There are three decisions to layout and location firstly is the type of process required these are Project process, Jobbing process, Batch process, Mass process, Continuous process and Professional services, Service shops, Mass services. Secondly is the type of layout, there are four types of layouts fixed position layout, Process layout, Cell layout, Product layout. Finally the last decision is the design of layout, is the physical position of all transforming resources. Process layout includes Travel Charts, Journeys between Chart, Proximity Priorities Table, Relationship Charts and Diagrams.
(Rowbotham, 2011) Tesco mainly use batch production reason being it produces similar goods in a batch, they are made for every consumer not specific to an individual consumer and batches are processed regularly. Batch process has stages passing from one stage to another; each stage is planned extensively at Tesco. Tesco have computerized scheduling systems. Tesco stores have a cellar layout. This layout group’s product together for instance one side may have clothing the other section may have perfume and jewelry. Tesco stores have similar layouts but most stores contrast.
Tesco has several stores from Tesco extra, Tesco express etc. When it comes to choosing a location for Tesco they consider many factors like labor skills, land costs, business environment suitability of location, and convenience for customers. Tesco have the power and the money to do so and all their stores are conveniently located and have stores which cater for every customer. Operations processes starts with a set of input resources which are than processed into outputs of goods and services which satisfy customer needs. This makes up the input-process-output model. (Slack N.et al, 2004).
Using this model we can see Tesco sell their products to customers to try and meet their needs. This is a service which they offer to their customers. Appendix 1 shows a typical model for Tesco describing its process. Process takes place when there is an input from raw materials, components, staff, capital, time and then processed into outputs such as products or services. Tesco Production process is important as it changes inputs into outputs to sell and produce goods to meet consumer needs. Tesco carry out extensive market research to evaluate the success of a product.
Once research has been conducted it goes through the production process. This increases the chance of success as Tesco are minimizing the cost of error. I wouldn’t recommend Tesco to adapt their methods instead they should continue to apply its existing methods it will continue to grow because its existing plans are working effectively. Cause and Effect diagram is sometimes called a fishbone diagram. It’s used to discover possible causes of a particular effect. The effect can be examined as normal or troublesome aspect of product or service. It’s a tool used to problem solve by generating possible causes which helps to identify major causes.
Cause and Effect diagram shows causes and sub causes for instance in Appendix 2 we can see that to improve quality we may face problems. People may not have been trained to improve quality which may affect the quality improvement. The equipment may not be set up or maintained correctly to allow quality improvement. The environment has uncontrolled factors which may affect quality improvement whatever the cause and sub cause it helps to identify potential problems that may occur. To overcome these problems they could train employees to use equipment properly. However some factors are beyond control.
