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566 PART 6 Managing Business Operations, Management Information Systems, and the Digital Enterprise

then the design of the service, such as getting gas at a gas station using the self-serv-
ice lane, is similar to the design of goods. If the level is high on both counts, then
the design of the service, such as using a real estate agent to buy a house, will be
customer dependent. Companies sometimes do not need to design new products
but just to redesign existing ones. For example, as market needs have evolved over
time, McDonald’s has redesigned its initial product offerings to include salads,
chicken, fish, burritos, ice cream, meals for children, breakfast meals, and many
other options in addition to hamburgers.

Process

project process A process where the Operations managers can design their production systems by combining one or
product is produced in low volumes more of the following process types: project, job, batch, line, and continuous. As
with high levels of customization
Exhibit 16.3 shows, the best choice depends on the volume and customization level
of the product. When looking at processes, it is instructive to look at the flow of
EXHIBIT 16.3 materials in the case of manufacturing systems or at the flow of customers in the
case of service systems.
Process Types
A project process is used when the product is produced
Volume in low volumes and requires a high level of customization.
Low High
Examples of project processes are expanding the Miami
Low International airport, building a new subway for Athens,
Continuous Greece, and developing Windows XP. Project processes
require a unique sequence of operations and typically cre-
ate one-of-a-kind products made specifically to customer
Line order. Professional services such as legal, medical, and
Customization Batch architectural services are classified as project processes.

Project processes are said to have no flow of materials or
customers. For example, when building the new subway in
Job Athens, Greece, the product being produced—the sub-
way—did not flow in the sense that all resources came and
went to the place where the subway was being built, but the
Project
subway itself never moved.
High A job process is used when the product is produced in
relatively low volumes and at relatively high levels of cus-
job process A process where the tomization. Examples of job processes are hand-tailored clothing, a gourmet
product is produced in relatively low restaurant, an automotive repair shop, and special delivery mail. A job process,
volumes with relatively high levels of
compared to a project process, offers a lower degree of customization but a higher
customization
production volume. In a job process, as in a project process, products are made-to-
order and hence they are not produced ahead of time; but unlike in a project
process products are produced several at a time instead of just a few or one at a
time. These orders of several made-to-order units are usually called jobs; hence the
name job process. Job processes do experience a flow of products from one pro-
duction resource to another. For example, at an automotive repair shop, a car being
repaired could flow from the electrical area to the body shop area to the tire align-
ment and balancing area. Because the flow from job to job will be different, it is said
that job processes lead to intermittent flow. As another example of a job process, a
patient who arrives at the emergency room of a hospital may next flow to an oper-
ating room, then to intensive care, and then to regular care.
batch process A process where the A batch process is used when the product is produced at medium volumes and
product is produced at medium volumes customization levels. Examples of batch processes are movie theaters, commercial
and customization levels
airlines, furniture manufacturers, and bakeries. A batch process, when compared to
a job process, offers less customization and hence less product variety but a higher

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