Operations and Supply Chain Management, 8th Edition

CHAPTER   5

Service Design

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

 AFTER READING THIS CHAPTER, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO:

• Evaluate the impact of services on jobs and the economy
• Appreciate and articulate the differences between products and services
• Utilize tools for envisioning and designing quality services
• Map out service processes and suggest process improvements
• Model waiting lines and evaluate their performance for service improvement

FINDING THAT PERFECT PAIR OF JEANS

In mid-level retail stores, more space is allocated to denim jeans than any other product category. Finding the perfect pair of jeans sends more consumers shopping than any other apparel product. Jeans come in a variety of sizes, lengths, and styles—bootcut, straight cut, skinny leg; relaxed fit, curvy fit, skinny fit, curvy-skinny fit; low rise, high rise, mid-rise; dark rinse, light rinse, distressed; and faded, honeycombed, or whiskered. The list goes on. Levi's, for example, has 49 different-numbered styles of jeans in its 500 series alone, from the classic button-front shrink-to-fit 501, to the bootcut-stretch 584. No wonder jeans shopping can be frustrating. That's where the retailer comes in.

While jeans can be purchased online, most customers prefer to purchase their jeans in retail stores where they can try on the jeans, ...