Engr. Noel A. Saycon Jr.

, REE
MEP – EE 1
Operations Management

CASE 1: Cranston Nissan

1. Categorize the quality problems in this case.

- Materials requirement planning

o The shop failed to issue the right materials at the right time.

- Timing of products and services

o The timing of delivering a fixed car which the company compromise a
definite schedule and having an assurance of a good quality service.

- New problems occur every time the customer would have to check the status of the car
since the main problems were as follows:
o Roof – along the top of the windshield area
o Left rocker panel – under driver’s door
o Left quarter panel – near end of bumper
o Rear body panel – under license plate
But it would arise with these new problems as stated below:
o Courtesy light in the driver’s door would not turn off when the door was
closed
o Voice warning “Left door is open” repeatedly sounded
o Wiring problems
o Speedometer is not working properly
o Rubber molding beneath the driver’s door was hanging down
o Anti – theft light on the dash would not stop blinking when the doors are
closed/malfunction of security or anti – theft system
o Hatchback lock
o No rear view mirror and broken off from its mounting

- Unreliable, irresponsible, and not caring the quality of services.

- Time quality assurance of fixing the problems of the car.

o Since the personnel of the company/repair shop gave some assurance to the
owner of the car (Mr. Monahan) with a definite time.

2. What are the probable causes of so many mishaps?

There were many probable causes that led to so many mishaps. One probable cause may
have been an issue with effective capacity, which is the percent of design capacity actually
expected. Since, it seemed that the repair shop was having increased demands, it may have
been wise to add capacity. Maybe in the form of an extra mechanic, which would have allowed
them to handle the increased demand of cars wanting to be fixed. Another probable cause may
have been an issue with timing. The repair shop wasn’t able to get the car to Mr. Monahan
when they initially promised to get it to him. Another probable cause may have to do with
work standard, which is the amount of time it should take for a trained employee to complete a
specific activity or process. If the shop says that they will repair the car in three to four days,
then their employees should be trained so that they can complete the task in three to four days.
Lack of strategy planning on how the car arose with those problems in which the repair shop
must knew the previous problems (from the beginning until the present one). They These are
obviously problems that may have been existed but they are problems that can be fixed with
good operations management.

3. What specific actions should Jackson take immediately? What should some of his
longer-term goals be?

Jackson should make sure that his customers are happy and satisfied. He should let Mr.
Monahan know that he understands his frustration and that he understands that something
needs to be done. He must be empathetic by that time too. Additionally, to ensure that he really
cares for his customers and values their business, Mr. Jackson should relieve Mr. Monahan of
the costs associated with the repairs and make sure that all the repairs are met. The next step is
to actually make changes to ensure that this mess would never happen again. One long-term
goal could be to implement a type of control that puts an emphasis on quality. For example,
statistical process control provides an objective tool to make decisions concerning how well a
process is performing. In regards to timing, Mr. Jackson could implement a Just-in-time system,
where inventory management and control systems ensure the timely delivery of a product or
service and related inputs. Gantt charts, program evaluation and review techniques, and critical
path methods could also help make sure that services are met in a timely fashion. Just with the
simple adjustments Mr. Jackson will find that his customers will be more satisfied and
misunderstandings, like the situation with Mr. Monahan, will decrease.

CASE 2: Jose’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant

1. How quality should is defined at this restaurant?

Quality is the term used by the customer to describe their general satisfaction with a
service or product. Customers, internal or external, are satisfied when their expectations
regarding a service or product have been met or exceeded.
Quality at Joses restaurant should be defined by service, value, reliability of the experience
and overall customers’ satisfaction. The quality of a product is defined as whether it fulfills its
stated specifications. Customer satisfaction should be at the top priority for the restaurant.
Customer satisfaction is the measurement of a product or service that meets or exceeds
customer’s expectations. Therefore, the restaurant should focus on its customers’ needs and
requirements, and strive to exceed their expectations. The factors that affect the quality of the
service are conformance to specification, value, fitness for use, support and even psychological
standard impression. Food should be delivered and served as to be what is promised on the
menu. Also, the food should be cooked and prepared properly, to be fresh, clean, and to have
exactly the ingredients and flavors that are ordered. Service staff should be neatly dressed and
greet customers with a smile; personnel should be experienced and trained to accommodate
the customer. Atmosphere is another important area of quality. At Jose’s, keeping with the
Mexican themed decor creates the atmosphere for the Mexican prepared dishes. The overall
establishment should maintain a level of cleanliness. Waiting areas for customers should be
clean and comfortable during the peak times when a waiting to be seated is necessary. The
service and meals should be dependable and consistent.
The quality of food is very important issues for a success restaurant business. Jose’s has
problem about the quality of food the chef gets from the external suppliers. If the food is not
good and fresh then the total taste of the food will not be what the customer wants. The cook
at Jose’s is stressed out and not happy with the quality of food that has been getting from the
external supplier. The food in the Jose’s restaurant should be better quality and fresh.
Prepared the good food to meet customer needs and delivered to customers on time to the
table. One of the rules of manager should be check the quality food. Food hygiene and
spotlessness is another essential characteristic of quality in the restaurant. We could use Six
Sigma Improvement Model for improve the quality of food in Jose’s Authentic Mexican
Restaurant on busy time. We can use it only for Friday and Saturday nights. Six Sigma which
relies heavily on the principles of total quality management, is a comprehensive and flexible
system for achieving, sustaining, and maximizing business success by minimizing defects and
variability in processes. It is driven by a close understanding of customer needs and diligent
attention to managing, improving, and reinventing business processes. Process variability
causes customer dissatisfaction. Six Sigma is a rigorous approach to align processes with the
restaurant target performance measures with low variability. The Six Sigma Improvement
Model has five steps procedure that leads to improvements in process performance.

2. What are the restaurant’s costs of poor quality?

The key of a successful restaurant business is always keep high standard environment and
serve fresh good quality foods. Also make happy and satisfied customer that will want to
come back and will tell others of their good dining experience. Time maintains is very
important in a good successful business. Customer will not come back if the preparation time
and the release time for the meals do not improve at Jose’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant.
Restaurant will be lost their customers if the stay time to be seated does not reduce. Another
important is the quality of food and customers always want fresh and tasty food. If the food is
not good then the total flavor of the meal will not be what the external customer needs. The
result of these entire problems in Jose’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant will lose business.
When the customers are not happy with the food and management then the whole restaurant
suffers and possibly having to shut down. Karetski and other waiters do not get their tips
because the poor quality of food. The customer will not give tips well if they have a bad
dining experience and they will not tell others. So the restaurant will be lose their customer
and business will be down. As we know that cost of poor qualities are

External Failure Costs

These are costs associated with defects found after the product or service has been
delivered to the customer. In other words, the customer discovered the defect. So, these costs
might include: customer service contacts, processing customer service complaints, customer
returns, warranty claims, product recalls and others.
Internal Failure Costs
These are costs associated with defects of product or service found before the product
or service was delivered to the customer. These types of costs include scrap, rework, inventory
adjustments (or adjustments of adjustments) and others.

Inspection (Appraisal) Costs

These costs include audits, checks, testing, and other items. In general, these costs
include activities to double-check conformance to customer standards.

Prevention Costs
Costs incurred in the prevention of product or service failure are described as
Prevention Costs. Examples include: dedicated quality improvement teams, quality education
and training, process reviews, etc.

3. Use some of the tools for improving quality to assess the situation at Jose’s.

There are lots of roads that Jose’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant could be improved their
overall Jose’s dining experience for their valuable customers. Some of the equipment for
recovering quality to assess the situation at Jose’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant below:
1. The Quality of Food
2. The Restaurant’s Seating Capacity
3. Take- Way System
4. Reducing the Preparation time

The Quality of Food:

The quality of food is the biggest problem at Jose’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant. The
quality of food is very important for the cook at Jose’s. He is not happy and stressful for the
food supplier. The manager at Jose’s needs to try to improve the quality of their food and also
needs to contact the supplier according to this problem. The manager at Jose’s could have
someone that check the food which has been coming in from the supplier and make sure they
are getting fresh and the best quality possible. If the cook and the manager find out that the
quality of the food continues to coming in at Jose’s in poor situation then Jose’s would be need
to get a new supplier who can supply the best quality and fresh food. More quality food is
more success in their restaurant business.

The Restaurant’s Seating Capacity:

Jose’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant is a small 58-seat restaurant. The customer wait
time will be improve and reduce if Jose’s could providing more seating. One of the better
ideas for improving the restaurant is to develop on its current size and add a relaxing waiting
area so that the customer does not have to wait outside. If Jose’s continues to be a success and
grow in a larger restaurant then the customer waiting line will be slowly generate big. So
Jose’s would need to be hiring extra employee like cook and waiters that the customer waiting
time will be improve and reduce.

Take- Way System:

 Take -Way system is the external customers can order their food and pick up the order
at the restaurant. So Jose’s could be starting offering take -way to the customer that the
customer still get taste Jose’s Mexican food without waiting on the queue long time and
without the whole dining experience. Customer relationship is important in a successful
business. Jose’s manager could be walk through the restaurant and talk to the customer in
order to listen feedback. Also more surveys could be help for recovering better quality to
consider the condition at Jose’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant.

Reducing the Preparation time:

Time maintains is big deal at Jose’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant. The customers are
not happy because the cook takes more time for meals on the dining table. The cook takes
more time for meal because the poor quality of food. When the good quality food coming to
Jose’s then the preparation time for the food will be reduce and the cook should be able to hit
the twelve minute target. The customer will be more satisfy and happy if Jose’s is able to
manage to the twelve minutes preparation time for the food instead of twenty minutes.
If Jose’s Authentic Mexican Restaurant able to make these changes then the customer
will be happier and leave better tips for waiters. Karetski and other waiters also will be
happier for these changes. When the customer will be enjoy the overall Jose’s dining
experience and tell others then Jose’s will be more success restaurant business in New
England. More customers will come in and get taste of the Mexican food.