Business issues are changing.

Sample Solution

Generally, there are four major layout patterns in designing process: product layout, process layout, group layout, and the fixed position layout (Collier and Evans 2007). Consequently, the restaurant adopts the fixed position layout, whereby resources and people necessary to provide the service are situated in one physical location (Greasly 2009). For example, the chefs and the cooking equipments are situated in the kitchen where the food is cooked. Similarly, the receptionist is situated in the arrival area, as she/he is responsible for receiving the guest. According to Collier and Evans (2007), the fixed position layout is appropriate to service-providing firms, such as the restaurant. In this regard, the current layout pattern of the restaurant may be considered appropriate.

Conclusion

Process maps reflect the tasks and activities involved in creating a product or delivering a service. Managers and decision-makers in restaurants for example, could use process maps to analyze the service process and subsequently determine ways of improving the process flow. More particularly, managers could use value stream mapping to identify value adding as well as non-value adding activities. In the case of restaurants for example, activities presented as purple triangles in the process map, involve idle or waiting time. Consequently, these are non-value adding activities that prolong the process and at the same time trigger customer frustration. In process streamlining, managers seek to eliminate these activities. With regards to the layout pattern, the most commonly adopted layout pattern in service-providing firms is the fixed position layout, whereby resources and people necessary to provide the service are situated in one physical location.