This case deals with the service operations and quality management issues faced by SMRT Trains, one of the rapid transit rail operators in Singapore. The trigger point for the case was the occurrence of two massive service disruptions on December 15, 2011 and December 17, 2011, respectively. Even though the rail line that faced the disruption had been in existence for over two decades, this was the first time that multiple disruptions of such massive impact (five hours or more of loss of service) occurred and impacted commuters widely across Singapore. The case delves into quality management, service operations and root cause analysis.

In 2002, Neo Sia Meng took over as Executive Director of Four Star Industries Private Limited founded three decades earlier by his parents. After joining the family business as Director in 1996, Sia Meng saw several local and foreign mattress manufacturers enter the Singapore market. This intensified the competition in the local market which was already seasonal and volatile. The increased competition resulted in a proliferation of product offerings from all the manufacturers. The local dealers who dominated the retail mattress market sought an exclusive range of in-house models from the local manufacturers. As Four Star depended heavily on the local dealers, it tried to accommodate their demands to increase its product range and service level. However, as Four Star substantially increased the variety of mattress offerings, its operations became chaotic, and matching demand with the correct inventory of mattresses became a significant challenge. The order fulfillment problems created significant pressures on the manufacturing operations and Sia Meng was worried that these operational problems might provoke some of his long serving employees to consider leaving the company. Sia Meng pondered the short and long term options for Four Star to move towards a responsive, but cost-effective operations model.

Successfully adopting a fast food and self-service concept had allowed Komala's to serve customers at a quick pace, which helped to accomplish the business goals of offering a large product range, providing a superior ambience to customers, attracting skilled manpower and competitive pricing. However, its seasonal peak demand created capacity constraints and resulted in customers patronizing neighbouring restaurants.