ASSIGNMENT 7 PART 1
Byco opened its first retail store in Denmark in 1938. 75 years later, the company is a reputable
retailer with more than 8,000 stores in Europe, Scandinavia and the U.S. During the past 20 years, Bycos strategy
has been to provide products that are anywhere from 10% to 25% cheaper than its
competitors with no compromise in quality.
Employees at Byco undergo extensive employee training on a
continuing basis which enables most employees to be very knowledgeable about
all departments and all aspects of store operations. Wages are significantly higher and turnover
is significantly less than the industry standard.
Byco has established win-win relationships with its
suppliers. The company continuously
improves its product offering by hiring highly paid and experienced
buyers. Byco carries a limited number
of varieties of its products, relative to its competitors; however, their products
are high quality and exceed standards set by consumer legislation. Bycos suppliers deliver products in
display-ready packages. Each store has
a large loading platform where forklifts transport incoming products directly
to the sales floor.
All stores are open from 9am to 7pm, Monday Saturday and
11am to 5pm on Sunday. Grocery carts
are located at the entrance to the store.
Customers pay a deposit for use of a cart by dropping 50 into an
automated till. The 50 is returned to
the customer when the customer returns the cart to a locked position in the
queue of grocery carts. At any point in
time, a store manager can determine the approximate number of shoppers in the
store by getting a read-out of the number of in-use carts.
Customers queue up in a single line to be checked out by the
next available cashier. Products
display multiple bar codes. After all
items are scanned, they are returned to the shoppers cart. The shopper then proceeds to a bagging
station where the shopper bags his/her products. The shopper can either provide his/her own
bags or purchase large recyclable bags at the bagging station for $1 each.
Bycos major competitors have profit margins of about
1.7%. Byco has managed to achieve about
a 2% profit margin while passing on a 10% – 25% cost savings to its
customers.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————– Common goals, among others, of lean
operations are
1. Flexibility
2. Less Floor Space
3. Waste Reduction (raw
materials, labor and/or time)
4. Continuous Improvement
towards High Quality
Describe how Byco SPECIFICALLY achieves each of the above
four goals. A very brief paragraph for
each goal will suffice. Be specific
dont generalize. 40 pts
ASSIGNMENT 7 PART 2
Weve all been in a situation where weve had to deal with
inefficiency or waste that is costly, maddening or both. It may have been at work or dealing with a
company as a customer. Describe the
situation, point out how it fails at least one lean operations characteristic
and what youd do to remedy the situation.
No more than page please. 10 pts
P.S. Some of you may be thinking of a situation/incident
and think Shes not going to believe that.
At my age, nothing amazes me especially given Ive recently had a lot
of interaction with the federal government. ASSIGNMENT 7 PART 1Byco opened its first retail store in Denmark in 1938. 75 years later, the company is a reputable
retailer with more than 8,000 stores in Europe, Scandinavia and the U.S. During the past 20 years, Bycos strategy
has been to provide products that are anywhere from 10% to 25% cheaper than its
competitors with no compromise in quality.
Employees at Byco undergo extensive employee training on a
continuing basis which enables most employees to be very knowledgeable about
all departments and all aspects of store operations. Wages are significantly higher and turnover
is significantly less than the industry standard. Byco has established win-win relationships with its
suppliers. The company continuously
improves its product offering by hiring highly paid and experienced
buyers. Byco carries a limited number
of varieties of its products, relative to its competitors; however, their products
are high quality and exceed standards set by consumer legislation. Bycos suppliers deliver products in
display-ready packages. Each store has
a large loading platform where forklifts transport incoming products directly
to the sales floor. All stores are open from 9am to 7pm, Monday Saturday and
11am to 5pm on Sunday. Grocery carts
are located at the entrance to the store.
Customers pay a deposit for use of a cart by dropping 50 into an
automated till. The 50 is returned to
the customer when the customer returns the cart to a locked position in the
queue of grocery carts. At any point in
time, a store manager can determine the approximate number of shoppers in the
store by getting a read-out of the number of in-use carts. Customers queue up in a single line to be checked out by the
next available cashier. Products
display multiple bar codes. After all
items are scanned, they are returned to the shoppers cart. The shopper then proceeds to a bagging
station where the shopper bags his/her products. The shopper can either provide his/her own
bags or purchase large recyclable bags at the bagging station for $1 each. Bycos major competitors have profit margins of about
1.7%. Byco has managed to achieve about
a 2% profit margin while passing on a 10% – 25% cost savings to its
customers. ———————————————————————————————————————————————————– Common goals, among others, of lean
operations are1. Flexibility2. Less Floor Space3. Waste Reduction (raw
materials, labor and/or time)4. Continuous Improvement
towards High QualityDescribe how Byco SPECIFICALLY achieves each of the above
four goals. A very brief paragraph for
each goal will suffice. Be specific
dont generalize. 40 ptsASSIGNMENT 7 PART 2Weve all been in a situation where weve had to deal with
inefficiency or waste that is costly, maddening or both. It may have been at work or dealing with a
company as a customer. Describe the
situation, point out how it fails at least one lean operations characteristic
and what youd do to remedy the situation.
No more than page please. 10 ptsP.S. Some of you may be thinking of a situation/incident
and think Shes not going to believe that.
At my age, nothing amazes me especially given Ive recently had a lot
of interaction with the federal government.
