Service Operation Management

Session 5
Topic 4
Improving the Delivery System
 Use of Technology for Innovation
Companies are learning to redefine service offerings, harness digital technology, and improve the
customer experience.
Some are lowering their costs as well.
The winning approaches will combine three elements:

‒ a focus on service innovation matching the intensity and attention that product
companies bring to R&D

‒ the ability to personalize the customer experience and to help customers do things
themselves

‒ the will to simplify (and in some cases automate) the way services are delivered

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 The New Service Landscape
The nature of services and the pace of change have shifted dramatically in recent
years, and mastering the traditional aspects of service delivery will no longer be
enough. To seize the opportunities, companies must learn to tap the potential for
service innovation made possible by four evolving trends.
Higher customer expectations.
More than ever, consumers demand greater involvement, customization,
personalization, and mobility from services—with immediate results.
When they see cutting-edge service innovations in one industry, they expect to find
them in others as well; witness the spread of self-service kiosks from airline check-ins
to the retailing and hospitality industries.
As industry boundaries increasingly blur for customers, companies must look for new
ideas beyond their immediate rivals.
 The New Service Landscape

The rise of the mobile Internet.

About 1.5 billion smartphones are currently in use worldwide and more than 100
billion apps are downloaded.  The resulting mobile and self-service possibilities are
transforming service delivery.
Uber’s disruption of the taxi business is just one prominent example.
Advances in digital payments are increasingly spurring mobile commerce, with far-
reaching implications in financial services and retailing.
Remote access and monitoring in healthcare are also potential game changers made
possible by increased connectivity.
The proliferation of smart devices unlocks growth opportunities, reduces the cost to
develop services, and dramatically lowers barriers to entry.
 The New Service Landscape
Big data and advanced analytics.
Companies such as Amazon and Harrah’s are known for using customer data to
personalize and tailor their services. Continued advances in analytic capabilities allow
companies to draw insights from massive, previously untapped sources, leading to
new service possibilities.
SATMAP, for example, is a software solution that uses advanced analytics to improve
service in call centers. It helps companies match callers to service agents with
appropriate personalities, resulting in higher rates of customer satisfaction and
service-to-sales conversion.
The Internet of Things. Pervasive machine-to-machine (M2M) connectivity is already
facilitating real-time service delivery in a number of B2B applications, such as the
sensors GE uses in aircraft engines to monitor performance and improve the efficiency
of maintenance.
In the B2C space, Nest uses M2M connectivity to link its smart thermostats to other
home devices, including washing machines and personal-fitness bands, thus
positioning the company as the network hub in a digitally connected home. The
prevalence of connected devices opens up possibilities for proactive, even “touchless”
service, as well as new commercial models quite unlike the traditional fee-for-service
one.
******** 5
 Teaching Plan
Session Particulars Reference Book
Service Operation Management
Overview of Service Operations by Johnston
The session will enable the students to understand: Chapter 1
1 • Operations Management
• What are services
• What are Service Operations Management
• Importance of service operations management
Service Operation Management
Introductory CASELET Singapore General Hospital by Johnston
Service Concept and Customer perspective Chapter 2
The session will enable the students to understand:
2
• Service concept
• Understanding Customer Perspective
• Challenges for types of service

Operations Management for

Introductory CASELET – SouthWest Airline competitive Advantage by Chase
Strategic Positioning and Service Strategy Chapter 7
The session will enable the students to understand: Service Operation Management
3 • The concepts of operations strategy by Johnston
• How an operations strategy can contribute to the Chapter 15
sustainable competitiveness of the business
 Teaching Plan
Session Particulars Reference Book
Service Operation Management
Case Study: Technology & Innovation NLB Singapore by Johnston
New Service Development Chapter 7
The session will enable the students to understand:
4 • Service Innovation
• Service System Design and Tools
• Managing service experiences
• The Front-Office Back Office Interface

Case Study: Blackboard.com Service Operation Management

Improving the Delivery System by Johnston
The session will enable the students to understand: Chapter 8
• Analysing Processes
5 • Process Flow Diagrams, Process Simulation
• Service Quality/ Service Quality Designs,
• Lean Principles
• Using Technology for Innovation
 Learning Objective

The session will enable the students to understand:

• Analyzing Processes
• Process Flow Diagrams, Process Simulation
• Service Quality/ Service Quality Designs,
• Lean Principles
• Using Technology for Innovation

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 McDonald's Made-For-You Initiatives

McDonald's is the largest and most well-known chain of fast food restaurants in the
world, with 27,000 locations distributed across 119 countries on 5 continents, serving
millions of customers every day.
The McDonald brothers, in 1948, closed their restaurant San Bernardino, California, for
three months, reopening it in December as a walk-up hamburger stand that sold
hamburgers, potato chips, and orange juice, and created the "fast-food" concept. 
This is probably the first Lean Service implementation in food sector. In an ongoing effort
to provide the best in customer service, McDonald’s has continually sought new ways to
make the customer experience faster and more comfortable. Recently, the company
sought to offer an increasingly fresh and made to-order menu. To accomplish this,
McDonald's implemented operational changes in food production, introducing a system
called "Made for You" (MFY). Under the MFY system, food products are made to order,
with production beginning while the customer places his or her order with the cashier.
Along with delivering fresh, high quality products, the system aims to personalize each
customer request, enabling them to adjust the ingredients of each sandwich or salad

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McDonald's Made-For-You Initiatives
Since the early days of Lean, it has been well proven that
organizations of any size generally operate with around 90% of
process-oriented 'waste' leaving a mere 10% of value-added
activity delivering services to their customers.
Lean was developed and implemented by the Toyota
Manufacturer between 1945 and 1970. Lean was introduced as
an alternative approach to mass production techniques. Lean
led to raise productivity and quality levels by allowing flexibility
of 'skilled' production with the volume efficiencies of 'mass'
manufacturing.
Service organizations are struggling with customer demands for
better quality service and managerial demands for cost
reduction. makes a claim that to date significant improvements
have taken place in Lean Services, yet it is also true that for the
majority of the operations departments within Lean Services
potential has hardly been tapped.

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 McDonald's Made-For-You Initiatives
While the first "McDonald's" restaurant was still premised on most customers arriving by
car, its design was unique due to a combination of factors (principles of the Lean Thinking
mode):
 like the brothers' previous food stands, the design deliberately omitted an interior
dining area
 there was no waiting staff, orders were taken in person at the front counter,
where the food was also delivered
 the staff has been thoroughly trained in the production process;
 the McDonald brothers designed the kitchen area themselves, integrating their
acquired knowledge into an 'assembly line-style' layout that maximized efficiency
and output.

The following year, french fries and Coca-Cola were added to

the menu. This simplified menu, and food preparation using
assembly line principles, allowed them to sell hamburgers for
15 cents, or about half as much as at a sit-down restaurant.
The restaurant was very successful.

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 McDonald's Made-For-You Initiatives
Since 1998, McDonald's uses new "Made for You" production system, a Just-in-Time
application, the first major overhaul of the local McDonald's kitchen in more than 25
years. The "Made for You" production system give customers the ability to order what
they want on their sandwiches and have it delivered "hot and fresh," instead of eating
something already prepared and pulled from a warming bin.
In the "Made for You" production system, there are no more warming trays. Each
sandwich is prepared when the order is received from the customer. Yes, McDonald's
sandwiches are more lean! This "Made for You" production system targets under 90
seconds from order to delivery and that includes 11 seconds of waiting for the super-
fast toaster!
In now, the McDonald's invest in front desk automation. Customers place their order at
touch screens, and then receive a number with a 'digital locator,' which then notifies
staff to where the customer is sitting. Once the order is ready to serve, a McDonald’s
employee delivers the food to the customer’s table.
McDonald’s produces food under highly automated and controlled conditions. What is
important to understand about this remarkably successful organization is not only that
it has created a highly sophisticated piece of technology, but also that it has done this
by applying a manufacturing style of thinking to a people-intensive service situation.

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13
McDonald’s Work FlowProcess

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 Process Defined
A process is a series of steps and decisions involved in the way work is completed.
We may not realize it, but processes are everywhere and in every aspect of our leisure
and work.
A few examples of processes might include:
- Preparing breakfast
- Placing an order
- Developing a budget
- Cleaning a room
- Changing oil in a car

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 Analyzing Process

A process consists four major elements:

• Steps and decisions — the flowchart. A series of steps and decisions describing
the way work is completed.
• Variability of processing time and flow — the pattern of processing times.
• Timing and interdependence — when the arrivals happen, when people work, etc.
• Assignment of resources — how many and where are they assigned.

To balance the service line in a product layout it is important to identify the bottleneck
operation and to determine the system capacity.
It can be determined by analyzing the process with the help of process diagrams.

Process diagrams, called “Flow Diagrams or Flow Chart”, are used to model the
sequence of activities within a process.
Process modeling formalizes practices and describes the manner in which they should
take place

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 Flow Chart
.

Delay

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Process Diagram Notations

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Process Chart – Burger Assembly
Operation

Transport

Inspection

Storage
 Terms Used in Process Analysis
1) Cycle time (CT):
Average time between completions of successive units. For an operation, CT is
the average service time to perform the activity. Cycle time for entire service
system is the time between successive customers exiting during a busy period. So it
depends on the bottleneck activity.
2) Bottleneck:
Bottleneck operation is the slowest operation with longest CT which limits
the production or service time. Bottleneck operation determines the CT of entire
service system.
3) Capacity:
Capacity is a measure of output per unit of time when system is fully busy, for
example, applications processed per hour; customers served in 8 hours of shift. The
unconstrained capacity of any operation is measured as reciprocal of CT i.e., 1/CT.
The system capacity is the inverse of CT of bottleneck activity.

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 Terms Used in Process Analysis
4) Capacity Utilization:
Capacity Utilization is a measure of actual output achieved relative to the
process capacity when fully busy.
5) Throughout time:
Throughput time is the total time taken to complete a process from time of
arrival to time of exit. It is determined as sum of the critical path operation times
plus the average time spent in all queues. If we omit waiting time from throughput
time, the rest of the time (critical path) is called rush order flow time.

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McDonald’s Assembly Line for Burgers

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Process Flow Chart for making Burger

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 Simulation in Operation Management

Simulation allows the manager to both quantify and observe the system's

behavior. Whether the system is a production line, a distribution network or a
communications system, simulation can be used to study and compare alternative
designs or troubleshoot existing operations.

Simulations of unit processes are largely based on the computer-aided

approaches that include three important activities: modeling, visualization, and
design. Simulation output consists of information on the processed component,
characteristics of geometry, surface, and microstructure, including defects.

Computer simulations now provide invaluable information to the service

operations manager. In a more complex situation than that described above, it
would be impossible to model the likely outcomes, but a simulation can identify
the impact of different queue designs, priority rules and so on.

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 Service Quality
Due to the nature of services, where service output is nothing but good experience,
service quality has to be considered throughout the service encounter and to make
customers and employees of service organizations satisfied
Operational service quality is the operation’s assessment of how well the service was
delivered to its specification. Customer perceived quality is the customer’s
judgement of (satisfaction with) the quality of the service: their experience, the
quality of the ‘products’ and the perceived benefits, compared to their needs and
expectations.
For the purpose of improving the levels of the quality of services that we offer. The
service generating organizations are required to identify the reasons entailed behind
mounting dissatisfaction amongst the users and to activate appropriate measures
(technical or functional) to minimize it.
Understanding what satisfies and delights customers is something that must be
continually addressed, using a variety of means to ensure that the answers do not
fall into well-established patterns because the way the questions are asked does not
vary sufficiently. Customer satisfaction is something that can be managed to some
extent by influencing customers’ perceptions and expectations of service delivery.
This demands in-depth understanding of this subject

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Dimensions of Service Quality

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 Dimensions of Service Quality - Example

SERVQUAL dimension Description

Tangibles Online bank has up-to-date equipment. Easiness and
availability of information on the bank web site.
Reliability Involves the correct technical functioning of the site and
the accuracy of service promises (delivering when
promised) and product information
Responsiveness Quick response and the ability to get help if there is a
problem or question
Empathy Provision of caring and individualized attention to
customers provided by call centers or web
administrators.

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 Dimensions of Service Quality
 Tangible
- Facilities and facilitating goods
- Appearance of service provider
- Tools or equipment used to provide the service
Example: The new international airports in New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad have
been constructed at par with International standards
 Reliability
Perform promised service
- Dependably and accurately
- In same manner
- Right first time
- Without error every time
Example: Banks keeping loan related records correctly. The waiting time at dentist
is not more than the promised waiting time

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 Dimensions of Service Quality
 Responsiveness
Willingness to help customers
- Promptly
- To recover quickly after service failure
Example: In case of lost debit card/credit card, the customer care people will block the
card immediately. An air line provides meals at airport in case of delayed flight
 Assurance
Ability to convey trust and confidence
- Knowledge and courtesy of employees
- Competence
- Effective communication
Examples: Being polite and showing respect for customer vastly exhibit by airline crew
 Empathy
Ability to be approachable
- Caring and individualized attention
- Understand customer’s needs
- Ease of contact
Example: Being good listener to customer concerns

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 Achieving Service Quality
There are several methods to improve quality service at your business, from having
clearly defined and measured service goals and motivating your employees, to using
customer feedback and updating your service tools to better serve your clients.
Operational service quality is the operation’s assessment of how well the service was
delivered to its specification, i.e. its conformance to specification. A service specification
is an extension of the service concept.

The specification then takes the elements of the concept and identifies the quality
factors associated with each, details the standards to be achieved in each and the
organisation’s procedures to ensure conformance to the standard (operational control).
Achieving Service Quality
The airline’s desire for attentive staff will be checked by
supervisors on board providing coaching to members of staff
where necessary. Appropriate recruitment and training
procedures will also have a role to play in ensuring that staff
look after their passengers well.

Ensuring on-time departure will require co-ordination with

ground staff to ensure all passengers’ bags are loaded
promptly, discussions with air traffic control to establish
clearance on time and checks for weather problems to
allow for changes in route and increasing average speed to
ensure an on-time arrival.
 Achieving Service Quality
The service quality factors can be divided into four groups.
These groupings are defined in terms of a factor’s ability to dissatisfy and/or delight

- Hygiene Factors
- Enhancing Factors
- Critical Factors
- Neutral Factors
Hygiene factors are those that need to be in place: if they are they will satisfy, if not
they will be a source of dissatisfaction. They are not likely to be a source of delight.
For a bank, security, integrity and functionality, for example, are expected to be
acceptable;
- If they are not acceptable they will dissatisfy.
- On the other hand, if these factors are over-specified they will not delight.
- A very large number of security checks will not delight customers; indeed they
could dissatisfy them.
- Having all cash machines in perfect working order all of the time will not
delight them either.
 Achieving Service Quality
Enhancing factors have the potential to delight if they are present, but if they are not
there they are not likely to dissatisfy the customer.
- Customers of a bank may be delighted with a warm, caring approach by a
member of staff or their flexibility in dealing with a problem
- However, these things are not necessarily expected
- If they are not provided, their absence may not lead to dissatisfaction.

Critical factors have the potential to both delight and dissatisfy.

- Responsiveness, communication and competence of bank staff and systems
must be at least acceptable so as not to dissatisfy the customer,
- but if more than acceptable they have the potential to delight.

Neutral factors have little effect on satisfaction.

- The comfort or aesthetics of a banking hall may play no part in customers’
satisfaction or dissatisfaction
Achieving Service Quality
Emotion – The Missing Link
 Service Quality Assessment with
Service Quality Gap Model
Customer Defines Quality Word of Mouth
Reliability, Responsiveness, Customer needs
Assurance, Empathy Tangibles Past Experience or old customer
G1
G2

Perceived Expected
Service (PS) Service (PS)

Service Quality Assessment

Expectation exceeded ES<PS (Quality Surprise)

Expectation met ES~PS (Satisfactory Quality)

Expectations not met WS>PS (Unacceptable Quality)

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 Service Quality Assessment with
Service Quality Gap Model
Customer Defines Quality Word of Mouth
Reliability, Responsiveness, Customer needs
Assurance, Empathy Tangibles Past Experience or old customer
G1
G2

Perceived Expected
Service (PS) Service (PS)

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 Service

Gap 2 may be the result of either incorrect provision of a service or customers

inappropriately perceiving the service.
Incorrect provision is not unusual in many service organisations. Service operations are
often complex, human-based activities and things do go wrong.
A mismatch as a result of poor service provision can be removed or at least reduced
through service recovery
A service recovery is satisfying a previously dissatisfied customer and making them a
loyal customer

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 Service Quality Gaps

Not matching Difference between

performance to expectations and Not knowing what
promise perceptions customers expect

Not selecting the

Not delivering to right service design
service standards and standards

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 Service Quality – Closing the Gaps
Too often organizations exaggerate what
will be provided to customers, or
discuss the best case rather than the
likely case, raising customer
expectations and harming customer
perceptions
Communication Gap
Performance Gap
Managers need to audit the customer
experience that their organization
currently delivers in order to make sure
it lives up to the spec
Survey Research is a
key way to narrow this
Routine transactional surveys after gap
delivering the customer experience
are important for an organization
to measure customer perceptions of
service Listening Gap
Service Design Gap
Managers need to make sure the
organization is defining the level
of service they believe is needed
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 Service Quality Gaps

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*********
 Service Quality Gaps - Example
This gap exposes the weakness in
employee performance. Organizations
with a Delivery Gap may specify the
service required to support consumers
but have subsequently failed to train
their employees, put good processes
and guidelines in action. As a result,
employees are ill equipped to manage
consumer’s needs.
Managers not being aware of what
customers expect: They may not interact
directly with customers, they may be
unwilling to ask about expectations, or
they may be unprepared to address them.
Closing the listening gap requires that
management or empowered employees
acquire accurate information about
customers’ expectations. Customer
expectations must be assessed accurately
before new services are developed, and
they must be tracked after the services
are introduced.
In a departmental store, a retailer tries his level best to provide
personal attention to each customer by appointing a number of
sales staff, who roam near the customers to help them as and
when required. But customers take this service in different way
and don’t prefer to visit such store considering store staff
wandering like police around them.
Retailers throughout the globe
usually raise the expectations of
customers through attractive and bait
advertisements. Getting convinced,
when customers visit the store and
find service quality short of
standards, the actual experience
disappoint them.
Difficulties translating consumer expectation
into specific service quality delivery. This can
include poor service design, failure to
maintain and continually update their
provision of good customer service or simply
a lack of standardization. This gap may see
consumers seek a similar product with better
service elsewhere.
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 Management of Gaps
The five gaps that organizations should measure, manage and minimize:
Gap 1 L-Gap is the distance between what customers expect and what managers think
they expect - Clearly survey research is a key way to narrow this gap.
Gap 2 Sns Gap is between management perception and the actual specification of
the customer experience - Managers need to make sure the organization is defining the
level of service they believe is needed.
Gap 3 is from the experience specification to the delivery of the experience - Managers
need to audit the customer experience that their organization currently delivers in order to
make sure it lives up to the spec.
Gap 4 is the gap between the delivery of the customer experience and what is
communicated to customers - All too often organizations exaggerate what will be provided
to customers, or discuss the best case rather than the likely case, raising customer
expectations and harming customer perceptions.
Finally, Gap 5 is the gap between a customer's perception of the experience and the
customer's expectation of the service - Customers' expectations have been shaped by
word of mouth, their personal needs and their own past experiences.
Routine transactional surveys after delivering the customer experience are important for
an organization to measure customer perceptions of service.

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 Measuring Service Quality
SERVQUAL is a multi-dimensional research instrument, designed to capture consumer
expectations and perceptions of a service along the five dimensions that are believed
to represent service quality. One of the best-known instruments for assessing
customer perceived service quality

SERVQUAL is a concise multiple-item scale questionnaire that organisations can use to

assess their customers’ expectations and perceptions of their service and obtain a
single customer satisfaction score for tracking and comparison.

It helps organizations to compare customers’ perceptions and expectations of service

quality over time using 22 quality related items

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 Measuring Service Quality
The instrument itself is a skeleton questionnaire that asks questions of customers about
their expectations and perceptions of the services of a particular organisation.
It uses five consolidated quality factors or dimensions (assurance, empathy, reliability,
responsiveness, tangibles) with 22 items for perceptions and 22 for expectations, using a
seven-point Likert scale.
A gap score (perceptions minus expectations) is then calculated for each pair of
perception and expectation statements.
The total of the gap scores is the SERVQUAL score. The gap scores can also be weighted by
getting customers to add weights to each dimension.
Repeated administration allows an understanding as to how customers’ perceived service
quality with each of the dimensions is changing over time.
This instrument provides a direct measure of satisfaction i.e. perceptions minus
expectations

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 SERVQUAL

‒ SERVQUAL score is obtained with the help of statements or 22 quality related items
covering five dimensions of service quality
‒ Respondents are asked to give ratings on a scale (1=strongly disagree to 7=strongly
agree) regarding their expectations with Expectation score (E) and perceptions with
Perception score (P) of a particular service for all 22 items as
‒ Determine the gap between perception and expectation with gap score (P-E).
‒ Take average of Gap score for each dimension over number of items in each dimension
and finally obtain average un-weighted SERVQUAL score over all dimensions.

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 Calculation of SERVQUAL Scores
‒ SERVQUAL score is obtained with the help of statements or 22 quality related
items covering five dimensions of service quality
‒ Respondents are asked to give ratings on a scale (1=strongly disagree to
7=strongly agree) regarding their expectations with Expectation score (E) and
perceptions with Perception score (P) of a particular service for all 22 items as
‒ Determine the gap between perception and expectation with gap score (P-E).
‒ Take average of Gap score for each dimension over number of items in each
dimension and finally obtain average un-weighted SERVQUAL score over all
dimensions.

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Sample – SERVQUAL – Score Sheet

UAL
RVQ
LE SE
P
SAM

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List of SERVQUAL 22 Questions

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Customer Experience

50
Lean Management

51
 Lean Management

Lean management refers to a technique developed with the aim of minimizing the
process waste and maximizing the value of the product or service to the customer,
without compromising the quality. It is coined by Toyota Production System, which is a
part of lean thinking.

Lean is possible through distinct techniques such as flow charts, just in time, total
quality management, workplace redesigning, and total productive maintenance. It
focuses on delivering value to customers. A number of tools are deployed by the lean
management system to link customer value to the process and people.

52
 Improving Service System Through Lean Techniques
Companies in the service sector are constantly under pressure to
deliver excellent customer service, faster response times and valuable
support for their customers.
Lean can help to optimize all service delivery processes by targeting
wastes and either removing them completely or move to a more
effective state as part of a journey of continuous improvement
A doctor's office could apply lean production by improving scheduling
and reducing the amount of time a patient sits in the waiting room.
Lean tools and techniques can improve the customer experience by
reducing unnecessary activities such as the number of call transfers
and unnecessary IT processes, whilst also providing solutions to cut
down on errors, maximize employee empowerment and become
more cost-effective.
Lean thinking can provide businesses such as banks, insurance and
investment companies with more productive and cost-effective
solutions, therefore reducing risk during an economic dip. Lean would
also help to improve employee satisfaction, increase customer value
and ensure the supporting activities are focused on delivering value..

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Lean Principles
 Lean in service
Strategic Definition of Lean in a Service Context

Lean is an improvement philosophy that targets to improve the performance of a

business system by focusing on elements that do not add value. It is about creating
an agile engine, which helps an organization weather the storm of competition.

Tactical Definition of Lean in a Service Context

Lean is a process optimization methodology that focuses on improving the

effectiveness and efficiency of a process by eliminating activities that do not add
value to the customers and the product. It manifests itself in the following:
‒ Reduction in cycle time
‒ Reduction in touch times
‒ Reduction in lead times

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 How can managers prevent problems occurring

Service recovery is the action of seeking out and dealing with problems and failures in
the provision of service in order to improve service, operational and organisational
performance.
One key part of this is seeking out problems and stopping them happening in the first
place. There are two tools that specifically help uncover and/or reduce problems;
‒ Failsafing (mistake-proofing)
‒ Service guarantees

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 How can managers prevent problems occurring
Failsafing is one means of trying to reduce the likelihood of failures in service
processes. 
This idea is called poka yoke in Japan (from the Japanese yokeru, meaning to prevent,
and poka, inadvertent errors) and was advocated by Shigeo Shingo. 
Poka yoke are simple automatic failsafe devices that can be designed into a service to
prevent many inevitable mistakes becoming failures. 
Poka yoke usually have the dual advantages of cheapness and simplicity, and are used
to prevent both staff and customers doing the wrong thing.
Poka yoke can be used to reduce customer failures by encouraging customers to do
the right thing.
Simple but effective examples are:
 Airline lavatory doors that need to be locked to have the light come on.
 Electronic tags on products in a store ensure that they are not inadvertently or
intentionally taken out of the store.
 Mobile phones can be locked to prevent accidental calls being made in your pocket;
they can be made so that their batteries only fit one way – the right way – round.

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Mechanism of POKA-YOKE

58
 Some Examples of Mistake Proofing

This syringe is designed so that after the

Retail stores and libraries use "electronic
article surveillance" systems to prevent
removal of merchandise and books that
have not been paid for or checked out.
These IV lines are color coded to
insure you are handling the
correct line as IVs and other
things are connected and
disconnected.
syringe's first use, any attempt to reuse it
causes the plunger handle to break off. This
insures that it is not used a second time.

Most websites & software where one needs to

enter a critical bank account number, or a
password create option, users will notice that
they are asked to enter the same value twice
(with paste option disabled). This is to ensure
people haven't made a mistake while entering
the value, and that both boxes hold the same
value
In hotel rooms are equipped with a room A diagonal stripe was taped on
key holder which turns off the power to the spines of a set of box files.
when the key is removed.  This insures At a glance anyone can tell if any
no electricity flows to the room while it file is missing or wrongly placed
is vacant.
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 Examples of Mistake Proofing
The service industry is very important in that there is direct and constant interaction
with the customer and any failure on the part of providers of services can result in
losing good business.
This failure to serve a customer as per their expectation can be considered an error
and many service providers have put in place a number of error-proofing processes to
prevent this from happening.
The following are just a few examples of how service providers mitigate against the
chances of causing mistakes in their businesses:
Electronic tags in airline luggage handling systems ensure that passenger luggage is
not lost after check-in. Airline staff are able to locate misplaced luggage anywhere in
the world as the tag contains all the necessary passenger and flight information that is
used in tracking it.
Electronic waiter pads in restaurants ensure that the right order goes to the right table
at the shortest possible time. This order matching technology prevents the error of
waiters taking the wrong order and also enhances fast delivery to the customer.
Queue management systems in banks and other public venues are designed in such a
way that customers are served according to the order in which they came in promptly
thus preventing customer dissatisfaction.
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 Service guarantees
A service guarantee is a built-in form of service recovery. It acknowledges that
problems will occur and provides a system to encourage, and reward, customers
to report problems so that the organisation is made aware of them and can deal
with them.
A service guarantee is a promise to recompense a customer for service that fails
to meet a defined level. A good guarantee explains what the promise is, what to
do if it’s not met and what the customer should expect to receive in
compensation. For some organisations, service guarantees are a key part of a
customer-focused strategy.
Guarantees require an organisation to formalise the service recovery process.
A service guarantee includes the setting up of a clear and inviting mechanism
for customers to trigger the guarantee, as well as training and empowering
employees to deal with invoked guarantees. It should also specify the
compensation for the failure.
The guarantee can also be used proactively: for example, a pizza restaurant
developed explicit recovery procedures, which included front-line staff
invoking the guarantee on behalf of the customer if the pizza was late,
apologising and immediately presenting the guest with a voucher for a free
pizza. 

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Use of Technology for Innovation - Video
 Use of Technology for Innovation

While technology is not the be-all and end-all of innovation, its importance is
undeniable, particularly for game-changing innovations. Earlier, most businesses
looked to technology mainly to keep pace with evolving market demands and
competitors’ innovations.
Today, with technology-fueled disruption and dislocation the norm rather than an
anomaly, a majority of companies across a variety of sectors depend on technology
as a driving source of innovation.

Members of a new wave of digital upstarts that capitalize on changes in technology,

customer behavior, and the availability of data to create innovative, customer-
friendly alternatives to the services incumbents offer.

Digital disruptions began in retailing with the likes of Amazon, two decades ago/
Today we have Uber and Zipcar in transportation, Airbnb in hotels and hospitality,
AngelList in venture capital, and Castlight Health and Healthgrades in healthcare.
 • Analyzing Process
‒ A process is a series of steps and decisions involved in the way work
is completed. We may not realize it, but processes are everywhere
and in every aspect of our leisure and work. A few examples
of processes might include: Preparing breakfast.Encouraging
improvement and innovation
‒ A process consists four major elements: Steps and decisions,
Variability of processing time and flow, Timing and
interdependence, Assignment of resources
• Process Flow Diagram
‒ A process diagram is a graphical representation of a
business process through a flowchart. It's used as a means of getting
a top-down understanding of how a process works, what steps it
consists of, what events change outcomes, and so on.
‒ Simulations of unit processes are largely based on the computer-aided
approaches that include three important activities: modeling,
visualization, and design

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• Service Quality
‒ service quality is an assessment of how well a delivered service
conforms to the client's expectations. Service business operators
often assess the service quality provided to their customers in order
to improve their service, to quickly identify problems, and to better
assess client satisfaction
‒ Service quality consists of five dimensions: reliability, responsiveness,
assurance, empathy, and tangibles. These dimensions are used in
service quality gap, which implies that there is a difference between
the expectations of customers and perception of services .
• SERVQUAL
‒ SERVQUAL is a multi-dimensional research instrument, designed to
capture consumer expectations and perceptions of a service along
the five dimensions that are believed to represent service quality.
One of the best-known instruments for assessing customer perceived
service quality

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• Lean management is more like a guide for building a stable
organization that evolves constantly and helps to identify
actual problems and remove them.
‒ The main purpose of Lean management is creating value to the
customer by optimizing resources. Continuous
improvement is a major part of Lean management, ensuring
that every employee is involved in the process of improving
‒ Poka yoke are simple automatic failsafe devices that can be
designed into a service to prevent many inevitable mistakes
becoming failures. 
‒ The service industry is very important in that there is direct
and constant interaction with the customer and any failure on
the part of providers of services can result in losing good
business.
• Use of technology to drive innovation
‒ Today, with technology-fueled disruption and dislocation the
norm rather than an anomaly, a majority of companies across
a variety of sectors depend on technology as a driving source
of innovation.

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