Our Heragu (2016) chapter reading this week, while appearing to focus on manufacturing settings, provides us with a starting pathway for identifying and thinking about equipment that is grounded in the actual products and services being produced. The idea of a detailed bill of materials actually makes sense for any product or service, even though we often associate it with mainstream manufacturing operations. The reality is that all products and services are made up of something, and the list of things and how they come together is needed for every product or service. By identifying all of those components, we can then identify and discuss the types of equipment that will be needed to produce the product or service at an operational level that meets the expected demand based on the designed capacity of all of that equipment. Let's discuss some scenarios where this capability would be helpful beyond traditional manufacturing... Pick one of the following product-and-service scenarios, or pick a different one that would be of the same type of scale and complexity: A diner or restaurant, providing a wide range of meals and services An automobile dealership providing new and used vehicles, as well as maintenance and service of those vehicles A hair salon offering a range of services and personal products An insurance agency offering a range of home, life, automobile, and casualty policies and services A hospital emergency room at a major medical center in an urban area Describe the range of basic product-service configurations that might be relevant to the scenario, and then describe a possible bill of materials for several of those possible configurations. (Key tip: Focus your bill of material thinking on the entire end product that the customer is interested in - which typically is the overall value proposition for the business.) This will demonstrate that there is variability in products and services even within a scenario. Next, try to describe the types of equipment that would probably be needed to actually produce the product-service configurations you've described. By presuming that your scenario is a "high volume" business, offer your thinking about how many of the different types of equipment might be needed, highlighting the variables you might need to consider instead of trying to predict actual numbers for a hypothetical situation. Finally, comment on and expand the scenarios suggested by classmates