Confetti Case Study

Confetti Italian Ice & Custard opened their doors to create an innovative et simple concept that focuses on a customizable frozen dessert. Confetti aims to feature creative, or even exotic, flavors and combinations unique to other competitors’ dessert options, while still focusing on customer preferences. Expounder Thomas “Swishy” V says, “Everyday we try to create new flavors with popular desserts that typically arena ice cream options.

” (Confetti, 2013). Upon entry of Confetti, the customers are greeted by contemporary design elements and a unique aesthetic that complements their unique flavors.

Their ingenious Interior decorating Is very reminiscent of an “old school” or traditional Ice cream parlor, youngling Confetti’s goal of Individuality and self-expression. Industry Overview (Porters Five Force) Threat of new competition The slow economy has constrained the growth for new entrants into the market. With limited growth in the food industry, Confetti’s competitors have created a loyal customer base that has not abandoned their favorite restaurants.

Threat of substitute products or services There is a large threat for substitute products for Confetti’s customizable frozen dessert.

These Include their direct competitors Yogurts, Basking Robins and Blackberry. Competition Is not limited to frozen dessert restaurants, as competition loud come from a taco shop or a Burger restaurant. Additionally, buying Ice cream from a grocery could be a substitute. Bargaining power AT customers With the slow economy, consumers are spending less, thus limiting a customer’s ability to bargain leverage in an industry with fixed cost. The buyer is price sensitive with available substitute products.

Confetti’s differential advantage and uniqueness limits the customers’ bargaining power. Bargaining power of suppliers The economy provides Confetti with additional bargaining power over the suppliers. However, switching suppliers has costs associated with these changes. The bargaining power lies in the contractual agreement over their competitors. Intensity of competitive rivalry The frozen dessert industry is dominated by large franchises, such as Basking Robbins and Yogurts. The majority of these franchises are a household name, while Confetti is a newcomer to the industry.

They must use their creative flavors to compete in a very competitive industry. Situational Analysis Assumptions Operation is observed on weekends from about noon to 2:00 pm. Every customer that walks to the counter is assumed to order 1 serving of dessert no matter the assert size. Each order will consist of Italian ice paired with a custard flavor. Process Flow and Process Layout Process flow and process layout is the operations of organizing people, equipment, and other resources to optimize a company’s output in order to satisfy their customers needs.

In order to meet their customers’ needs, a company’s operations must ensure processes are detailed with productions plans, policies, report and services to meet their end goal. Confetti is “committed to creating the most unique desserts available” with an efficient production process and ordering system. Confetti’s operations must produce a mixture of unique desserts and customer service in order to establish loyal customers. Confetti’s system begins with their customers being greeted with an employee handing out their latest samples.

After receiving a sample, the customer can review the menu (Appendix A) that contains their entire menu on a chalkboard. The options include size, and flavors that can be customized.

At this point, it is up to the customer to either choose one of the flavors available or customize it to their liking. The process of creating your own dessert flavors can be overwhelming for a new customer to Confetti. Due to the uniqueness of the choices, the customer might spend extra time analyzing all the options.

The production line is organized according to the categories on the order. The Italian ices are all in the front while the custard machines are in the back. Each employee is in changer AT Uninominal customers Trot sat rotor Tells.

I Nils may cause a allay In ten production line but it provides outstanding customer service. Customers that order more than one dessert at a time will have to wait for each dessert to be made one at a time. Once the dessert is ready, the customer can grab a seat and enjoy their assert.

Process Analysis The details of Confetti’s operation are highlighted by the smooth process and customer’s satisfaction. Confetti entered into an established market, which allowed them to analyze the processes of their competitors. By analyzing the positives and negatives of Confetti’s competitors, Confetti was able to streamline the process of ordering and creating customizable desserts.

However, there is always room for improvement. Confetti has areas in their process layout that create bottlenecks for the customer within the ordering and pick-up process.

With only one production line, Confetti’s operation does not allow for a range of volume. Since “the flow of items through the process, the layout of its resources, the technology it uses, and the design of Jobs, are all strongly influenced by its volume-variety position. This means that most processes should lie close to the diagonal of the matrix that represents the fit’ between the process and its volume-variety position” (Slack, Chambers, Johnston, & Beets, 2009).

Confetti’s process is not adjustable to meet the fluctuation of customers.

Customers are encouraged to sample any of Confetti’s creations, which causes a bottleneck in the process. It takes almost as long to make a full dessert as it would a sample. This process should be evaluated and adjusted to expedite the wait. Along with only having one production line, Confetti only has one cash-registrar (Appendix B). After deciding on the flavor combination, the Confetti employee creates the dessert and rings up the customer’s order.

Depending on the number of customers, there could be a backlog at the first operations of the dessert creating.

Additionally, Confetti’s inability to modify the production line to accommodate the volume creates a queue at the pick up counter. Confetti is aware of this bottleneck and provides customers entertainment via television and music. However, with customers standing near the counter and other customers trying to pick up their dessert, there is a lack of flow within the restaurant.

SOOT Analysts Strength * Offers variety of flavors and combinations * Customer service orientated * Word of mouth marketing Weakness * Bottlenecks at workstations due to the increase volume of orders * Customer areas are congested due to the fluctuation in demand and limited space Opportunities Increasing anemia Tort Taste T Ana Ice creams among ten young people opportunity to improve customer satisfaction Threats * High quality affordable products * Many competitors in the ice cream industry that pose threat recession Conclusion * Economic The overall process flow and process layout of Confetti Italian Ice and Custard is well planned.

Confetti has been successful at creating an environment that allows the customers to feel comfortable while their frozen dessert is being made.

This creative method of ordering customized desserts has created a structure to build superior products in an organized, structured way that meets the expectation of the customer. With few minor modifications to minimize bottlenecks and queues in the ordering and pick up process, Confetti would have a streamline operation.

Confetti could minimize bottlenecks by adding another cashier or provide a dedicated employee to hand out samples. This would allow customers to stand in a shorter line and find a comfortable place to sit which would improve the customer satisfaction. Overall Confetti has a very learned process that adds to the ambiance of an old school ice cream with a modern twist. Appendix Appendix A – Menu Appendix B – Cash Register Appendix C – Production Line