SHEENAS CASE STUDY SOLUTION

Q1. Sheena is the operations manager of her business. Among her responsibilities is
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.
This 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.

Determine the year-end revenue goal of your lawn service business. Establishing
the year-end goal is the key to determining how to achieve that goal. A lawn
service requires employees and equipment to meet its goals. It also must attract and
retain customers. Your revenue goal will inform how many employees, equipment
and customers are necessary to reach that goal.

Review each seasonal quarter of the year. Confirm the services your lawn service
has traditionally offered in winter, spring, and summer and fall in your region.
Calculate the number of customer orders required to generate your revenue goal.
Determine the operating cost of filling each type of customer order. Determine
what costs can be cut to increase revenue. Determine whether cutting some
services and focusing on others would help your lawn business reach its revenue
goal. Develop a marketing strategy to reach new customers.

Determine what sets your business apart from other lawn service providers in your
area. Your business may offer experts in horticulture, arbor care, turf grass or
sprinkler and drain installation among others. Research how many other businesses
in the area offer the services in which you specialize. Learn the prices they offer,
the technology they use, and the speed and quality of their service. Decide whether
your business has the current capacity to match the prices, quality and speed of
your competitors. Anticipate an increase of the capacity of your business where
needed to compete.
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 assurance is also important to Sheenas business especially that she is
planning to expand.

e. What kind of maintenance must be performed?

Mainly equipment maintenance is necessary for Sheenas business like mower,
tractor etc.

f. 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.
a. The result of her work Cleanliness, innovative ideas in maintaining
lawn
b. The time took to complete the work.
c. S h e e n a s m a n n e r o f t r e a t m e n t w i t h e a c h c u s t o m e r .
The following are some of the ways the customers could likely assess the quality
of a lawn care service:
How much fertilizer is applied annually?
Does the company apply nitrogen fertilizers?
What features the lawn mower has to have to keep the area look its best?
 Are sprays or granular fertilizers used?
What does the company guarantee about its service?
Does it provide any kind of lawn care education to the homeowner?
Is the lawn and garden service flexible -- and is the level of service worth the
cost?

Q 2. The town is considering an ordinance that would prohibit putting grass clippings at
the curb 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?

Option 1) Sheena can use her own vehicle.

Advantages
No legal hassles.
She can carr y as much as she can in ter ms of capacity

Disadvantages
Van cost
Maintenance cost increases

0ption 2)
Sheena can use grass as food for animals

Advantages
No investment
Get more mone y by selling grass as animal food