Read the case study titled, "Process Strategy at Wheeled Coach" on page 310 in the textbook (Operations Management Tenth Edition). On the basis of your reading and your knowledge of the subject, answer the following questions:
1. Why do you think major auto manufacturers do not build ambulances?
2. What is an alternative process strategy to the assembly line that Wheeled Coach currently uses?
* You must write references. Absence of references will be considered plagiarism.
* Assignment suspected of plagiarism of any type will be awarded 0 marks. No chance to re-do the assignment will be given.
* The assignment should not be more than 1 page
Wheeled Coach, based in Winter Park, Florida, is the world's largest manufacturer of ambulance. Working four 10 hour days each week, 350 employees make only custom-made ambulances. Virtually every vehicle is unique. Wheeled Coach accommodates the marketplace by providing a wide variety of options and an engineering staff accustomed to innovation and custom design. Continuing growth, which now requires that more than 20 ambulances roll off the assembly line each week, makes process design a continuing challenge. Wheeled Coach's response has been to build a focused factory. Wheeled Coach established work cells for every major module feeding an assembly line, including aluminum bodies, electrical wiring harnesses, interior cabinets, windows, painting, and upholstery.
Labor standards drive the schedule so that every work cell feed the assembly line on schedule, just- in-time for installations. The chassis, usually that of a Ford truck, moves to a station at which the aluminum body is mounted. Then the vehicle is moved to painting. Following a custom paint job, it moves to the assembly line, where it will spend 7 days. During each of these 7 workdays, each work cell drivers its respective module to the appropriate position on the assembly line. During each of these seven workdays, each work cell delivers its respective module to the appropriate position on the assembly line. During the first day, electrical wiring is installed; on the second day, the unit moves forward to the station at which cabinetry is delivered and installed, then to a window and lighting station, on to upholstery, to fit and finish, to further customizing and finally to inspection and road testing.