Your goal will be to produce a viable analysis of an existing firm’s operations

Tasks

1. Southwest Airline Co. will be the company of your analysis. Feel free to use any information sources available (for example the Internet, library, etc.) to obtain information on your company. Make sure you document your information sources.

2. What current problems or issues currently confront the company? What are the company’s future plans? What critical decisions are they currently trying to make? What are their needs?

· What are the trends in the industry that they are involved in?

3. Identify a SPECIFIC PROBLEM that the organization has in only ONE of the following Operation Management decision areas:

· Project management

· Forecasting methods

· Service, product design/strategy

· Quality management

· Process, capacity design

· Location planning and analysis

· Layout design

· Human resources, job design

· Supply-chain management

· Inventory management

· Production planning

· ERP implementation

· JIT implementation

4. Develop an analysis that examines a solution that provides improvements in the above area chosen. Make sure that you do the following:

· Characterize their current processes in the above area using diagrams

· Identify a couple of alternative solution approaches to problem

· Identify the benefits of each approach. Use quantities as much as possible.

· Identify potential problems and issues regarding implementation of each solution

· What will be the cost of the improvements over the next three years? What will be the expected investment and return?

· Recommend a solution and give reasons

10 pages