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Tom Jenkins, manager of the filling line for Amore Frozen Foods' beef-noodle-casserole product, must determine the proper fill rate and production rate for three filling machines. An on-line simulation requires the student to perform a number of tests using statistical design of experiments to determine the proper allocation of product to machine and the optimal settings for each machine.

This brief note describes the kanban system of inventory control. It discusses the rules for its use, techniques for calculating the number of cards, and the difference between push and pull systems.

This note addresses a number of different frameworks that general managers and consultants use to address problems. A general framework for addressing Operations Management is presented that can be used by both operations consultants and general managers.

Herb Kelleher, executive chairman of Southwest Airlines, writes to Elliott Weiss, operations professor at the Darden School. Kelleher responds thoughtfully and in detail to two Darden cases about the experiences a Darden student had while flying on Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways.

This case consists of a letter to Herb Kelleher, chairman of Southwest Airlines requesting his comments on a pair of first-hand experiences on Southwest Airlines and JetBlue Airways flights.

This case details the history of Southwest Airlines from its inception, in 1971, until 2004. The case provides details of Southwest's business model and reasons for success. It ends with a description of the company's competitive pressures in 2004. The case can be used for a course in service operations or strategy.

This case presents a firsthand account of a flying experience on JetBlue Airways in June 2004. The narrative reports on the cross-country flying experience of one passenger.

This case outlines the history of JetBlue Airways from its inception, in 2000, until 2004. The case provides details of JetBlue's business model and reasons for success. It can be used in a course on service operations or strategy.

This note provides detailed guidance for analyzing a complex business problem using the systems thinking tools: reference behavior patterns, systems archetypes, causal-loop diagrams, and stock-flow maps. The step by step guidance is intended to help a systems thinker arrive at a clear, organized outcome, such as a presentation to a client or a professional modeler. The writing process provides a framework for approaching a problem whereby the logical transition from each part of one's thinking to the next is in place. Successfully communicating one's views and hypotheses and making relevant, supported recommendations are an outgrowth of using the writing process to support a systems analysis.

Waiting lines, sometimes called queuing situations, are encountered widely in business operations. Improvements to the waiting-line process would result, in many cases, in better use of labor, equipment and facilities, and a greater capability to provide customers with a level of service that matches the business objective. This note presents methods for determining the resources needed to provide particular service attributes in waiting-line situations.

This note addresses inventory-planning and -control activities using periodic-review systems. The reorder point system is addressed in a separate technical note (UVA-OM-0936).

For five weeks, Michael "Mac" Ling had been at the Lexington, Virginia, plant of Darden Motor Works (DMW), interviewing production supervisors, quality experts, maintenance supervisors, and repair personnel. He was investigating a puzzling problem: how dirt was infiltrating the paint on trucks assembled at the facility--and how to stop it. Small particles were causing a big, and expensive, problem. Nearly one out of three trucks had to be reworked owing to dirty paint, at a cost of a few dollars to a few hundred dollars per vehicle. The student must develop some hypotheses regarding the causes of the problems.

This technical note describes a technique, F(X) Cascade, for determining the potential benefits of implementing a six-sigma improvement project. An integral part of the "define" stage in the DMAIC methodology is quantifying the sources of costs of defects and variability. The F(X) Cascade is one structured approach to this analysis.

This case presents a firsthand account of a flying experience on Southwest Airlines in June 2004. The narrative reports on the cross-country flying experience of one passenger. See also "Marlene's Marvelous Adventure: JetBlue Airways" (UV0126).

This note describes the Operations Management course in the core curriculum at the Darden School.

This note describes the Capabilities Module in the core-curriculum Operations Management course at the Darden School.

This note describes the Customer Module in the core-curriculum Operations Management course at the Darden School.

Bill Kenerson, the owner-operator of a retail bow-tie business faces two decisions. The first is whether to bring production of bow ties in-house. The second concerns his telephone-order- entry system. The case invites students to calculate the capacity of the production facility and determine the appropriate staffing plan for telephone operators.

This note defines a variety of performance measures that are useful in process analysis. It explains the meaning and usefulness of these concepts through a list of definitions followed by examples.

This brief problem can be used to cover the concepts discussed in UV0415, "Process Performance Measures." Calculations required include capacity, bottlenecks, utilization, the effects of setup reduction, and batch size.