Management Jargon has an eerie way of popping up at most unexpected times.
It so happened to me, that, as I was struggling through a rubbery pav at ‘Welcome – A HINDU Restaurant’ (Ahem!! Talk about secularism), I was amazed at the speed with which their operations were working. The eatery is close to Stanc, HSBC, LIC , Colaba Market etcand everyday has a steady stream of lunchers. Yet you can be in and out of that place (with the rubbery pav resting in the dark recesses of your stomach) within 15 minutes.
The system works so fast and efficiently owing to ‘assembly line’ serving, which we have all witnessed at several Shiv Sagars, Sukh Sagars and Kamaths. There are different people assigned to cleaning the table, serving water, serving food, taking the order, getting the bill. The experience reminded me of harrowing experiences at plush restaurants on Saturday nights, when service takes ages and the glass stares expectantly to be refilled.
Is that the kind of difference that ‘Job shop’ v/s ‘Assembly Line’ can make? Is the psychology of the customer such, that, exclusivity (one waiter) is worth the wait? Is the specialization making each task of the waiters faster? Is the whole greater than the sum of the parts (generalist>specialist)?
Is a ‘Mainland China’ with assembly line serving not going to work?
2 comments:
it looks you have an keen eye for the management practices. what seems to be lacking from your questions is a categorization of job. assembly line works in situations where we have standard outputs out of well defined tasks. you cannot expect wonders from it neither does it produce below par. where as job shop is specific sophisticated tasks. you cannot expect asemply line to be in place where taste is a matter of pride :)
@Chandrakant: Well rightly said , but my question is: What is the specialization needed in cleaning a table or bringing water and how are these roles different in premium places and the regular ones. Of course to concede to your idea, the waiter taking the orders definitely needs to have specialization.
Wonder if that clarifies my point...
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