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Location Decisions in Ethiopia
Strengths:
- Natural Resources: Ethiopia is rich in natural resources, including water, geothermal energy, and agricultural products, which can be advantageous for certain industries.
- Strategic Location: Ethiopia's location in the Horn of Africa gives it access to multiple regional markets, making it a potential hub for trade.
- Labor Force: A large, youthful, and relatively low-cost labor force can support labor-intensive industries.
- Government Support: The Ethiopian government has policies aimed at attracting foreign investment and improving infrastructure.
Limitations:
- Infrastructure Challenges: Limited infrastructure in terms of roads, railways, and energy supply can pose significant challenges for operations.
- Political Instability: Ongoing socio-political tensions can affect business climate and investment decisions.
- Bureaucracy: Complex regulatory environments and slow bureaucratic processes can hinder the establishment and operation of businesses.
- Market Limitations: Internal market size is limited, which may restrict opportunities for growth in certain sectors.
Differences Between Service and Manufacturing Location Decisions
Service Location Decisions:
- Proximity to Customers: Locations are often chosen based on closeness to the target customer base.
- Variability in Demand: Services often experience fluctuations in demand that can be influenced by factors like seasonality and time of day.
- Accessibility: Accessibility for customers is key, so locations may be near transportation hubs or areas of high foot traffic.
Manufacturing Location Decisions:
- Resource Accessibility: Decision based on the availability of raw materials and transportation logistics for shipments.
- Labor Costs and Skills: Factors such as labor availability and skills significantly impact decisions.
- Production Technology: Location may depend on the types of technology used and whether specific technical expertise is readily available.
Facility Layout
Layout Types:
- Process Layout: Groups similar resources; suitable for custom jobs.
- Product Layout: Arranges equipment based on the sequence of operations for a product; ideal for mass production.
- Fixed Position Layout: For large, immobile units; resources are brought to the site.
- Cellular Layout: Groups dissimilar machines into cells; supports hybrid processes.
Service Layouts:
- Retail Layout: Arranges merchandise to optimize sales and customer flow.
- Hospital Layout: Organized for efficient patient movement and care delivery.
- Office Layout: Designed to promote communication and workflow among staff.
Line Balancing:
- The process of assigning tasks to workstations in such a way that the cycle time is met and the workload is evenly distributed among stations.
Quality Management and Control
Meaning of Quality: Quality is the degree to which a product or service meets predefined standards or expectations, often encompassing performance, reliability, and durability.
Determinants of Quality:
- Design Quality: How well a product is designed to meet customer requirements.
- Conformance Quality: The degree to which actual product matches the design.
- Durability: The length of time a product lasts before it deteriorates.
The Costs of Quality:
- Prevention Costs: Costs incurred to prevent defects.
- Appraisal Costs: Costs associated with measuring and monitoring activities to ensure quality.
- Internal Failure Costs: Costs resulting from defects found before delivery.
- External Failure Costs: Costs incurred when defects are found after delivery to the customer.
Quality Circles and Quality Improvement Teams:
- Groups of employees that meet regularly to discuss and make suggestions for quality improvements in their work area.
International Quality Documentation Standards:
- These include standards such as ISO 9001, which outlines requirements for a quality management system.
Total Quality Management (TQM):
- A management approach focused on long-term success through customer satisfaction, involving all members of an organization.
Quality Control and Improvement:
- Activities aimed at maintaining a desired level of quality in products or services, using techniques like statistical process control.
Aggregate Planning
Definition and Decision Options: Aggregate planning involves developing, analyzing, and maintaining a preliminary, approximate schedule of the overall operations of an organization. Options include pure strategies (chase, level, hybrid) and mixed strategies.
Basic Strategies of Aggregate Planning:
- Chase Demand Strategy: Adjusting production to match demand.
- Level Production Strategy: Maintaining a steady rate of production regardless of demand fluctuations.
- Hybrid Strategy: A mix of chase and level production strategies.
Aggregate Planning Costs: Includes direct costs related to production levels, labor costs, inventory holding costs, and costs related to hiring/firing or overtime.
Scheduling Operations
Introduction to Scheduling: Scheduling involves assigning resources to tasks over a specific time period to achieve efficient operation.
Introduction to Loading: Loading refers to the allocation of work to specific machines or work centers to balance workloads and optimize production.
Introduction to Job Sequencing: Job sequencing is the ordering of jobs to optimize production efficiency and minimize completion time.
Priority Rules and Techniques: Techniques used to prioritize jobs include FIFO (first in, first out), LIFO (last in, first out), and shortest processing time first.
Personnel Scheduling in Service: Involves assigning employees to work shifts to meet service demands, focusing on factors like peak service times and employee availability.
This overview provides a foundational look at location decisions in Ethiopia, facility layout, quality management, aggregate planning, and operational scheduling, which are essential concepts in operations management.