From kitchen baker to operations manager

Baking dog treats in her kitchen has been a simple process for Wanda to manage. She has two ovens, one sink, a refrigerator, and enough room for two people to work at the same time. However, when Wanda moves her business out of her home, she will have a commercial kitchen that can accommodate as many as six people working simultaneously. She had never thought of her business as “production” until the real estate agent who showed her space asked how many production workers she needs to accommodate. At that point, Wanda realized she would be running a production system. Even worse, she realized that she had never even visited a manufacturing facility or set foot on a real production floor. How will she ever manage this process?

Your Task

Explain the following to Wanda:

  • How can she apply principles of operations management to ensure that her business remains successful?
  • What decisions does she need to make about how her process will change from making treats in her kitchen?
  • Describe process decisions required to expand the biscuit-making process beyond Wanda’s kitchen.
  • Compare biscuit-making processes (e.g., kitchen versus production system).
  • Generate a list of process changes required to transition production from the kitchen to a real production system.
  • Use APA or MLA format. Refer to the grading rubric.