|
To download a free copy of RealPlayer 8 Basic, click here |
|
| The Chapter 1 discussion of the difficulty in distinguishing between service and manufacturing businesses is exemplified by many consumer businesses. Manufacturers have incorporated techniques that have traditionally been service-oriented. Services have adopted techniques that have been traditionally manufacturing-oriented. Manufacturers often incorporate service-oriented approaches to become closer to the customer. Services often incorporate material goods and utilize manufacturing-oriented processes to improve efficiency. | (VIDEOse11) |
| First Chicago, one of the largest banks in the world, demonstrates how important services are, but also shows how many "behind the scenes" aspects of services can take on the flavor of high volume manufacturing. | (VIDEOse2) |
| We often think of banks as interaction with tellers, loan officers, etc., but large banks have extremely high volume, standardized processes as well. One of the most significant is that of remittance processing or "check clearing. Because of its location, First Chicago has a very large check clearing department. Check clearing processes are similar to manufacturing in that they consist of very defined and repetitive tasks. First Chicago is under a tremendous amount of time pressure to clear checks quickly. | (VIDEOse3) |
| Checks must be turned around within an hour of receiving them. | (VIDEOse4) |
| This may sound simple, but the variability of the volume of checks makes planning and scheduling capacity extremely difficult. | (VIDEOse5) |
| The check clearing process looks very much like a manufacturing process. | (VIDEOse6) |
| In fact, defects are address in a manner quite similar to that of manufacturing as well. | (VIDEOse7) |
| Despite the similarity their processes have to manufacturing, the biggest challenge faced by First Chicago is a classic one for services. They must match processing capacity to demand when no finished product inventory can be used to buffer demand variability. With demand that varies tremendously, and an absolute necessity for quick check turnaround, this is no easy task. | (VIDEOse8) |