Coursework Assignment

Visit a leisure facility, or a tourist attraction, or a commercial site (e.g., supermarket, department store or shopping centre or manufacturing facility) or any operation of your choice. Based on the visit, write a report of 2000-2500 words, including diagrams and tables as appropriate. Please include in your report the following areas:
Part 1
a. Give a brief introduction to the operation, and describe its facilities, processes, layout and flow. (25 marks)

b. Discuss the characteristics of the operation in terms of input, output and 4 Vs. Comment on the importance of different performance objectives for the operation. (25 marks)
c. Discuss the capacity management strategies adopted by these operations and comment on how these operations are coping with uncertainty in demand? (20 marks)
Part 2
Briefly outline the Blackberry Hill Farm operation along similar terms to those described in part 1. Compare and contrast the two operations in these aspects. (30 marks)

Guidelines on selection of an operation to visit:

If you decide to visit a commercial operation, you may choose places like a supermarket, a department store, a shopping centre, or other places like these, as mentioned above. If you decide to visit a leisure facility/tourist site, it is suggested that you choose a reasonably sophisticated site so that you will have sufficient facilities and activities to observe and discuss. Places such as the New Walk Museum (in Leicester), Nottingham Castle (in Nottingham), or the National Space Centre (in Leicester) should be good enough. You may have already visited somewhere recently that would be suitable and a return visit would allow you to observe from an Operations Management viewpoint.