilized. So improving utilization and maintaining flexibility of infrastructure could be a cost advantage. For example，McDonald’s transition from process focus to repetitive focus help it to become a success in fast food industry. The mass customization and standardized service and products are the result of repetitive process.

3 Conclusion

It is concerned with making sure that business activities are developed both efficiently and effectively. Generally speaking，the ultimate goal of different principles is to minimize the cost and maximize the profit. At last，a process chart on the restaurant’s operation process is presented to demonstrating the author’s understanding of process strategy.

References：

[1] BamfordHYPERLINK\"http：∥www.google.com.hk/search？hl=zhCNnewwindow=1safe=stricttbo=1tbm=bkstbm=bksq=inauthor：%22David+Bamford%22sa=Xei=UWqXT4_xE9GZiAfomJiPBgved=0CDMQ9Ag\"，D ForresterHYPERLINK\"http：∥www.google.com.hk/search？hl=zhCNnewwindow=1safe=stricttbo=1tbm=bkstbm=bksq=inauthor：%22David+Bamford%22q=inauthor：%22Paul+Forrester%22sa=Xei=UWqXT4_xE9GZiAfomJiPBgved=0CDQQ9Ag\"，P.（2010） Essential Guide to Operations Management： Concepts and Case NotesHYPERLINK\"http：∥books.google.com.hk/books？id=TCBFOS15e0ECpg=PT153dq=Operations+management+TQMhl=zhCN\".Wiley Sons： New Jersey.

[2] Bicheno，J Elliot，B （1997） Operations Management： An Active Learning Approach. 1st edition. WileyBlackwell.

作者簡(jiǎn)介：張永慶（1986—），男，碩士，三亞學(xué)院，主要研究方向：企業(yè)管理。