Chapter 5 – The OM Blog by Heizer, Render, & Munson

Guest Post: Food Processing Ingredients

Prof. Howard Weiss shares his insights monthly. Howard created the Excel OM and POM software that we provide free with our book.

A recent Philadelphia Inquirer article (February 19, 2026) reports that “The grandson of the inventor of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups has lashed out at the Hershey Co., accusing the candy company of hurting the Reese’s brand by shifting to cheaper ingredients in many products.”

In prior years consumers expressed dissatisfaction when Nutella reduced the amount of cocoa in its product. One reason for the change in the recipes for these two products is the high cost of cocoa. Clearly, a change in a recipe will affect inventory, material (ingredient) costs, and the supply chain.

The most infamous recipe change is probably “New Coke” which was introduced in 1985. Consumer backlash forced Coke to revert to its original recipe. Recently, Coke announced it will add a new product made with cane sugar rather than corn syrup.

Food taste and recipes can vary for a number of legitimate reasons. The recipe for Twinkies was changed in order to extend its shelf life from 25 days to 45 days. Butterfinger took an alternative approach and double-wrapped its candy. Several food processors have changed recipes in order to eliminate certain food dyes or additives or reduce sodium, including Kraft Macaroni and Cheese and Turkey Hill ice cream.

The same product may have a different recipe for sales at bulk stores rather than supermarkets. Colas may have a different amount of corn syrup in bulk stores.

Sometimes recipe changes are inadvertent. In one case consumers complained about the taste of meals they cooked using 4C Italian Bread Crumbs. 4C investigated and found that trace amounts of cinnamon were in the bread crumbs and should not have been. There are many examples of bacteria being in processed food which would affect the health of the person eating the food. This is different. There is a processing problem but it will NOT cause health issues just taste issues.

The repercussions of food quality are different than the repercussions of food safety. Food safety problems can lead to recalls, liabilities, brand damage and penalties. Failure to maintain taste can result in brand damage and product returns.

Classroom discussion questions:
1. Identify other products in which change resulted in complaints or safety issues.

2. What are the main changes these days to food products?

OM in the News: The Short Life Cycle of Amazon Go

It doesn’t seem that long ago that we posted the news that Amazon was opening 57 Amazon Go cashierless bricks and mortar store grocery sores.

We even highlighted this exciting digital-driven advancement in an OM in Action box in Chapter 5 (see page 175). But as we also point out in in our discussion of product life cycles in that chapter (Design of Goods and Services): “Products are born. They live and they die.”

The e-commerce giant just announced that “its branded stores failed to deliver a distinctive customer experience with an economic model that could be scaled up successfully.” This marks the latest pivot in Amazon’s more than decadelong effort to break into physical retail, reports The Wall Street Journal (Jan. 28, 2026).

Amazon Go’s convenience stores, which let customers check out electronically without waiting in line, also never resonated with shoppers on a large scale, and the company has trimmed its fleet by more than half since 2023. The company does, however, license its Just Walk Out technology to retailers at more than 360 locations in five countries, including colleges and universities, sports arenas, hospitals and airports.

Amazon plans to continue experimenting with bricks-and-mortar retail. The company just won approval to open its largest-ever store in Orland Park, Ill., where it will sell groceries, general merchandise and prepared foods. The megastore, which at 230,000 square feet will be big enough to fit nearly two Target stores, will incorporate in-person and digital shopping.

Product life cycle can span a few days (a concert t-shirt), months (seasonal fashions) years (NFL Madden football), or decades (Boeing 737). Amazon Go lasted eight years.

Classroom discussion questions:

Why did Amazon Go fail?
Name a few other products that also exhibited short life cycles.

OM in the News: Taco Bell Uses OM to Know What You Want to Eat at 2 a.m.

Taco Bell is considered the GOAT of new product ideas, testing hundreds to develop viral hits like Doritos Locos Tacos and Baja Blast, writes The Wall Street Journal (Nov.22-23, 2025). Its product development team (see Figure 5.3 in your Heizer/Render/Munson text) systematically generates, tests, and implements new menu items, focusing on limited-time offerings (LTOs) that keep the brand relevant and appealing. And as we point out in Figure 5.1, the higher the percentage of sales from new products, the more successful the firm.

Here is how it works at Taco Bell’s New Product Development Team:

New products are engineered to use ingredients and equipment already available in restaurants, minimizing the need for additional resources and reducing training time for staff. This approach ensures that operational changes are minimal and that new items can be introduced without disrupting established workflows.

2. Using rapid testing, hundreds of concepts are evaluated annually, but only those that meet operational standards and customer demand advance to market testing. This ensures that only efficient, scalable items reach the menu.

3. Most new items are offered for 4-6 weeks, allowing for frequent menu refreshes without overburdening operations or inventory management. This strategy keeps the menu dynamic and enables the company to respond quickly to changing consumer preferences.

4. LTOs are crafted for quick and consistent assembly, supporting high throughput and maintaining quality across all locations. Operational teams are trained to execute new items efficiently, ensuring that service standards are upheld even during periods of high demand.

5. New menu innovations are developed with profitability in mind, leveraging cost-effective ingredients. This focus supports growth and helps Taco Bell remain competitive in its sector.

6. The company tracks same-store sales and operational metrics, enabling it to identify opportunities for improvement and maintain operational excellence.

7. The product development team operates in a collaborative environment. Leadership encourages experimentation.

8. Operational decisions are informed by market research and consumer feedback, ensuring that new products align with customer preferences and operational capabilities.

Taco Bell’s operational strategy enables efficient product innovation, rapid deployment, and consistent execution, supporting both profitability and sustained market leadership in the fast-food industry.

Classroom discussion questions:

What items at McDonald’s and Starbucks are LTOs?
Why is Figure 5.1 so important?

OM Podcast #42: An Interview with the Founders of Canada’s Simpla Foods

We’re back with another inspiring episode of the Heizer/ Render/ Munson OM Podcast. In this episode, Barry Render sits down with Canadian entrepreneurs Katie Wookey and Ari Davis, co-founders of Simpla Foods, a plant-based yogurt company that’s redefining sustainability and supply chain innovation in the food industry.

Barry explores how Katie and Ari turned a personal health journey into a thriving business now sold in over 300 stores across Canada. The couple shares their experience with co-packing and contract manufacturing, explaining how outsourcing production has allowed them to scale efficiently while staying focused on product development and sustainability.

Heizer Render Munson OM Podcast · OM Podcast #42: An Interview with Simpla Foods

Transcript

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Guest Post: EV Charging– Driving Toward Universal Accessibility

Prof. Misty Blessley at Temple U. looks into an issue facing EV owners.

New Jersey is removing Tesla Superchargers from Turnpike and Parkway service areas and replacing them with universal chargers provided by Applegreen Electric. These new stations will feature CCS1, CHAdeMO, and J1772 connectors, making them compatible with a wider range of EVs. Tesla owners can use these chargers with adapters. Most newer Tesla models can accommodate J1772 (Level 2) and CCS (DC fast charging) connections through external adapters.

This shift reflects a broader trend toward open-access infrastructure aimed at increasing accessibility for all EV drivers. It also introduces new OM considerations around the production, availability, and use of adapters.

The Shift Toward Open Infrastructure
New Jersey’s decision mirrors historical tech battles between proprietary systems and open standards. Tesla, like Apple in its early days, built a closed ecosystem. The state’s move to universal chargers signals a shift toward interoperability over exclusivity. As one article put it, “Up until recently, the vast network of more than 1,600 Tesla Supercharger fast EV charging stations in the U.S. was a perk exclusive to Tesla owners.” That exclusivity is
now being replaced with inclusivity, with the cost falling on Tesla drivers now being dependent on an external device.

In this context, adapters become the modern equivalent of USB driver software, seemingly minor components that play a major role in user experience and system reliability.

Adapter Implications for Operations and Supply Chain
 Forecasting and Demand Planning: Widespread reliance on adapters will drive new demand. Manufacturers must scale production, distribution, and after-sales support.
 Inventory Management: Retailers and even rest stops may need to stock or rent adapters, creating SKU complexity.
 Station Capacity: Adapters can increase setup time, and Level 2 chargers provide only 13–25 miles of range per hour—far slower than Tesla’s V3 Superchargers (over 200 miles in 15 minutes), potentially reducing the number of EVs that can be charged at a station.

 Risk and Reliability: Adapters introduce new points of failure because they are mechanical devices prone to wear, damage, or user error. This raises customer service and warranty cost concerns.

Classroom discussion questions:
1. In Ch. 11 of your Heizer/Render/Munson textbook, component standardization is discussed. What are the benefits of standardizing EVs and charging stations?
2. What advice would you provide to operations managers on the adapter implications mentioned above?

OM in the News: Additive Manufacturing–Faster and More Versatile

Additive manufacturing (AM) is changing every year, writes Industry Week (Jan. 24, 2025). Design and manufacturing will take advantage of not only new 3D printers in 2025, but also new materials and software that all together drive new ways to use additive.

Speed and its benefits: 3D printers are getting a lot faster. The latest iterations can be up to 5 times faster than their predecessor printers. When you can make a prototype five times faster than before, you don’t just do the old processes faster; you use new processes – like agile process (see Chapter 3), for example. Hardware can become more like software, with multiple iterations a day not out of the question.

Mass customization: AI and machine learning will play a larger role in enabling truly personalized products at scale, optimizing designs based on customer preferences and real-time feedback. This will lead to faster and more cost-effective production of personalized items, from medical implants to consumer goods, allowing even small-scale manufacturers to compete with traditional mass production.

Distributed manufacturing: Additive will enable production to move closer to the end customer, reducing lead times and environmental impact. Digital databases will replace physical inventory, and manufacturing will happen on demand.

Hybrid processes: The integration of additive with traditional manufacturing techniques can integrate data feedback loops for enhanced precision in multi-material and complex geometry production. This hybrid approach will be used to create high-performance, lightweight parts for industries like aerospace and automotive, expanding the use of additive manufacturing for critical, high-precision applications.

Classroom discussion questions:

How would you define additive manufacturing?
Provide an example of a product made with this technique. (Hint: see Chapter 5 of your Heizer/Render/Munson text)

OM in the News: AI Is Becoming Every Product Designer’s Companion

Artificial intelligence tools like ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot have already proven their value in many product designers’ daily design work, asking questions about design decisions and giving advice on design and CAD strategies. (See Chapter 5 in your Heizer/Render/Munson OM text). But AI is moving beyond being a tool to becoming an active collaborator, reports Industry Week (Jan. 24, 2025). There are a huge number of exciting AI applications in design:

Generative design as a standard: AI-driven generative design tools are becoming more popular, producing optimized solutions that human designers might never consider. These tools will seamlessly handle constraints like material properties, manufacturability and sustainability.

AI-Powered decision support: Product designers are increasingly relying on AI to analyze massive datasets, predict performance outcomes and recommend design improvements. AI-powered digital engineering tools that accelerate physics simulation through “simulation surrogates” are helping designers make faster, smarter decisions throughout the product lifecycle. AI models trained on numerical analysis can run simulations up to 1,000 times faster.

Human-AI collaboration: The best results come from teams that embrace a symbiotic relationship between AI and human creativity. AI can help human designers answer questions by doing the legwork and analysis on documents and information. AI will provide expert advice on how to use other computing tools like computer-aided design (CAD), product data management (PDM), and simulation, much like expert human designers provide advice to their colleagues. The latest conceptual industrial design tools take simple sketches and generate rendered design concepts based on text prompts, such as “orange and black controller, Nintendo-like.” Meanwhile, AI assistants for computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software–see Chapter 7– can quickly produce machining strategies, reducing time spent on CAM programming and making manufacturing processes more efficient.

Customer-centric design: AI is also playing a significant role in aligning products with customer preferences. The latest AI product development solutions mine product reviews and other customer feedback data to synthesize design directions tailored to consumer tastes or specific attributes like performance. This insight can help teams create products that better meet market demands.

Classroom discussion questions:

How is AI revolutionizing product design?
Are there disadvantages in becoming AI-dependent?

OM in the News: The U.S. Made T-Shirt

The U.S. is awash in a sea of cheap imports that has destroyed much of the domestic apparel industry. In 2023, less than 4% of the apparel purchased in America was made here, reports The Wall Street Journal (Dec. 31, 2024). Then, there is Walmart, whose aisles are piled high with goods this holiday season. But one item sticks out: cotton T-shirts that were made in America and cost $12.98.

It wasn’t tariffs that made the $12.98 shirt economically feasible, says the CEO of American Giant, the U.S. apparel company producing them. It was Walmart’s heft—and guaranteed orders. The country’s biggest retailer—and importer of consumer goods—pledged in 2013 to buy more items that were made, grown or assembled in the U.S. In 2021, Walmart increased its goal and promised to spend billions more each year through 2030.

American Giant said that without Walmart acting as a backstop by committing to buy a predetermined number of shirts over time, American Giant’s suppliers wouldn’t have had the confidence to make the investments in automation and other upgrades that drove down production costs. The company buys yarn that is grown, spun, dyed and sewn in the U.S., contracting with suppliers mainly in the Southeast. It also owns cutting and sewing facilities in N. Carolina and Los Angeles.

How did American Giant get the price down from the $40-$60 it usually charges for a T-Shirt? By automating parts of the process to keep labor costs low, it was able to compete with countries such as Vietnam and China where workers are paid a fraction of the U.S. minimum wage.

“You can make almost anything here, as long as it doesn’t require lots of labor,” says the CEO. To fulfill Walmart’s order for hundreds of thousands of shirts, the company tweaked the design and then spent $1 million on machinery designed to make production faster and more efficient.

The T-shirts arrived in 1,700 Walmart stores and were up against other 100% cotton T-shirts selling for half as much. But those shirts didn’t have any American emblems. Walmart bars suppliers from using the term “American Made” or the American flag on products that aren’t made in the U.S. Despite the success of American Giant and a handful of other apparel companies that have figured out how to produce domestically, it is unclear how much Americans care about buying products made in the U.S.

Classroom discussion questions:

Could American Giant have reshored without Walmart?
What are the key OM decisions that were made?

OM in the News: Airbus’s “Airplane of the Future” Struggles

Designing a new product (see Chapter 5) is never easy and corporate history is full of great products that flopped—Betamax, Commodore’s Amiga computer, the Ford Edsel, and Aston Martin’s 1974 Lagonda car. For the Airbus A220 commercial jet, avoiding a similar fate seems like a constant struggle.

Here are my observations from an insider’s perspective. My first job out of college was as a “loft lines” engineer at McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing), designing the wing of the DC-10 jumbo jet, a plane that failed badly (but the wing never fell off!). From there I went to GE to work on design of the CF6-6 engine, designed to power the DC-10. The reality is that creating a jet engine is as complex as creating a new jet. Still, what is happening to the Pratt & Whitney PW1500G engines for the A220, is troubling.

The durability problems affecting A220 engines have hit this aircraft hard, forcing airlines to cancel flights and ground crews. PW1500G’s were supposed to last 20,000 flight cycles, but are being sent to the shop at 5,000. Some are being sent in before 600 cycles. About 15% of global A220s are grounded.

The A220 should be the pride and joy of the aerospace industry, writes The Wall Street Journal (Sept. 11, 2024). It is the only “clean-sheet” single-aisle plane built in recent years—the A320 and Boeing 737 designs go back to 1986 and 1966, respectively. When it entered service in 2016, it sported a lightweight airframe full of composite materials, large windows and a redesigned cockpit. It reduced fuel burn per seat by 25% and became beloved by pilots and passengers alike.

But now, cancellations are outpacing orders. EgyptAir, which flies in a hot and dusty region harsh on aircraft, got rid of its 12 A220s earlier this year. Cyprus Airways added two brand-new A220s, only to see both of them affected by engine troubles. Its CEO said the jet shouldn’t be sold until the problems are solved.

Scarcity of parts and lengthy repair-shop waiting lists mean that there is no quick fix. Some of the overhauls to the A220’s engines are particularly lengthy: A whole-new combustor design won’t be rolled out until 2027. And recent experience has taught airlines to distrust timelines. The headache for Airbus is that it needs to reach and sustain a production rate of 14 A220s a month in order to break even on them, up from 6 currently.

Classroom discussion questions:

Which other commercial jets have suffered major setbacks in the past decades?
In what ways is this an OM issue?

OM in the News: The Mercedes-Benz EV on Fire

It took just seconds for an underground South Korean residential parking lot to be engulfed in flames. The culprit: a Mercedes-Benz EQE electric vehicle that had not been charging.

The blaze incinerated dozens of cars nearby, scorched a further 140 vehicles and forced hundreds of residents to emergency shelters as the buildings above the parking lot lost power and electricity. Nobody died, but the fire took eight hours to extinguish. Cars with internal combustion engines are more likely to catch fire than EVs. But when EVs do burst into flames, the rechargeable lithium-ion batteries get hotter and the fire takes longer to stamp out, writes The Wall Street Journal (Aug. 8, 2024).

In recent years, General Motors recalled tens of thousands of its Chevrolet Bolts in the U.S. over risk of battery fires. Hyundai pulled roughly 80,000 electric sport-utility vehicles after roughly a dozen caught fire. Last September, a Nissan Leaf ignited while charging in Tennessee, and the fire required more than 45 times the water needed for a gas-powered-car fire to be extinguished.

Automakers have grown more cautious about EV launches amid modest demand. Sales of fully electric models in the U.S. rose 6.8% through the first half of the year, a sharp deceleration from near 50% growth in 2023.

The perceived risk of EVs is particularly acute in tightly packed South Korea, a country about the size of Indiana with 52 million people. Outdoor residential parking lots are relatively uncommon. The nation’s ubiquitous high-rise apartments often feature underground parking, where firefighters must contend with restricted access. The country had already been on edge about battery-related fires, after a blaze at a lithium-battery factory in June that killed nearly two dozen people.

In recent days, LG Display recommended that employees at its main factory complex park their EVs outside. The country’s main international trade association, whose offices are located in central Seoul, said it would accelerate plans to relocate EV charging ports to its aboveground lot. One of the country’s largest telecommunications firms, KT, has held discussions about barring EVs from parking underground.

Classroom discussion questions:

Which of the 10 OM decisions in your Heizer/Render/Munson text deal with this issue?
What are the OM implications of the South Korean fire?

OM in the News: The Lithium Battery Dilemma

To the makers of smartphones, power grids and electric vehicles, lithium—the lightest metal—allows batteries to become supercharged, underpinning hopes for a greener economy and longer-lasting devices. But the very traits that make lithium game-changing for energy storage can pose overpowering challenges should the batteries ever catch fire, reports The Wall Street Journal (June 28, 2024). Incidents involving lithium-battery fires are becoming more common around the world, raising safety concerns.

A Tesla lithium-ion battery catches fire in Washington state

The world recently saw the risks of lithium-battery fires in South Korea, where at least 23 workers died. Video footage of the fire showed occasional flashes that produced thunderous booms like a detonated bomb.

Water isn’t always an effective combatant for certain types of lithium-battery fires, leaving little option other than waiting things out or using costly suppressants. The lithium produces searing temperatures. The fire’s ignition is more intense than an oxy-acetylene torch, which can be roughly 5,000 degrees, or about five times hotter than house fires. It will literally cut through a firefighters’ protective clothing and their leg if it’s coming out from underneath their vehicle. Battery fires are a growing concern for firefighters worldwide.

So-called “lithium-ion” batteries are rechargeable and widely used in smartphones, PCs and EVs—and are the subject of the bulk of such fires, often due to overheating. Extinguishing a lithium-ion battery fire for an EV takes longer and about three times as much water than a regular vehicle, on top of the exposure to carcinogenic chemicals.

Sometimes the safest option is to let a battery fire burn. That was the case in 2021, when a Tesla battery caught fire while being installed at an Australian power storage facility. Responders allowed the blaze to burn out over six hours, while keeping nearby units cool.

Lithium is widely viewed as a key future energy source, given its outstanding ability to retain high amounts of energy compared with other metals. The properties of lithium that make it suitable for energy storage also pose risks, but the metal in its various forms has been harnessed to operate safely for a variety of uses.

Classroom discussion questions:

How many lithium-ion batteries have actually exploded in the past few years?
How does this impact the growth of EVs? Is it a design issue?

Teaching Tip: The Auto Design Life Cycle

In both Chapters 2 and 5 we discuss product life cycle and its strategic importance. In Figure 2.5 (page 40), we identify ten products that are passing through the 4 stages of Introduction, Growth, Maturity and Decline.

Here is an 11th example you can use in class –automobiles–whose changes you can follow through these stages. We start with the 1950’s land yachts like the Cadillac Eldorado. This was followed by the 1960’s station wagons. Socioeconomic shifts drove Americans’ move out of gas-guzzling embellished cars and into tiny, economical Japanese imports following the oil crises and new tailpipe emissions standards of the 1970s. Then came the 1980s minivan (which almost totally replaced station wagons). In the 2000s, the sport-utility vehicle spurred the minivan’s retreat.

The SUV has devoured the American car market, now accounting for nearly 60% of new vehicles purchased. Stricter vehicle-efficiency standards and governments’ push toward electrification challenge the supremacy of the blunt, heavy SUV. And car designers are tired of drawing them. “We all get bored to death because it’s absolutely ubiquitous,” says GM’s lead designer in The Wall Street Journal (June 13, 2024).

The Zoox electric self-driving urban ‘Toaster.’

The ever-expanding options, along with higher interest rates, are pricing younger and lower-income consumers out of the market. The average new-car price is now nearly $50,000. This has automotive designers, executives and analysts focused on a big question: What comes after the SUV? Will the boxy SUV be followed by even boxier forms?

Electric vehicles have no need for hoods, as their batteries are typically mounted in the floor, and their motors are near the wheels. With no drivers, upcoming autonomous vehicles won’t need dashboards or steering wheels. Executives think that maximizing human and cargo space in such vehicles results in a rounded box on wheels: a nouveau vanlike form nicknamed “the Toaster.” GM research has shown that this spacious shape can provide passengers in autonomous vehicles more confidence in surrendering control. “It’s more distance between you and a potential accident. The shape also has a “functional, happy character,” adds GM’s designer.

OM Podcast #21: An Inside Look at Building a Theme Park

In our latest podcast Barry Render interviews Simon Philips, former President at Marvel Entertainment, former EVP at Disney, and current President at Falcon’s Beyond. Falcon’s Beyond (https://falconsbeyond.com/) is a global leader in theme park master planning. Barry and Simon discuss the latest announcement about the massive new Dragon Ball theme park in Qiddiya City, Saudi Arabia, as well as other operations at Falcon’s Beyond. Dragon Ball is said to be larger then Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom here in Orlando.

Heizer Render OM Podcast · OM Podcast #21 (6/10/24) – Operations at Falcon’s Beyond

Did you know our podcast is now available on Apple podcasts? Just go to your Apple podcasts app, search “Heizer Render OM Podcast,” and subscribe to get all our podcasts on your mobile device as soon as they come out!

Transcript

A Word document of this podcast will download by clicking the word Transcript above.

Instructors, assignable auto-graded exercises using this podcast are available in MyLab OM. See our earlier blog post with a recording of author and user Chuck Munson to learn how to find these, or contact your Pearson rep to learn more! https://www.pearson.com/en-us/help-and-support/contact-us/find-a-rep.html

OM in the News: Building Sustainability Into Product Design

Did you know 80% of a product’s environmental impact is determined in the design phase? With so much dependence on design, it is critical to start thinking about the environmental impact of a product as early as possible, alongside the traditional drivers of cost, quality, and time. To overcome resource scarcity and meet emissions targets, manufacturers are steadily increasing their environmental consciousness, writes Industry Week (April 26, 2024). Those set to succeed are doing so from the very start of their development processes.

Combining the real and digital worlds makes it possible to integrate the entire value chain. This delivers a digital thread that serves as the foundation for collective intelligence, connecting workflows and processes along the value chain. It can also provide designers with access to a comprehensive digital twin informed by simulation results and production data, material information, supplier and product carbon footprint data, etc.

This empowers engineers to rethink design, as they have access to a dynamic and iterative process (outlined in the 5 points below) that is never finished and allows for recycling, remanufacturing and reuse. However, for this to work, sustainability needs to be embedded into all phases of the design process. a point we make in both Ch. 5 (Product Design) and Supp. 5 (Sustainability in the Supply Chain).

1. Conceptual Design In addition to traditional design requirements such as performance, durability, usability and cost, designing for sustainable outcomes means meeting new requirements, including carbon emission caps, water use restrictions and recyclability. Capturing these early is critical .

2. Suppliers When sourcing materials and components, it is important to establish communication with suppliers that best comply with sustainability requirements.

3. Detailed Design The right tools will enable engineers to select the best part materials based on required material properties and the associated sustainability scores. One material may result in a lowered carbon emission rating within manufacturing because it is more recyclable, while another material option might be more durable and extend product life.

4. Validation Validation covers many workflows and engineering domains to ensure the product functions as expected. Innovative materials used to meet sustainability targets might require more thorough testing.

5. Design Improvement This is a continuous journey that extends long after the product is made. Integrating sustainability goals into product design is making that a reality for every company.

Classroom discussion questions:

Why are suppliers an important part of new product design?
Name a product that has gone through these 5 steps.

Guest Post: Health Care and Location

Prof. Howard Weiss, who developed the Excel OM and POM software that comes free with our text, shares his insights monthly.

Figure 8.1 in the Location Chapter in your Heizer/Render/Munson textbook explains that two of the factors that affect site location decisions are proximity of services and customer density. Consider doctor visits.

House Calls
At the turn of the 20th century, family doctors would come to a patient’s house to give medical attention. For the patient, visits could not be more proximate than at home. House calls peaked in the 1930s but the life cycle of house calls is essentially at the end today. One reason is that there are fewer family doctors now. Another reason has to do with insurance company reimbursement requirements. There are, however, more visiting nurses, physical therapists and other medical care personnel making house calls.

Urgent Care
In the 1970s, doctors began to open urgent care centers to serve patients who do not have emergency needs. There are over 10,000 urgent care centers in the U.S. The advantages of urgent care centers are
 Centers typically do not require an appointment
 Centers are open for more hours than doctors’ offices.
 In most cases, patients are within a 10-minute drive of a center.
 Centers generally post fees and these fees are typically less than the fee at a doctor’s office or emergency room.

Mobile Health Clinics
Also, in the 1970s, health care organizations began using mobile health clinics to serve rural and underrepresented areas that have less patient density. There are over 2,000 mobile clinics in the U.S. each providing an average of 3,500 visits annually.

Medical clinics in retail outlets
Around the turn of the 21 st century, pharmacies, supermarkets and other retail outlets began to place medical clinics in their facilities. These clinics are more plentiful than mobile clinics and create a win-win situation for the patient and the retail outlet. Advantages to the patient are the same as those for urgent care centers. The advantage to the retail outlet is that the clinic increases foot traffic to the store and yields a new revenue stream.

Telehealth visits
The most recent location change has been telehealth. This brings us back full-circle to care in the home as the patient is home and communicates with a doctor via internet or telephone. Telehealth also includes using devices, such as heart monitors, that send information to the doctor’s office. There are. however, still some legal issues surrounding telehealth.

Classroom Discussion Questions:
1. Where was your last visit to a physician?
2. What might some of the legal issues of telehealth be?