Technology

Coca Cola has always been capable to keep up with the fast changing technology going on globally. They are almost always the first to have the most interesting refrigerating devices to vending machines. For example, they have won Gold Lion award for their new interactive vending machine in the Point of Sale category at the 2009 Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in June 2009. It was debuted in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and can only be found in selected Simon Malls throughout the United States. It displays a Samsung 46-inch LCD touch screen into the front of a Coca-Cola vending machine. The large-format display combined with Flash technology, motion graphics, high-definition video and Bluetooth capabilities for mobile downloads, creates a uniquely immersive experience for consumers. In addition, Coca Cola currently has 10 million coolers and vending machines placed all around the world today.

Types of Customer Contact

Coca Cola provides 2 types of customer contact. Their website has virtually all the information any customer can possible have a question too. It provides a listing of every single product brand they have available. Everything from their history starting in 1886 to new commercials and campaigns being done today can be found on their website. Coca Cola being a global company has their website accessible in almost all languages. The every day customer can simple log on to cocacola.com and find what they are looking. Even myself as a student was able to find what I needed in a section concentrated on students and research information I may be looking for. Secondly, customers can sign up for daily, weekly, or monthly newsletter to maintain updated on any promotion or survey can be conducting. It provides customers with any new brand launch and special events being hosted.

Service Matrix

Coca-cola uses the Standardized service part of the matrix. Just like an ATM, a vending machine allows few options during service delivery, and is matched with customers whose needs are very similar to one another. There is a limited amount of pathways a customer can use when it comes to choosing the coca cola product, whether its from a vending machine or soda fountain. Provider-routed services, such as coca cola products, need to pay attention more to the operations management systems as well as automation and capital investment.

Service Product Bundle

Coca-Cola is a long time company, known around the world for its products’ physical attributes and the different products the corporation possess. As a result of the numerous amounts of various drinks, the coca-cola company serves as a manufacturer of the goods which the corporation distributes. Due to the tangibility of the products the company possesses, Coca-cola is seen as a physical (facilitating) goods form of bundle. This type of product bundle often contains fixed facilitated goods, which can definitely help to define the Coca-Cola Company. Although many may perceive Coca-cola to be a service company due to the explicit service details and the transportation of things from one place to another In regards to its tangible aspects, the company remains a physical goods type of product bundle, and the products themselves are the facilitating goods.

Manufacturing And Distribution

Coca Cola manufacturers all their products in Indonesia. The company has been awarded prizes for attaining standards above similar plants located in other parts of the world. Coca Cola falls as a Continuous and Assembly line company. It produces different product lines, about 400 different brands. I requires mass production due to its high demand all over the world. It sells over 1.4 billion beverages servings each day!! The products begin as raw material and go through many stages.

1. Ingredients Preparations

2. Mixing

3. Washing

4. Filling & Capping

5. Coding

6. Inspection

7. Packaging

8. Loading

Coca cola has adopted to different types of mass customization methods. An example is their new "Coca-Cola Freestyle", which is a soda fountain 2.0. The machines found today in fast food restaurants and movie theaters offer five to eight standard beverages – Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Fanta, etc. The Freestyle fountain offers 100 different drinks, all mixed on the spot.The Freestyle technology can combine small, exact amounts of concentrated ingredients, stored in cartridges, with water and sweetener to mix a beverage on the spot. Farrell pointed out several advantages that the cartridge-based system offers Coca-Cola and its retail partners over conventional fountains, which simply mix pre-made syrup with carbonated water. The syrup is stored in five-gallon bags that are more expensive to ship and bulky to store, which limits the number of options that each fountain can offer. The Freestyle not only offers more flavors, but gives users the option to customize their drink.

Although coca cola cannot adopt to every type of mass customization method, they improved their technology so that they can bring the product to the customer directly in a unique way. Over the years they have been able to adopt more types of methods, as shown by the new "Coca-Cola Freestyle."

Coca-Cola uses continous and assembly line process because it allows the product to be produced in high volumes. The company has made it a point to reduce the cost of production, and started reusing their products. Cola-Cola has a mass market that it attends to, so it is important that they are able to produce the product for low costs. The product is highly automated and operates at capacity. Continuous process reduces inventories and distribution costs, which then allows the for the total cost of manufacturing to be lowered.

History and Facts

Coca Cola got started in 1886 and it became the leading manufacturer, distributer and marketer of non alcoholic beverages. You can find their head quarter in Atlanta Georgia. Employ over 92,000 people worldwide. Worldwide they have about 3,000 brands. All over the world everyone has different preferences and Coca Cola has to adjust its approach so it can target all these difference. It holds international success and holds almost half of the Global Carbonated Market Share (47%). Coca-Cola is a worldwide franchise of sponsorships and products helps to narrate the future for many businesses. Coca-Cola not only manufactures soft drinks but there are hundreds of different goods which Coke also helps to manufacture. Raw materials which are associated with the manufacturing process are nutritive and non-nutritive sweeteners known as high fructose corn syrup which seem to be the additive people become familiar with when craving a Coca-cola product.

Coca Cola also has many bottling partners who work closely with their customers. Some of these partners consist of grocery stores, convenience stores, vending machines, movie theaters, amusement parks, etc.The beverage Coca-Cola is sold in over 200 countries utilizing the ingredients of carbonated water, sugar, caffeine, phosphoric acid, and natural flavorings to give customers an idea of what the drink contains, however the official formula is known as a trade secret and is under contract to not be distributed for any type of reproduction, as Coke is undeniably original. Advertising for Coca Cola is known to have incredible effect on the world with adds anywhere from sporting events to billboards and even can be found on the sides of buildings which is more commonly associated with the 1950’s era of advertising. Coca Cola is particularly known by their bottling and people grow to become comfortable with their type of packaging and the traditional trademarks set by the company. There are numerous amounts of additional products which Coke helps to manufacture including a wide variety of other soft drinks such as Sprite and Mountain Dew. “All production plants meet and frequently exceed international standards and local regulatory requirements and undergo regular audits in the areas of quality control, environmental, health and safety practices. Coca-Cola beverage products begin as raw material and go through many stages as follows: Ingredients Preparations, Mixing, Washing, Filling & Capping, Coding, Inspection, Packaging, and Loading.” This quote applies to the manufacturing process for Coca Cola in terms of the diligence and respect Coke as a distributor deserves.

Inventory Bar Code Software, Inc.

Coco Cola is one of the largest known companies in the world and uses "Bar Code Software, Inc" as their source of inventory. They are able to track each of their products through a tracking system in which lets them know when to reorder whatever product for each vending machine that is located in the United States. The actually system itself is called "Track-it.", and they were able to access all the information on locations of each vending machine through computers at Coco Cola. Track it consists of specialized software that pulls the information from Coke’s mainframe database and transfers it to handheld terminals with built-in laser scanners. Printed bar code labels are generated and placed on every machine, old and new. The bar code indicates the machine’s special asset number, as assigned by Coke. When it is time to perform a physical inventory, Track It pulls information on existing inventory from Coke’s mainframe using “queries” and “ODBC” drivers. This process generates a record on each piece of machinery with all pertinent information.

Next, this information is transferred from the PC in its entirety to each handheld scanning terminal using Track It’s specialized software. Multiple terminals are used simultaneously to scan the bar codes on each machine throughout Coke’s remanufacturing facilities. As each vending machine’s bar code is scanned, the asset number is compared to each number on the list that had been downloaded from Track It. A report listing those assets found and not found is then displayed on the handheld terminal’s display. The new information is then transferred from all of the portable terminals back to Track It, and the database on the PC is automatically updated. Reconciliation inquiries and reports are now available at the click of a mouse.