Question

What quality-related trade-offs might there be between having a single large, centralized production processing facility and having many small, decentralized produce-processing facilities?

Answer 1

Answer:

Centralized production processing facility considers top management as the apex of decision making.

In decentralized production processing the decision making is delegated to teams and multiple individuals.

Explanation:

Centralized facility:

Pros:

a. In centralized facility top management commitment helps in improved decision making

b. Allocation of budgets to improve production processes.

c. The process becomes a part of strategic planning.

d. Standardization of processes like Mcdonalds kitchen.

e. Lower costs

f. Better forecasting

Cons:

a. Lack of flexibility

b. In case of international chains customers may be dissatisfied with standardized procedures

c. No room for customization

Decentralized Facility:

Pros:

a. Flexibility

b. Customer oriented approach

c. lack of bureaucratic procedure

d. quick decision making

Cons:

a. No standardization

b. Every Team has its own benchmarking process to evaluate performance.

c. Costly

d. Planning, budgeting and forecasting is effected adversely.