1. Supporting Facility and Process Flows
Chapter 5
Creating the Right Environment

2. Learning Objectives
Describe the impact of “servicescapes” on behavior of customers and employees.
Identify and discuss environmental dimensions of servicescapes.
Identify critical design features of a service supporting facility.
Draw a swim lane flowchart, process flow diagram, and a Gantt chart of a service process.
Calculate performance metrics such as throughput time and direct labor utilization.
Identify bottleneck operation in a product layout and regroup activities to create new jobs that will increase the overall service capacity.
Use operations sequence analysis to determine relative locations of departments in a process layout that minimize total flow-distance.
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3. Environmental Orientation Considerations
Spatial cues are needed to orient visitors.
Formula facilities draw on previous experience.
Entrance atrium allows visitors to gain a quick orientation and observe others for behavioral cues.
Orientation aids and signage such as “You Are Here” maps reduce anxiety.
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4. Servicescapes
Designing Physical Surroundings to Affect Employee and Customer Behavior
Ambient Conditions: background characteristics such as noise level, music, lighting, temperature, and scent
Spatial Layout and Functionality: reception area, circulation paths of employees and customers, and focal points
Signs, Symbols, and Artifacts: selection, orientation, location, and size of objects
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5. Servicescape Elements
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6. Typology of Servicescapes
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7. Facility Design Considerations
Nature and Objectives of Service Organization
Land Availability and Space requirements
Flexibility
Security
Aesthetic Factors
The Community and Environment
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8. Types of Services Processes
Process Type
Service
Example
Characteristic
Management Challenge
Project
Consulting
One-of-a-kind engagement
Staffing and scheduling
Job Shop
Hospital
Many specialized departments
Balancing utilization and scheduling patients
Batch
Airline
Group of customers treated simultaneously
Pricing of perishable asset (seat inventory)
Flow
Cafeteria
Fixed sequence of operations
Adjust staffing to demand fluctuations
Continuous
Electric Utility
Uninterrupted delivery
Maintenance and capacity planning
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9. Swim Lane Flowchart of Graduate School Admissions
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10. Gantt Chart for Mortgage Service
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11. Process Analysis Terminology
Cycle Time is the average time between completions of successive units.
Bottleneck is the factor that limits production usually the slowest operation.
Capacity is a measure of output per unit time when fully busy.
Capacity Utilization is a measure of how much output is actually achieved.
Throughput Time is the time to complete a process from time of arrival to time of exit.
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12. Process Analysis Terminology (cont.)
Rush Order Flow Time is the time to go through the system without any queue time.
Direct Labor Content is the actual amount of work time consumed.
Total Direct Labor Content is the sum of all the operations times.
Direct Labor Utilization is a measure of the percentage of time that workers are actually contributing value to the service.
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13. Process Flow Diagram of Mortgage Services
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14. Product Layout: Work Allocation Problem
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15. Automobile Driver’s License Office (Improved Layout)
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16. DMV Office (Flexible Layout)
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17. Process Layout: Ocean World Theme Park
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18. Process Layout: Relative Location Problem
Ocean World Theme Park Daily Flows
A B C D E F A B C D E F A 7 20 5 6 15 30 15 6 B 8 6 10 2 12 40 10 8
Net
flow C 10 6 15 7 8 20 8 8 D 30 5 10 3 30 6 E 10 10 1 20 6 10 F 6 3 4
Flow matrix Triangularized matrix
Description of attractions: A=killer whale, B=sea lions, C=dolphins, D=water skiing,
E=aquarium, F=water rides.
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19. Ocean World Theme Park (Proposed Layout)
Initial layout (b) Move C close to A
Pair Flow distances Pair Flow distances
AC x 2 = CD x 2 =40
AF x 2 = CF x 2 =16
DC x 2 = DF x 2 = 12
DF x 2 = AF x 2 = 12
Total CE x 2 = 16
Total
(c ) Exchange A and C (d) Exchange B and E and move F
AE x 2 = AB x 2 = 30
CF x 2 = AD x 2 = 0
AF x 2 = FB x 2 = 16
AD x 2 = FD x 2 = 12
DF x 2 = Total
Total C A B C A B D E F D E F A A F C B C E D E F D B
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20. Health Maintenance Organization (A)B C D E F
Reception - 30 5
Waiting room 10 40
Examination 15 20 1
Laboratory 18 8 6 3
X-ray 4 2
Minor surgery
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21. HMO (A) Questions
Beginning with a good initial layout, use operations sequence analysis to determine a better layout that would minimize the walking distance between different areas of the clinic.
Defend your final layout based on features other than minimizing walking distance.
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22. Health Maintenance Organization (B)
Activity
Time (sec.)
Receive prescriptions 24
Type labels
120
Fill prescriptions 60
Check prescriptions 40
Dispense prescriptions 30
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23. HMO (B) Questions
Identify the bottleneck activity, and show how capacity can be increased by using only two pharmacists and two technicians.
In addition to savings on personnel costs, what benefits does this arrangement have?
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24. Esquire Department Store
Use CRAFT logic to develop a layout that will maximize customer time in the store.
What percentage increase in customer time spent in the store is achieved by the proposed layout?
What other consumer behavior concepts should be considered in the relative location of departments?
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25. The Role of the Servicescape
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26. The Servicescape
Concept: a modern farmer’s market for the discerning customer
Aesthetics
Force Flow
Queuing
Results
“We want to change the way people eat…” Brian Cronin, General Manager
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27. Aesthetics
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28. Force Flow
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29. Normal Grocery Store Cashiers Frozen Dairy Meat Produce Deli
Grocery & Staples
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30. Comparison Central Market Average Grocery Store Size
100k ft2
60k ft2
Size
Transactions / Week
25,000
50,000
$40
Sales / Customer
$20
Wine
Product Mix
Groceries
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31. “There’s cheese at the end of the maze…”
Questions
How do the environmental dimensions of the servicescape (ambient conditions, space/function, signs, symbols & artifacts) explain the success of Central Market?
Comment on how the servicescape shapes the behaviors of both customers and employees.
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32. Topics for Discussion
Compare the attention to aesthetics in waiting rooms that you have visited. How did the different environments affect your mood?
Give an example of a servicescape that supports the service concept and another that detracts. Explain the success or failure in terms of the servicescape dimensions
Select a service and discuss how the design and layout of the facility meets the five factors of nature and objectives of the organization.
For Example 5.3, the Ocean World theme park, make an argument for not locating popular attractions next to each other.
The CRAFT program is an example of a heuristic programming approach to problem solving. Why might CRAFT not find the optimal solution to a layout problem?
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33. Interactive Exercise The class divides into small groups
One-half of the groups produce examples based on work experience with supportive servicescapes in terms of job satisfaction and productivity.
The other one-half of the groups provide examples of poor servicescapes in terms of job satisfaction and productivity.
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