MBA Operations Management - Case Study Guides - 02c: RAPID-LUBE

Operations Management, 12e (Heizer/Render/Munson)

CASE STUDY: RAPID-LUBE

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1. What constitutes the mission of Rapid-Lube?
To provide economical preventative maintenance and
interior auto cleaning, primarily to vehicles owned by
individuals (as opposed to businesses), in the U.S.
LO 2.1: Define mission and strategy
AACSB: Reflective thinking
2. How does the Rapid-Lube strategy provide competitive
advantage?
This case is a good way to get the student thinking about the
10 decisions around which the text is organized. Rapid-Lube’s
approach to these 10 decisions includes
 Product design: A narrow product strategy could be
defined as “lubricating automobiles” (more in Chapter 5).
 Quality strategy: Because of limited task variety, high
repetition, good training, and good manuals, quality should
be relatively easy to maintain.
 Process strategy: The process strategy allows employees
and capital investment to focus on doing this mission well,
rather than trying to be a “general-purpose” garage or gas
station.
 Location strategy: Facilities are usually located near
residential areas.

 Layout strategy: The three bays are designed specifically for
the lubrication and vacuuming tasks to minimize wasted
movement on the part of the employees and to contribute to
the speedier service.
 Supply-chain management: Purchasing is facilitated by
negotiation of large purchases and custom packaging.
 Human resources strategy: Human resources strategy
focuses on hiring a few employees with limited skills and
training them in a limited number of tasks during the per
formance of which they can be closely supervised.
 Inventory: Inventory investment should be relatively low,
and they should expect a high turnover.
 Scheduling: Scheduling is quite straightforward with simi
lar times for most cars. Once volume and fluctuation in
volume are determined, scheduling should be very direct—
assisting both staffing and customer relations.
 Maintenance: There is relatively little equipment to be main
tained, and therefore little preventive maintenance is required.
With three bays and three systems, there is backup available
in the case of failure.
LO 2.2: Identify and explain three strategic approaches to com
petitive advantage
AACSB: Reflective thinking
3. Specialization of personnel and facilities should make Rapid
Lube more efficient. Jobs/tasks accomplished per man hour
would be a good place to start.
LO 2.3: Understand the significance of key success factors and
core competencies
AACSB: Reflective thinking
 

 

 

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Operations Management: Sustainability and Supply Chain Management, 12th Edition (Free Ebooks Download)
Jay Heizer, Texas Lutheran University
Barry Render, Graduate School of Business, Rollins College
Chuck Munson, Carson College of Business, Washington State University

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1. Operations Management Ebooks - Free Downloads

2. Slides - 11th Edition - Free Downloads

3. Slides - 12nd Edition - Free Downloads

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Good Luck and Success!