Mini Case Study: Expanding Services at EcoClean Solutions

A private environmental services company in Johannesburg, EcoClean Solutions, saw the need for general environmental

services at the start of the Covid$-19$ pandemic. Thereafter, the service continued to be successful because many people

switched to working from home. Many parents have also opted for homeschooling as an alternative to mainstream

education. This has meant that more families are spending more time at home and need comprehensive environmental

services. EcoClean Solutions has therefore decided to offer two private recycling services: plastic collection $($PC$)$ and

general recycling $($GR$).$

The PC service is a door$-$to$-$door collection service that, at a fixed time every week, collects plastic bottles and general

plastic items that householders have placed in brown paper bags at their gates. An empty brown bag is left for the

householders to use for the next collection. The value of the plastic collected is relatively small; the service is offered mainly

for reasons of environmental responsibility.

By contrast, the GR service is more commercial. Companies and private individuals can, by phone or internet, request a

collection from EcoClean Solutions, which includes materials to be disposed of$.$ The GR service guarantees to collect the

material within $24$ hours unless the customer specifies a more convenient time. Any kind of material can be collected, and a

charge is made depending on the volume of the material. This service makes a small profit because the revenue from

customer charges and some of the more valuable recycled materials exceeds the operation$$s running costs.

EcoClean Solutions has also integrated automation and process improvement technologies to streamline its operations.

Their automation centre of excellence has deployed robotic process automation and intelligent document processing to

optimise employee time and ensure a positive experience for the customer. This programme has saved more than $20,000$

employee hours, allowing EcoClean Solutions to maintain high$-$quality service while keeping operational costs low.

With feedback from loyal customers, EcoClean Solutions continues to innovate and expand its services to meet the growing

environmental needs of the community.

Required:

$$ As the operations manager of EcoClean Solutions, critically evaluate the differences between the

performance objectives of the two services: plastic collection $($PC$)$ and general recycling $($GR$).$

$(10$ marks$)$

$$ Summarise the differences between the performance objectives of the two services in a table.

$(10$ marks$)$

$$ Through independent research, graphically illustrate the differences between the performance

objectives of the two services in the form of a polar diagram, using a dashed line for PC and a

solid line for GR$.(10$ marks$)$