Case Study 2

-
Schiphol International Hub to become faultless: Truth or Dare?

Q1: How many levels of complexity can you identify in Schiphol’s baggage conveyors network?

Answer:
From the case study, I found that there are 3 layers of complexity:
i. System complexity: The conveyors network is large and complicated. It involved 21 kilometers of transport tracks, 6 robotic units, 9,000 storage capacitors all behaving as one system. The system needs to co-operate between many technological layers both at software and hardware levels, for instances, conveyor belts, security checkers, scanners and so on.
ii. Social complexity: The system is needed to support and help out the work of humans, for instances to handle the baggage automatically.
iii. Business complexity: The network needs to work in different way to cope with different company’s operation. The conveyor network must cope with different baggage governance policies.

Q2: What are the management, organization, and technology components of Schiphol’s baggage conveyors network?

Answer:
Management:
In terms of management, there are few elements to talk about. Setting the right goal is one of the important elements to ensure the business is on the right track and being managed well. The conveyors networks have a very simple goal, which is the right bag must be at the right place at the right time.

To run the network smoothly, human resources are playing an important role. In every department or section, there must be allocating a person in charge to control, manage and handle the baggage just in case if there are any emergencies.

Organization:
Just like the other organizations, Schiphol is made up of many different departments and they work together to make sure the business run smoothly. For instances, the information technology department to look over the network and system to make sure it is updated and running smoothly to avoid mistake while the human resources department ensure the people working with the company is happy and working efficiently to reduce mistake and increase productivity. The rest of the departments such as the finance department and marketing & sales department are also working together to ensure the business is on the right track and profitable.

Technology:
The networks involve variety of sensors, mechanical devices, actuators and computers. It also uses over 3 million lines of source code. As for the baggage-handling systems, it includes destination-coded vehicles (DCVs), automatic bar code scanners, radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags and high-tech conveyors equipped with sorting machines. All of these technologies are used for the normal operation which is to move bags from the check-in area to the departure gate, move bags from gate to gate, move bags from the arrival gate to the baggage claim and plan and control the peripheral hardware and software.

Q3: What is the problem that Schiphol is trying to solve? Discuss the business impact of this problem.

Answer:
From the case study, I found that the most critical problem that Schiphol was facing is the mishandled baggage problem. Schiphol was trying to increase the efficiency in baggage handling in the airport. Mishandled baggage was bringing huge impact to the company, it is a $2.5 billion problem for industry every year and about 51 million passengers traveling through Schiphol alone may be affected annually. With an investment of around US$1 billion over a period of about 10 years, the Baggage Control System has been renewed. With the new system, the manager of Schiphol estimated that this system will be able to minimize 0.01% loss and damage when it operates 99.9% times. Although this system is expensive but if it is being implemented right, it can save 0.1% of $2.5 billion.

Q4: Think of the data that the network uses. What kinds of management reports can be generated from that data?

Answer:
Data items used by the Schiphol Conveyors Networks comprise of 4 items, which are scheduling data; hit/failure reports; delays and usage information. All of these data was being used to plot the cost-per-baggage reduction progressions.

Data Network
Reports
Number of baggage
Total number of business handling by the airport every year
Total loss
Profit and loss report
Capacity of the baggage
Actual capacity for the baggage
Automatic data scanner
Efficiency of the data scanner
Defect system
Risk management report/ improvement system


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Case Study 23

-
WIM Industries: From MRP to ERP Q1: Why did WIM feel the need to implement an ERP system? Before implementing an ERP system, WIM was using a materials resource planning (MRP) system, but this system, while a large advance over paper-based management techniques, nevertheless created many problems as the company’s operations expanded. MRP systems do not integrated information from various divisions within a company, but instead automate processes and information within departments. For WIM this meant there was no platform with which to integrate data from different departments, there was a prevalence of data duplication and redundancy, and inconsistent data were supplied to managers. In addition to this, the departments within the company were acting as separate entities and information was not being shared. The growing size of the firm and the corresponding increase in the sizes of departments also bogged down the flow of information. There were also no predefined standard...
Read more

Case Study 16

-
The battle over net neutrality Q1: What is net neutrality? Why has the Internet operated under net neutrality up to this point in time? Net neutrality also called network neutrality, Internet neutrality, or net equality is the principle that Internet service providers and governments should treat all data on the Internet equally, not discriminating or charging deferentially by user, content, site, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or mode communication. In short, network neutrality is the idea that Internet service providers must allow customers equal access to content and applications regardless of the source or nature of the content. The internet nowadays is indeed neutral; all Internet traffic is treated equally on a first-come, first-served basis by Internet back-bone owners. The Internet is neutral because it was built on phone lines, which are subject to 'common carriage' laws. These laws require phone companies to treat all calls and customer...
Read more

Case Study 18

-
RFID Propels the ANGKASA Library Management System Q1: How can RFID technology simplify basic library processes like the lending and returns of books? RFID technology has simplified the basic library processes like the lending and returns of books. Borrowers just need to simply place books and other material they want to borrow on the touch screen, and hand over their cards to the library staff. The screen will automatically reads RFID tags, while the card reader opens up a member’s profile on the system for the staff to view. After that the receipt will be generated, and with the date of return clearly. This system eliminates the need for physical records, stamping, and other time-consuming activities involved in the process of checking a book out of a library. In addition, the system also minimizes human error. Besides, returning books is also much easier now by using RFID technology, the borrowers just need to simply dropping their books at any time into a specially ...
Read more