Operations Management at Pizza Parlour

Quality at Flavors

Quality at Flavors is defined in various dimensions.

Dimensions Measures

Performance Time taken to produce a pizza, Quality of ingredients, Quality of pizza produced, Quality of customer service

Features Number of pizza flavors, Customization options, Side order options

Reliability Consistency of service, Consistency of pizza served

Serviceability Customer feedback and recommendations

Aesthetics Ambiance, Cutlery, Outlook of service staff

Perceived Quality Customer perception of Flavors

Flavors, on average, sell a total of 55 pizzas per day, while having a capacity to produce more than 500 pizzas daily. This lack of demand is severely hampering them in realizing their full potential and earning revenues far greater than their current level. In this deliverable, we will look at Critical to Quality (CTQ) factors, which are holding back Flavors from attracting more customers on a daily basis.

Customer perception is an important factor when analyzing the demand of any restaurant. Before a customer enters Flavors and tries one of its pizzas, he has a certain expectation about the quality of food and service that he is going to get at Flavors. This perception has to be at such a positive level that he is tempted to walk to Flavors and try out one of its products. At this point, other dimensions of quality become important. The quality of food and service that is afforded to the customer will determine whether he bothers to show up at Flavors again. The reliability and serviceability aspects of quality become important as the customer will expect the same or better standard of food, service and ambiance that he received on his first visit. Therefore, we will look to address the low demand for Flavor's pizzas in two aspects:

1. Lack of first time customers

2. Lack of repeat customers

We will identify different dimensions of quality that contribute to each of these issues, followed by analysis and suggested improvements.

Lack of first time customers

To tackle this issue, a survey was distributed among LUMS students and staff, who had not tried Flavor's pizzas before, and they were asked for reasons why they preferred other pizza outlets outside LUMS to Flavors. The survey pool comprised a total of 43 people and following Exhibit 1 shows the five most mentioned reasons in the results.

Analysis based on Survey Findings

LUMS management has banned advertisements in the form of posters or standee's in open areas. The only form of advertising that the restaurant can rely upon is "word of mouth", or posters placed within the premise of restaurant itself. Considering Flavors is owned by Mr. Memon, who also owns SuperStore, one possible area that Flavors can use for advertising is SuperStore itself. The place has a very high footfall and is visited by a huge number of students daily. Any advertisement placed there will have a high visibility and can be utilized to communicate sales promotions and deals, in addition to building a brand name for Flavors.

Building a brand name for Flavors is an important step going forward. The unique selling point and competitive advantage that Flavors has over its competitors is health and freshness. Yet the message is not being conveyed to the customers. The employees at the restaurant need to be uniformed, clean in terms of appearance, and be seen wearing gloves. The restaurant cleanliness and hygiene needs to be in line with their unique selling point. The restaurant needs to come up with a slogan like "WE SERVE ONLY FRESH AND HEALTHY" and the same should be used in some advertising of the pizza at the restaurant and at the superstore. All of this can be done at very little incremental cost and yet create a strong brand awareness for Flavors. The restaurant kitchen is designed in a way that the customer can look at his pizza being made. Flavors should encourage its customers to watch while this happens to increase customer involvement in the process and create customer confidence over the process and ingredients.

Adding the option for side orders, in addition to pizzas, will not only serve to enrich the dining experience of existing customers, but also increase the attraction in the eyes of new customers. Flavors already have staff and equipment capable of making Garlic Bread, Lasagna