CASE ONE : D & C car wash services

Questions 1
How might the strategy, mission, competitive priorities, and customer benefit
package of this business affect their technology decisions?
According to the case study , the key reason for commence D & C Car Wash is providing
superior customer service and how can make their customers completely satisfied about car wash
services.
To offer this service with high quality , D & C need to apply the technology in their business
because its important role in achieve services successfully with law cost.
Furthermore , in case of their mission and strategy provide premium car washing experience to
customers, and they just concentrate on quality but with lower cost charges to customers, they
must look for a technology that can provide premium car wash experience to customers and
customer can satisfy with the quality of the service. Whether they want to invest in the expensive
machine or not will also depend on the initial cost they would like to invest.
For the impact of customer benefit packages on their technology decision. D & C have two
options , either They can purchase the expensive machine that can offer a great deal of services
to customers or they can purchase a simple machine which can only offer primary services .

Question 2

What issues and problems should be anticipated with managing this business,
particularly with respect to technology? What roles does operations play in
successfully handling these issues and problems?
Issues and problems that should be anticipated with managing business, particularly with respect
to technology are:
1- The machine that they use to wash the vehicles is breakdown and part shortages will impact
the performance of their car wash to give a superior service to their customers. When the demand
is high and the machine breakdown, they cant give the service to customer and they will loss.
2 . Higher eployee skills level required such as information technology and service management
skills.
3- . The maintenance of the machine and robotic that they use. If we use the high technology
machine, the maintenance also always is high. That means it will increase the cost of
maintenance.
4 . Integration of old (legacy) and new technology and systems
In order to solve these issues and problems, operations:
1- . Increasing car wash efficiency and the mode of how the owner interface with the machinery
on a daily basis can directly translate into time savings. Although not completely related, these
time-saving tasks translate into net cost decreases.

2- There have been advancements made in water treatment; car cleaning chemicals, and nearly
every aspect of car washing has made major advancements from the ground up. This will reduce
time for car wash services.

3- . Carwash operators can save time by utilizing the flexible and increased throughput
capabilities of new carwash equipment designs, including man/machine communication
interfaces

4 . Successful car wash operations make use of remote equipment monitoring software programs
that can send a text message or ring a pager when an equipment failure occurs or if soap levels
drop below a preset level. Wash operators can expect to make more
money with reduced down times and increase the life span of their equipment by catching
.malfunctions early on before they lead to major repairs

Question 3 .
What does a break even analysis indicate about this business venture? Should
Drew and Caroline go into this business?
A break-even point is the level of sales (in terms of either value of volume) needed to cover
the fixed costs; the level at which a company (or business unit or product) does not make
.either a profit or a loss

Break-even analysis is useful because it helps analyse the chances of a new venture
succeeding. The concept is also closely related to operational gearing. The closer to break..even, the higher the operational gearing

Forecasted Revenue for typical modern car:

$22 X 20,000 cars = $ 440,000

Operating costs as follow :

Sludge Removal $ 4,000

Attorney ,Accountant, and merchant fees $ 6,000

Chemicals & Utilities $ 30,000

Office expense $ 6,000

Maintenance, Insurance and Advertising $ 12,000

Mortgage $ 72,000
Labor $ 170,000

Car damage expense = $ 3,520

(0.008) ($22) (20,000)

Therefore , Total Operating costs = $ 303,520

As for the breakeven number of cars:

Assuming x = number of cars required to breakeven
22x = 1.50x + 0.176x + 270,000
x = 270,000/20.324

20.324x = 270,000
x = 13,284.78 cars

x= 13, 285 cars

Net Profit = Forecasted Revenue Operating costs

Net profit = $ 440,000 - $ 303,520
= $ 136,480.00
According to the result , D & C are strongly advisable to go into the business because the
number of required cars is just 13285 ,Furthermore, they can make profit as many as
$ 136480 based on the average number of car of 22,000.

CASE TWO : Automotive Airbag Reliability

Question 1

What is the role of the dual actuators in the mechanical air bag system ?
Describe the effect of having only one ?

An

automobile

airbag

system

is

made

of

three

general

components:

the airbag itself,

a sensor system, and

a deployment mechanism.

The airbag itself is constructed of nylon fabric, and each airbag is specifically designed for
the specific automobile, and location within the automobile. For example, because the
passenger dashboard is further away from the passenger than the steering column is from the
driver, the passenger side airbag is larger, and requires more gas to fill it during a collision.
Other airbag types include the side air bag, which generally deploys out of the door, and the
side curtain airbag, which descends from the roof rail above the door. Several holes are
designed into each airbag to slowly expel gas when the occupant strikes the airbag. This
action helps absorb the energy of the occupant and prevent the occupant from being bounced
backwards.

Deployment of the airbag is controlled by a sensor system, which consists of accelerometers.

Gyroscopes may also be part of the sensor package to detect rollover conditions. The sensors
send a signal to the deployment mechanism only if a set of conditions are met, including
acceleration pulse and pulse duration. These same sensors also control seatbelt pretensioners.

The sensors can detect the direction of impact, so front airbags will generally not deploy
during side impacts.

The deployment mechanism for the airbag is initiated by the ignition of a pyrotechnic charge.
When the sensor system detects an impact, the automobile's microprocessor will send a
voltage pulse to the ignition mechanism. The heat of the voltage pulse ignites the pyrotechnic
material. The burning propellant generates an inert gas that rapidly fills the airbag.

Therefore , it is pretty clear that each elements work interactively with other elements. As
such , if Airbag system has only one system , the process is absolutely is going to be failed .

Question 2 :
Compute the reliabilities of each system . what conclusion do the data suggest ?

1- AMS :
In order to compute the reliability of AMS sensor system , we first compute the reliability of
actuators because it is duplicated :
Rp = 1 - (1 P1 ) ( 1 P2 )
Rp = 1 ( 1 - .985266 ) ( 1 985266 )
Rp = 1 ( .000217) = . 999783
As long as we have found the reliability of actuators , we can find the reliability of AMS as
follow :
Rs = ( .999993) (. 999783) (.999986) ( .999986) (.999994) (.999975)(.999999) = .999741
2- EMS :
To compute the reliabailty of EMS sensor as follow :

Rs = ( .999239 ) ( .998318 ) ( .957124 ) (.982782 ) ( .999892) = .938246

3- ES :
Rs = ( .998919) (.998019) (.996439) ( .999905) (.994625) (.999574) (.974324) (.982386)
(.988661) (.991532) (.999782) (.999788) = .926205

Based on the results , it is noticeable that the AMS sensor block diagram has the highest
reliability among EMS and ES .
Therefore , the reliability's data suggest that increase reliability to both of EMS and ES
sensor to be as high as AMS .