Maintaining & Improving Operations Research Paper

Maintaining & Improving Operations - Research Paper Example Cold chain ensures that the integrity of the food is maintained and the nutritional value and freshness of the food is retained. The pull-supply chain has enhanced the effectiveness and the efficiency of McDonald’s. The supply chain is further characterized by the adoption and implementation of technology. The fast-food restaurants have implemented the demand chain planning to enhance the delivery of their services. Maintaining & Improving Operations McDonald’s Background In 1937, Maurice and Richard McDonald created McDonald’s at a small drive-in restaurant in the east of Pasadena in California. The two brothers were able to develop assembly line and food processing techniques. In 1954, Ray Kroc (a milkshake-mixer salesperson) saw as chance and made a franchise deal with the McDonald’s which provided him with special rights to franchise McDonald’s products in America (Tassiopoulos, 2009). The business enterprise of Ray Kroc was based on the basic p rinciples of Q.S.C. &V. (Quality, Service, Cleanliness, and Value) (Svoboda, 1995). Harry Sonneborn (a business partner with Ray Kroc), introduced a method for leasing stores in 1956; the franchisees were to be sub-leased the stores at a premium of 40 percent. Finally, McDonald’s bought land for the franchisees. Eventually, McDonald’s became the world’s biggest owner of retail property. ... There are two categories of suppliers that supply food ingredients, Tier-1 and Tier-2 suppliers. Processors and growers (mainly poultry farms, potato and lettuce growers, and companies that produce coating systems that coat chicken and vegetable patties) make up Tier-2 suppliers. Tier-1 suppliers are supplied with the ingredients and process them, for example, into potato products such as potato hash browns, wedges, and French fries (McCain Foods India Pvt. Ltd does the processing), or into chicken and vegetable patties (they are processed by Vista Processed Foods Pvt. Ltd.). The effectiveness of the McDonald’s supply chain is attributed to the unique idea of outsourcing work. The supply chain of the company is 100 percent outsourced. The company believes in outsourcing everything to people who are experts in the subject matter (Cheema, 2011). A remarkable feature of McDonald’s supply chain is a network that consists of the movement of goods via a cold chain. The cold c hain is important because it maintains the integrity of the food products and it retains their nutritional value and freshness (Kulkarni and Lassar, 2009). The cold chain is made up of the suppliers and in other cases the lettuce growers. In general, the cold chain starts with the Tier-2 suppliers. It is worth noting that the cold chain has an innovative and interesting feature; this feature permits the same truck to carry products at various temperatures. These products include frozen products (temperature ranges from -18C to -25C), chilled products (temperature ranges from 1C to 4C) and dry products (carried at ambient temperatures). It is important to note that McDonald’s is the only organization that has successfully

Urbanization in ancient Greece Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Urbanization in ancient Greece - Essay Example One key characteristic of these settlements was lack of governmental authority beyond the boundaries of the village (Chant et al, 2000). In addition, these villages did not have any workshops or public buildings. Such egalitarian societies persevered on even after the introduction of agriculture. The egalitarian societies were stratified and turned into functionally specialized units by the formation of states and urbanization (Chant et al, 1999). This process took place independently in numerous regions of the world, probably starting from the Southwest Asian region, which was very fertile. The formative era referred to the period between the years 7000 to 5000 BC, which was characterised by urbanization and state development, which complemented each other. Upon the stratification of the egalitarian society, there emerged craftspeople, farmers, soldiers, administrators, merchants and priests, with the cities becoming the civilization focus (Chant, 1999). In the development of Greece cities, the natural environment as well as the existing technologies played a key role. These cities were built in around the eighth century by the Greeks. Distinguishing how the shape of the buildings in the cities was influenced by the natural environment or the available technologies is not easy. This is because there exists a very dynamic relationship between the natural environment and technology, with each shaping or being shaped by the other. Military technologies and needs were very important determinants in the layout and growth of Greek cities. Some of the initial cities in Greece grew as a result of pressure since the people needed to defend themselves form their enemies. As a result they were generally located on rocky positions, which were regarded as defensible. They were also positioned some distance from the harbour, with heavy fortification (Chant et al, 2000). Wall-building proved to be the most expensive and laborious task and involved very impressive engineering accomplishments in the architecture of Greece. Stone was in abundance and was used the building material, with its properties determining the style of construction. For instance, lintels and posts were frequently used in the construction of public monuments. Stone, which was the building material of choice, needed lifting technologies that utilized people as opposed to hoists (Chant et al, 1999). Cranes were not in use until much later, in 515 BC and beyond. They came into use as a result of labour shortage and not because of their capability of lifting larger blocks of stone. The unplanned growth of the earliest settlements was substituted by a bit more formal buildings, mainly after Persian attacks in the fifth century. With the advancement of technology in the military, it became necessary to adopt a defensive layout for the city streets. In the process of the reconstruction of these cities, there was development of numerous town planning theories, most of which were put into practice, with the grid plan becoming very common. Aristotle advocated for a city design of a defensive nature, which uses both the irregular and regular features. This, he argued, was aimed at reconciling the strain of moving both the equipment and troops easily, and to confuse any attackers (Chant, 2000). Natural Environment The location of earlier settlements was mainly determined by the natural