Choose three companies and observe how employees do their tasks. These can be three different fast-food restaurants or three entirely different types of companies, such as a fast-food restaurant, a department store, or the emergency room of a hospital. a. Most the time consumers don’t know the steps taken for each product before being able to be sold on the shelf. Companies follow a well-planned and cost-effective process to bring the products to the customers. Every company has in place a different operating systems, although some companies will follow other successful business operating system. I picked to observe and analyze Panda Express (Asian cuisine fast food), Wal-Mart (large discounted retailer) and a local gas station. Each company aims to have their customers happy with different service and products, but have in place similar operating systems and OMM cost (Operations and Materials Management). Regardless of how each company is ran all three have the same goal, customer satisfaction, more profitable and make a profit.

Think about the differences in the operations involved in the input, operations, and output stages of these companies. Try to identify the nature of their operating systems. Are employees organized in different ways? If so, why? If possible, talk to the man- agers and employees in these operations to further your analysis. b. The three company I chose to analyze have similarities and differences in the way they are ran and operated of resources. All three companies make every effort to get raw materials into the business at a reasonable costs, process the materials into final products and finally sell the products to the customers to make a profit. For example, once a Panda Express franchise owner finds an ideal building and location to open up Panda Express, they begin to purchase raw ingredients for food on the menu. Some fast food companies prefer to buy their fresh produce in their geographical area to make sure it is fresh. Others will have a number of different distribution sites placed all over the country that the get their raw materials from. Another example, Wal-Mart has plenty of large distribution sites around the world and each store is apportioned to the closes distribution site for their geographical area. Once the raw materials are deliver to the stores location they must either be stored properly or used to make the final products. Panda Express has freezers and refrigerators for their raw material, while Wal-Mart has a variety of different storage devices and gas station have underground tanks to store the fuel and diesel.

What are the main kinds of OMM costs companies have? How does this affect their OMM operations? c. The OMM cost for the three company’s differ since they are three different industries. Panda Express OMM cost would include food supplies usually import goods, cheap labor cost since many employees are young and replaceable and the distribution cost are much more efficient given their franchising. Wal-Mart OMM cost can include inventory cost which include clothing, cheap labor also since many employees can easily be trained and cheaper distribution costs given the ability to do online shopping. The gas station OMM costs would include cheap labor cost since many of the employees are young and replaceable and they would have to take account for the import of gasoline and diesel. These cost affects the companies in plenty of ways and are always looking for a way to reduce the OMM costs to make more profit. Panda Express will have to worry about what supplier they use weather its in-state or out-state with the fear of facing any food safety issue. Maybe avoid getting food from overseas to help avoid any food poison. Wal-Mart high cost might come from having high inventory. Wal-Mart has a lot of clothes that do not sell and what they do is sell it cheaper to other retailers.

How do companies design their operating systems to give them a competitive advantage? d. Each and every one of the companies mentioned has their specific methods to controlling their market and getting the competitive edge. The one thing in common is that each and every one of them has become steadily successful in their field. Panda Express is one of the top if not the number one fast food Asian food in America and our growing bigger every day. Wal-Mart has been a staple in American culture for years now and now use real estate ownership and stock marker. They use celebrities to help provide more marketing as well. The gas station in my local area is the top gas station in the area do to great marketing and having the lowest prices.