Del Mar Case

Marcos Vieira Filho

9/27/15

Operations Management

Ellis

1.What is De Mar's product? Identify the tangible parts of this product and its service components.

De Mar’s product is repairs and installations of plumbing, air conditioning and heating which makes it a service. The tangible parts include air conditioners and physical parts relevant to plumbing including pipes, valves, etc. The service is 24 hours a day 7 days a week with no extra charges.

2.How should other areas of De Mar (marketing, finance, personnel) support its product strategy?

In terms of marketing, De Mar needs to show the customer how their service is of high quality and that the services are premium priced due to this level of service. So since the services are going to be a little higher than the average cost, the price to quality ratio is better overall for the customer. Personnel must be trained and have this certain attitude about offering a friendly, yet specialized service. The staff hired must have the special education needed to provide the high level of service needed to work for De Mar.

3.Even though De Mar's product is primarily a service product, how should each of the 10 OM strategic decisions in the text be managed to ensure that the product is successful?

Quality: must have a high level of quality in all services and products.

Design of Good and Services: the design must cohere with the high quality of services provided granted that some services will be up to customer input, by which that case the design must cohere with the customers’ expectations

Process Strategy: how the product is prepared, delivered, or fixed will decide the customer’s satisfaction with the service

Location: is not a huge impact since the product is delivered, but it is critical that there are no extra fees for delivery.

Layout: will affect how quickly and efficiently products get fixed and repaired so it is important to have an organized, and well maintained layout

Supply Chain: the products needed to install or repair products must be from distributers who offer high quality parts

Inventory: must be properly managed and updated to ensure accuracy in repairs and installations

Scheduling: make sure the staffing is enough and properly assigned for various jobs

Maintenance: repair and maintenance vehicles must be properly running in order to ensure proper delivery and installation requirements