Production and operation

a) Most fast food restaurants like Mcdonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, 4Fingers, Subway and others are located in shopping malls such as Pavilion, KLCC, IOI Putrajaya or Mid Valley even though the rental rate is higher compared to other locations. The layout and menu are almost similar in all locations. i) Discuss the importance of choosing the right locations for these type of restaurant operations. Consider customer traffic, target customer, population catchment and easy access. (15 marks) ii) Explain possible reasons why the kitchen equipment, furniture, layout and the menu offered are almost standardized in all locations. Think about efficiency and effectiveness. (15 marks) b) Airports attract industries to be located nearby, for example KLIA, Penang, Senai and Sepang, It is able to attract mostly light industries with high value add such as electrical and electronics. For instance some of the companies located in Bayan Lepas are Intel, HP, Agilent, BBraun, AMD, Renesas, Robert Bosch, NT and others. Good supporting industries nearby create a conducive eco systems for these companies. i) Discuss despite the high operations cost in Penang, companies still prefer to be located in Penang as opposed to other locations. (15 marks) ii) Seaport such as Port Klang, Pasir Gudang, Port Tanjung Pelepas and Penang usually attract heavy industries like steel, cement and fertilizer as well as companies such as palm oil refinery, chemical plant, flour mill, sugar refinery and animal feed mill. Discuss possible reasons why heavy and process based industries choose to locate close to seaport. (15 marks)