
Concept explainers
National Air Express
National Air is a competitive air-express firm with offices around the country. Frank Smith, the Chattanooga, Tennessee, station manager, is preparing his quarterly budget report, which will be presented at the Southeast regional meeting next week. He is very concerned about adding capital expense to the operation when business has not increased appreciably. This has been the worst first quarter he can remember: snowstorms, earthquakes, and bitter cold. He has asked Martha Lewis, field services supervisor, to help him review the available data and offer possible solutions.
Service Methods
National Air offers door-to-door overnight air-express delivery within the U.S. Smith and Lewis manage a fleet of 24 trucks to handle freight in the Chattanooga area. Routes are assigned by area, usually delineated by zip code boundaries, major streets, or key geographical features, such as the Tennessee River. Pickups are generally handled between 3:00 P.M. and 6:00 P.M., Monday through Friday. Driver routes are a combination of regularly
When the driver arrives at each pickup location, he or she provides supplies as necessary (an envelope or box if requested) and must receive a completed air waybill for each package. Because the industry is extremely competitive, a professional, courteous driver is essential to retaining customers. Therefore, Smith has always been concerned that drivers not rush a customer to complete his or her package and paperwork.
Budget Considerations
Smith and Lewis have found that they have been unable to meet their customers' requests for a scheduled pickup on many occasions in the past quarter. Although, on average, drivers are not handling any more business, they are unable on some days to arrive at each location on time. Smith does not think he can justify increasing costs by $1, 200 per week for additional trucks and drivers while productivity (measured in shipments per truck/day) has remained flat. The company has established itself as the low-cost operator in the industry but has at the same time committed itself to offering quality service and value for its customers.
3. How should package pickup performance be measured? Are standards useful in an environment that is affected by the weather, traffic, and other random variables? Are other companies having similar problems?

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Chapter 1 Solutions
Operations Management
- Work with the chef and/or production manager to identify a menu item (or potential menu item) for which a standardized recipe is needed. Record the recipe with which you started and expand it to meet the number of servings required by the facility. Develop an evaluation rubric. Conduct an evaluation of the product. There should be three or more people evaluating the product for quality. Write a brief report of this activity • Product chosen and the reason why it was selected When and where the facility could use the product The standardized recipe sheet or card 。 o Use the facility's format or Design one of your own using a form of your choice; be sure to include the required elements • • Recipe title Yield and portion size Cooking time and temperature Ingredients and quantities Specify AP or EP Procedures (direction)arrow_forwardASSIGNMENT: Inventory, Answer the following questions 1. How does the facility survey inventory? 2. Is there a perpetual system in place? 3. How often do they do a physical inventory? 4. Participate in taking inventory. 5. Which type of stock system does the facility use? A. Minimum stock- includes a safety factor for replenishing stock B. Maximum stock- equal to a safety stock plus estimated usage (past usage and forecasts) C. Mini-max-stock allowed to deplete to a safety level before a new order is submitted to bring up inventory up to max again D. Par stock-stock brought up to the par level each time an order is placed regardless of the amount on hand at the time of order E. Other-(describe) Choose an appropriate product and determine how much of an item should be ordered. Remember the formula is: Demand during lead time + safety stock = amount to order Cost out an inventory according to data supplied. Remember that to do this, you will need to take an inventory, and will need to…arrow_forwardHuman Relations, Systems, and Organization Assignments ORGANIZATION: Review the organization chart for the facility • Draw an organization chart for the department. • . Identify and explain the relationships of different units in the organization and their importance to maintain the food service department's mission. Include a copy in your weekly submission. There is a feature in PowerPoint for doing this should you want to use it. JOB ORGANIZATION: ⚫ A job description is a broad, general, and written statement for a specific job, based on the findings of a job analysis. It generally includes duties, purpose, responsibilities, scope, and working conditions of a job along with the job's title, and the name or designation of the person to whom the employee reports. Job description usually forms the basis of job specification. • Work with your preceptor or supervisor to identify a position for which you will write a job description. Include a copy of the job description you write in your…arrow_forward
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