Case Study Soft Drinks
Case Study: How soft drinks are made
TaskThe assignment consists of a case study and contains four questions. Students must answer ALL questions.
Students are required to provide an individual report with a comprehensive analysis by drawing on the various theories and cases covered during the course and through their own research. Student answers must illustrate flow and progression of ideas through critical and independent thought.Background
Soft drinks are enormously popular beverages consisting primarily of carbonated water, sugar, and flavourings. Nearly 200 nations enjoy the sweet, sparkling soda with an annual consumption of more than 34 billion gallons. Soft drinks rank as America’s favourite beverage segment, representing 25% of the total beverage market. In 2021, per capita consumption of soft drinks in the U.S. was 49 gallons, 15 gallons more than the next most popular beverage, water.
The roots of soft drinks extend to ancient times. Two thousand years ago Greeks and Romans recognized the medicinal value of mineral water and bathed in it for relaxation, a practice that continues to the present. In the late 1700s Europeans and Americans began drinking the sparkling mineral water for its reputed therapeutic benefits. The first imitation mineral water in the U.S. was patented in 1809. It was called “soda water” and consisted of water and sodium bicarbonate mixed with acid to add effervescence. Pharmacists in America and Europe experimented with myriad ingredients in the hope of finding new remedies for various ailments. Already the flavoured soda waters were hailed as brain tonics for curing headaches, hangovers, and nervous afflictions.
New soda flavours constantly appeared on the market. Some of the more popular flavours were ginger ale, sarsaparilla, root beer, lemon, and other fruit flavours.
In the early 1880s pharmacists experimented with powerful stimulants to add to soda water, including cola nuts and coca leaves. They were inspired by Bolivian Indian workers who chewed coca leaves to ward off fatigue and by West African workers who chewed cola nuts as a stimulant. In 1886 an Atlanta pharmacist, John Pemberton, took the fateful step of combining coca with cola, thus creating what would become the world’s most famous drink, “Coca-Cola”. The beverage was advertised as refreshing as well as therapeutic.
The advent of motor vehicles spawned further growth in the soft drink industry. Vending machines, serving soft drinks in cups, became regular fixtures at service stations across the country. In the late 1950s aluminium beverage cans were introduced, equipped with convenient pull-ring tabs and later with stay-on tabs. Light-weight and break-resistant plastic bottles came into use in the 1970s, though it was not until 1991 that the soft drink industry used plastic PET (polyethylene terephthalate) on a wide scale.
Soft drink manufacturers have been quick to respond to consumer preferences. In 1962 diet colas were introduced in response to the fashion of thinness for women. In the 1980s the growing health consciousness of the country led to the creation of caffeine-free and low-sodium soft drinks. The 1990s ushered in clear colas that were colourless, caffeine-free, and preservative-free. Process
You can see the process how soft drinks are made in the following link:
QUESTIONS:
QUESTION 1. Describe the evolution of the nature of Operations Management in the industry of soft drinks in the last years (20%).
QUESTION 2. Using the Theory of Systems, explain the Inputs, Outputs, Resources needed, and Control methods used in these organizations (25%).
QUESTION 3. Draw the Process Flowchart how soft drinks are made using the standard symbols and explaining all the activities involved (30%).
QUESTION 4. Determine the most appropriate plant layout to optimize the productivity and efficiency of the manufacturing process (25%).
Formalities:
Wordcount: 2500 words.
Cover, Table of Contents, References and Appendix are excluded of the total wordcount.
Font: Arial 12,5 pts.
Text alignment: Justified.
The in-text References and the Bibliography have to be in Harvard’s citation style.
Submission: Week 5– Via Moodle (Turnitin).
Weight: This task is a 40% of your total grade for this subject.
It assesses the following learning outcomes:
Understand and apply basic concepts of operations management to practical problems.
Design effective operating systems.
Apply concepts and tools to solve operational problems.