GROUP FOUR

SHEENA
Sheena had worked for the same Fortune 500 Company for most 15 years.
Although the company had gone through some tough times, things were starting to
turn around. Customer orders were up, and quality and productivity had improved
dramatically from what they had been only a few years earlier due companywide
quality improvement program. So, it comes as a real shock to Sheena and about
400 of her co-workers when they were suddenly terminated following the new
CEOs decision to downsize the company.
After recovering from the initial shock, Sheena tried to find employment
elsewhere. Despite her efforts, after eight months of searching she was no closer to
finding a job than the day she started. Her funds were being depleted and she was
getting more discouraged. There was one bright spot, though: She was able to
bring in a little money by mowing lawns for her neighbors.
She got involved quite by chance when she heard one neighbor remark that now
that his children were on their own; nobody was around to cut the grass. Almost
jokingly, Sheena asked him how much hed be willing to pay. Soon Sheena was
mowing the lawns of five neighbors. Other neighbors wanted her to work on their
lawns, but she didnt feel that she could spare any more time from her job search.
However, as the rejection letters began to pile up, Sheena knew she had to make an
important decision in her life. On a rainy Tuesday morning, she decided to go into
business for herself taking care of neighborhood lawns. She was relieved to give
up the stress of job hunting, and she was excited about the prospects of being her
own boss. But she was also fearful of being completely on her own. Nevertheless,
Sheena was determined to make a go of it.

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At first, business was a little slow, but once people realized Sheena was available,
many asked her to take care of their lawns. Some people were simply glad to turn the work over to her; others switched from professional lawn care services. By the
end of her first year in business, Sheena knew she could earn a living this way. She
also performed other services such as fertilizing lawns, weeding gardens, and
trimming shrubbery. Business became so good that Sheena hired two part-time
workers to assist her and, even then, she believed she could expand further if she
wanted to.
Questions
1. In what ways are Sheenas customers most likely to judge the quality of her
lawn care services?
2. Sheena is the operations manager of her business. Among her responsibilities are
forecasting, inventory management, scheduling, quality assurance, and
maintenance.
(a) What kinds of things would likely require forecasts?
(b) What inventory items does Sheena probably have? Name one inventory
decision she has to make periodically.
(c) What scheduling must she do? What things might occur to disrupt schedules
and cause Sheena to reschedule?
(d) How important is quality assurance to Sheenas business? Explain.
(e) What kinds of maintenance must be performed?
3. What are some of the trade-offs that Sheena probably considered relative to:
(a) Working for a company instead of for herself?
(b) Expanding the business?

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4. The town is considering an ordinance that would prohibit putting grass clippings
at the curb for pickup because local landfills cannot handle the volume. What
options might Sheena consider if the ordinance is passed?
Name two advantages and two drawbacks of each option.
Production Management
Caselet Sheena
1. In what ways are Sheenas customers most likely to judge the quality of her
lawn care services?
Sheenas customers will most likely judge the quality of her lawn care services
with the performance that will be seen in the result of her work, and with the time
it took her to complete the work. In addition, Sheenas manner of treatment with
each customer will also, directly or indirectly, be used to judge the quality of her
services.
2. Sheena is the operations manager of her business. Among her responsibilities are
forecasting, inventory management, scheduling, quality assurance, maintenance.
a. What kind of things would likely require forecast?
Things that would likely require forecast for Sheenas business includes sales
forecast, demand forecast, inventory forecast, and budgeting forecast. Most
important is the sales forecast so that she can evaluate the current sales levels and
growth of her business, and allow her to compare her company to industry norms.
It will also help her in establishing the policies so that she can easily monitor the
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prices and operating costs to guarantee profits and make her aware of the minor
problems before they become major problems.
b. What inventory items does Sheena probably have? Name one inventory decision
she has to make periodically.
Sheenas inventory items probably have fuels, oils and lubes for the mowing
machine, and garbage cellophane. With these inventory items, Sheena should
decide the best reorder quantity for each item to avoid service disruption and
minimize cost.
c. What scheduling must she do? What things might occur to disrupt schedules and
cause Sheena to reschedule?
She must create schedule for her lawn services to her customers, for the
employees workload, for inventory purchases, and for machine maintenance. She
should also create her schedule with flexibility to avoid, or at least minimize,
disruption and rescheduling. Some things that might occur include natural
disasters, workers sickness, and machine breakdown.
d. How important is quality assurance to Sheenas business?
Sheena has no background in lawn mowing services. She started only because she
has no work but grew to business because the quality of her services was found
helpful to her neighbors. To insure this quality means business for Sheena because
her customer will be satisfied and will seek for her services again. Quality

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assurance is also important to Sheenas business especially that she is planning to

expand.
e. What kind of maintenance must be performed

Business Plan
PAUL MWANGI NGARU
CASE STUDY-SHEENA
Questions
In what ways are Sheenas customers most likely to judge the quality of her
lawn care services?
Through landscaping, lawn and plant care services include any work you
do to maintain or improve lawns, yards and ornamental plants and trees.
When Sheena wanted to start this business in order, she must have to write
plans in this kind of business, likewise as she have to decide that she
would give time and focus in this matter, she must have to do such things
that this kind of business may improve. If Sheena will take to start this
business, she must have to do her own style of service like making her
lawn service unique and have a customer satisfaction. In this way, the
people around her may like the way she anchor the necessary details
about lawn business. Technological forecast deals with the characteristics
of technology, such as levels of technical performance, this method will be
easier for Sheena to look what are the things she might needed to start the
business.
Sheena is the operations manager of her business. Among her
responsibilities are forecasting, inventory management, scheduling, quality
assurance, and maintenance.
(a) What kinds of things would likely require forecasts?

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Things that would likely require forecast for Sheenas business includes
sales forecast, demand forecast, inventory forecast, and budgeting
forecast. Most important is the sales forecast so that she can evaluate the
current sales levels and growth of her business, and allow her to compare
her company to industry norms. It will also help her in establishing the
policies so that she can easily monitor the prices and operating costs to
guarantee profits and make her aware of the minor problems before they
become major problems.
b. What inventory items does Sheena probably have? Name one inventory
decision she has to make periodically.
Sheenas inventory items probably have fuels, oils and lubes for the
mowing machine, and garbage cellophane. With these inventory items,
Sheena should decide the best reorder quantity for each item to avoid
service disruption and minimize cost.
c. What scheduling must she do? What things might occur to disrupt
schedules and cause Sheena to reschedule?
Sheena she must create schedule for her lawn services to her customers,
for the employees workload, for inventory purchases, and for machine
maintenance. Sheena should also create her schedule with flexibility to
avoid, or at least minimize, disruption and rescheduling. Some things that
might occur include.
d. How important is quality assurance to Sheenas business? Explain.
The quality assurance to Sheenas business is indeed very important. It will
determine the number of Sheenas customers this will also reflect on her
business credibility.
e. What kinds of maintenance must be performed?
Checking of fertilizers if it still up to date so as not to use expired fertilizer.
Checking if the lawn equipments are in well condition i.e. blades
sharpened, oil changed and motors overhauled.
Making sure that the facilities are clean.
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3. What are some of the trade-offs that Sheena probably considered

relative to:
(a) Working for a company instead of for herself?
If she would work for a company, she will not be the boss she wont see the
future of the business.
(b) Expanding the business?
In expanding her business it would take her more cost in marketing,
building and hiring more employees which leads to buying more equipment.
4. The town is considering an ordinance that would prohibit putting grass
clippings at the curb for pickup because local landfills cannot handle the
volume. What options might Sheena consider if the ordinance is passed?
Two advantages
Sheena would not have to sweep the grass clippings any more she could
leave it and it would breakdown on its own. It would be less effort for
Sheena, hence less cost for fertilizer and cost of buying garbage bag.
Two drawbacks
The customers may not like the grass clippings left on the backyards.
It would make Sheenas work look bad because of the grass clippings.

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GROUP FIVE
WEGMANS FOOD MARKETS
Wegmans Food Markets, Inc. is one of the premier grocery chains in the United
States.
Headquartered in Rochester, NY, Wegmans operates over 70 stores. The company
employs over 23,000 people, and has annual sales of over Rs. 2.0 billion.
Wegmans has a strong reputation for offering its customers high product quality
and excellent service. Through a combination of market research, trial and error,
and listening to its customers, Wegmans has evolved into a very successful
organization. In fact, Wegmans is so good at what it does that grocery chains all
over the country send representatives to Wegmans for a firsthand look at
operations.
SUPERSTORES
Many of the companys stores are giant 100,000 square foot superstores, double or
triple the size of average supermarkets. A superstore typically employs from 500 to
600 people.
Individual stores differ somewhat in terms of actual size and some special features.
Aside from the features normally found in supermarkets, they generally have a
large bakery Section (each store bakes its own bread, rolls, cakes, pies, and
pastries), and extra large produce sections. They also offer film processing a
complete pharmacy, a card shop and video rentals.
In-store floral shops range in size up to 800 square feet of space, and offer a wide
variety of fresh-cut flowers, flower arrangements, varies and plants. In-store card
shops covers over 1000 square feet of floor of floor space. The bulk foods
department provides customers with the opportunity to select what quantities they
desire from a vast array of foodstuffs and some nonfood items.

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Each store is a little different. Among the special features in some stores are a dry
cleaning department, a winery, and a salad bar. Some feature a Market Cafe that
has different food stations, each devoted to preparing and serving a certain type of
food. For example, one station has pizza and other Italian specialties, and another
oriental food. There are also being a sandwich bar, a salad bar and a dessert station.
Customers often wander among stations as they decide what to order. In several
affluent locations, customers can stop in on their way home from work and choose
from a selection of freshly prepared dinner entrees. Some stores have a coffee shop
section with tables and chairs where shoppers can enjoy regular or specialty
coffees and variety of tempting pastries.
PRODUCE DEPARTMENT
The company prides itself on fresh produce. Produce is replenished as often as 12
times a day.
The larger stores have produce sections that are four to five times the size of a
produce section of an average supermarket. Wegmans offers locally grown produce
a season. Wegmans uses a farm to market system whereby some local growers
deliver their produce directly to individual stores, bypassing the main warehouse.
That reduces the companys inventory holding costs and gets the produce into the
stores as quickly as possible. Growers may use specially designed containers that
go right onto the store floor instead of large bins. This avoids the bruising that
often occurs when fruits and vegetables are transferred from bins to display shelves
and the need to devote labor to transfer the produce to shelves.
MEAT DEPARTMENT

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In addition to large display cases of both fresh and frozen meat products, many
stores have a full-service butcher shop that offers a variety of fresh meat products
and where butchers are available to provide customized cuts of meat for customers.
ORDERING
Each department handles its own ordering. Although sales records are available
from records of items scanned at the checkouts, they are not used directly for
replenishing stock. Other factors, such as pricing, special promotions, local
circumstances must all be taken into account. However, for seasonal periods, such
as holidays, managers often check scanner records to learn what past demand was
during a comparable period.
The superstores typically receive one truckload of goods per day from the main
warehouse.
During peak periods, a store may receive two truckloads from the main warehouse.
The short lead-time greatly reduces the length of the time an item might be out of
stock, unless the main warehouse is also out of stock.
The company exercises strict control over suppliers, insisting on product quality
and on-time deliveries.
EMPLOYEES
The company recognizes the value of good employees. It typically invests an
average of Rs.7000 to train each new employee. In addition to learning about
stores operations, new employees learn the importance of good customer service
and how to provide it. The employees are helpful, cheerfully answering customer
questions or handling complaints. Employees are motivated through a combination
of compensation, profit sharing, and benefits.

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QUALITY
Quality and Customer satisfaction are utmost in the minds of Wegmans
management and its employees. Private label food items as well as name brands
are regularly evaluated in test kitchens, along with the potential new products.
Managers are responsible for checking and maintaining products and service
quality in their departments. Moreover, employees are encouraged to report
problems to their managers.
If a customer is dissatisfied with an item and returns it, or even a portion of the
item, the customer is offered a choice of a replacement or a refund. If the item is a
Wegmans brand food item, it is then sent to the test kitchen to determine the cause
of the problem. If the cause can be determined, corrective action is taken.
Questions
1. How do customers judge the quality of a supermarket?
2. Indicate how and why each of these factors is important to the successful
operation of a supermarket:
(a) Customer satisfaction.
(b) Forecasting.
(c) Capacity planning.
(d) Location
(e) Inventory management.
(f) Layout of the store.
(g) Scheduling.

Operations Management
MGT3210
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Operations Management
Wegmans Food pp.33-36
1. How do customers judge the quality of a supermarket?
Customers judge the quality of a supermarket in a variety of ways
depending on what they are looking for within that supermarket. Some of
the customers judgments could be based on the following factors:
* Did the customer get what they came for, was inventory correctly
maintained to avoid shortages or out of stock items
* Customer service, were the employees that the customer interacted with
helpful, knowledgeable, and courteous to the customer
* Pricing, whether the prices competitive when compared to others
supermarkets
* Quality, how the quality of supermarket products meet or exceed the
customers expectations
* Product availability and variety, is this a one stop shopping experience for
the customer. Can the customer get everything that they need from
Wegmans? Convenience is a major factor in todays society. (pharmacy,
photo, card shop, video rental, coffee shop, floral shop, grocery, dry
cleaning, salad bar, caf, and a fishermans whaft)
* Layout, is the layout of the 100,000 square foot store customer friendly so
that things are sorted and easily located throughout the store
* Location, is the store conveniently located where it will be easily
accessible to the greatest amount of customers
* Hours of operation, is the store operating at a time that is most appealing
to customers, is the store open earlier or later than its competition
2. Indicate how and why each of these factors is important to the
successful operation of a supermarket:
(a) Customer satisfaction.
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(b) Forecasting.
(c) Capacity planning.
(d) Location
(e) Inventory management.
(f) Layout of the store.
(g) Scheduling.

* Customer satisfaction, the customer is always right! It is critical to make

sure that the customer is more than satisfied with what the store offers for
products and services in order to create customer loyalty. Customer loyalty
will help keep the store successful and profitable as a function of customer
satisfaction. Customers are a great source of free advertisement; a
satisfied customer can spread positive thoughts and through word of mouth
marketing create more customers.
* Forecasting, correct forecasting is important as managers need to
understand which items are going to be very fast moving, which are going
to be slow moving, and plan accordingly. This will allow for correct inventory
levels, reduce holding costs, and eliminate out of stock items. Forecasting
also takes into consideration outside factors such as local festivals,
weather conditions, and customers tastes and preferences.
* Capacity Planning is essential to maintain reasonable profit, and
inventory. Purchasing a large amount of an item that will not sell in the
store and eventually go bad or spoil would cause a loss in profit, capacity
planning will help avoid his situation
* Location, accessibility to potential customers is essential for success,
proximity to competitors is crucial, cost of location compared to profitability
at that certain location must be calculated; location from outside suppliers
as well as main warehouse must be considered.
* Inventory management must ensure that the correct levels of inventory
are being maintained throughout the store, and that merchandise is
purchased at the best price point possible
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* Layout of the store should be customer friendly, well organized, not

overcrowded with product, attractive and inviting to customers, and safety
measures must be taken for fire exits and emergency to ensure that they
are functional and clearly marked
* Scheduling must be analyzed and properly implemented to ensure that a
store is staffed properly especially during peak hours of operations,
scheduling will also protect employees from being overwhelmed and
ensure that they are able to work productively. Scheduling will help
maintain constant levels of inventory and account for transportation time of
merchandise

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