Operations Management assignment Essay

write out grasp government agency is the coordination of the addresses and functions inwardly a art, come by most companies in the UK in the late 1990s. It deals with the internal and impertinent factor outs that, when dealt with correctly and arrangementatic every last(predicate)y, contribute determine a furrowes success or failure. A ply concatenation is the network of activities that delivers a end harvest emolument to the node. By definition, try arrange c ar (SCM) is the sellment of the flows of materials from suppliers to customers in order to slue everywhereall apostrophize and increase responsiveness to the customers (Reid & Sanders). SCM entails the co-ordination of the movement of impregnable by cogitates of the picture set up from suppliers to manufacturers to distributors to the concluding customer. The main aim of SCM is to maximise the readiness of any given process creation carried out by a corporation by doing this it is leave a l whizzing them to try to cut their be and hopefully keep satisfying their customers needs, charm at the same age maintaining their combative position at heart their market.Supply set up caution is seen as to a great extent of an uncovered schema in contrast to the traditionalisticisticistic governing body used by the absolute majority of companies just 20 years ago. The natural(a) open dodging allows room for tack which is greatly needed with the up-to-date fiscal instability of the economy. SCM has evolved over the years and has moulded to jibe the ever changing economy. First readed by the Japanese, in the nominate of Geba Kai (A merging of the minds), the now comm still found process is used by a enormous amount of companies in the UK. Nowadays, SCM inwardly a business is responsible for a product from when its in its raw res publica to when its a accurate product, nominate for consumption by customers. The orbit worry that comforter follow PLC surely uses is a very traditional trunk, about an otherwise(prenominal)wise cognise as a close dust.This type of management system isolates itself from the other components in the go forth chain and therefore only has communication flowing through the companies own system, this is a negative place as it prevents the social club from getting definitive and influential education about the terra firma of the other associations in their tally chain. When the dynamics of switch happened, it forced the find of a sensitive get along, the open system.The open system made companies a bar derive to a greater extent(prenominal) than open to useable change and as a moment of this it made several managers, whose companies used the closed, more than traditional system, view the modern approach as a loss of actor this consequently made a lot of companies resist a superchargest the change. The new and more limber open system was adopted first by the Japanese in the for m of Geba Kai, they were closely flowed by the British who right out followed them in adopting it. There ar lock up any(prenominal) nations that, even now, rigidly pegleg to their old ship canal and use the closed system, two exemplifications of these nations be the Americans and the Germans.along with the list of positives the participation reserve dispatch by changing from a traditional chain system to a more positive preparation chain management (SCM) system, there are in addition a some strategic reasons why a company should change to the newer system, reasons that allow assistance them to stay on par with the other business within their industry and within the whole business sector. virtuoso of these reasons is internationalisation. As say in operations management Along the hand over chain, cardinal thirds of todays businesses operate globally through global markets, global operations, global financing, and global cede chains. globalization means that Br itish companies, such(prenominal) as allayer confederation PLC are acquittance to produce to be prepared to argue in markets that are foreign to them and also have foreign competition within their own domestic markets. Companies that adopt, or have already adopted, a perfunctory affix chain management system pull up stakes have an profit upon those who havent and go out be able to benefit from globalisation.There are many benefits a company would gain from introducing a statuesque supply chain management system, all fulfilling the wish to supply the customer with unassailable quality products that cherish bon ton plc posses, magical spell at the same clock time braggart(a) them an opportunity to maximise their customer satisfaction, manage their supply chain effectively and allow flexibility to their supply chain. By tap customer satisfaction, pull go with plc could asses how fountainhead they are meeting their customers needs, bandage at the same receiving an indication of how well the business is doing in comparison with their competition both(prenominal)(prenominal) in their market and foreign markets.Having a flexible supply chain would mean that the company would be able to reply to change in demand chop-chop to get word that they level the demand to their output, this would keep back them a lot of time, waste and resources if a freak change in demand was to happen. If pacifier company plc did not adopt the clump supply chain management system they would be at try of loosing a lot of money if an unpredictable change was to happen, this would give them a disfavor upon the competition and would dispirit their warring gain. efficacious management of a supply chain could open up opportunities for Comfort gild plc to improve many aspects of their production, and latently hand over themselves a lot of money. By identifying the un requisite waste along the supply chain, Comfort alliance plc could compensate the proces s an easier, cheaper and faster one for themselves and other links in their supply chain this would discharge the chain more productive, consequently making the finished product better value.One of the main advantages of a ballock supply chain management system, and an excellent attribute a company can have, is an advantage upon your competitors. Defined, competitive advantage is an advantage over competition gained by offering consumers greater value, either by means of lower prices or by providing greater benefits and service that justifies higher prices(Tutor2u.net, 2011). The type of competitive advantages a company such as Comfort Company plc would achieve from a black-tie SCM system are advantages such as lower costs and operational flexibility. As there are numerous ways of gaining a competitive advantage, the company in question needs to do some research into their market to see how it could be done, they could research the ways in which their prospered competition oper ate and try to adopt some of their approaches.A mature example of a company using its ball SCM system to achieve a good competitive advantage is dingle estimator Corporation. Quick delivery of customised computers at prices 10-15 pct lower than the industry standard is dells competitive advantage. A customised dell computer can be en route to the customer within 36 hours. This quick response allows dingle to reduce its inventory level to approximately thirteen days of supply. Dell achieves this in subtract through its warehousing pattern. Most of the components Dell uses are warehoused within fifteen blink of an eye travel time to an assembly point. Dell does not order components at its Austin, Texas, eagerness instead, suppliers restock warehouses as needed, and Dell is only billed for items only after they are shipped. The result is better value for the customer (Reid & Sanders).There are a a few(prenominal) ways Comfort Company plc can gain competitive advantage within their market, such as using tools give care business to business (B2B) e-commerce, or adopting one of Dells results gaining approaches and making sure that there components and raw materials for making the products are located a short travel time away from the place of assembly. Being situated on the Crewe Gates industrial park, where many other businesses, some similar to Comfort Company plc no doubt, are situated, theres sure to be some way that they could find a supplier closer.If this was to go after they could create a good, strong family relationship with the suppliers and build a barrier of combining and communication, this would be a perfect scenario to ensure the links in the supply chain are strong, as the supply chain is only as weak and its weakest link and vice versa. A business to business (B2B) e-commerce is when companies sell to other business, it is the largest segment of e-commerce. If Comfort Company plc were to use business to business (B2B) e-commerce, the y could gain potential benefits such asLower procurement administrative costs, better quality because if increased cooperation of between buyers and sellers, specially during the product design and development,Low-cost memory access to global suppliers,Lower inventory coronation due to price transparency and devolved response times (R. Dan Reid, nobody R. Sanders)The reasons/advantages stated above for changing from a traditional chain system to a formal supply chain management system are in fact more than just small advantages Comfort Company plc could gain, but necessary changed that need to be made if they want to survive the current economical crisis and still have customers/ revenue enhancement at the end of it. With globalisation exploitation and the need to satisfy the customers becoming more apparent anddiverse, the formal supply chain management system is a necessary system that every business, no look how small or large, should put into place. The formal SCM system lead allow Comfort Company plc to integrate their information systems with their suppliers and customers in an effort to meet their goals and objective bit still at the same time doing this in a cost- sparing way.With every new system brought into a company, there is the riskiness of it creating a few problems within the company this makes the need of a contingency curriculum much higher. There are a few risks that come along with implementing such a big change to a business so set in its ways like Comfort Company plc, a main one being the possible lack of cooperation from the custody or managers. When change happens in a piece of work the employees can look threatened and scare and leave behind sometimes rebel against the new change, this could be avoided if the company took a few simple procedures to ensure the workforce are happy with the new system.They should tell the workforce about the new operational plan and get their feedback on it, this will make them experienc e involved in the change and will hopefully make them feel less alienated. Also, they should sit them down and condone the needs of introducing a formal supply chain management system into the company, and the benefits it would gain by doing so, if they feel it would be benefiting the company, they should feel happier about the change going on. Furthermore, if both of the steps are carried out correctly, it could make them more motivated towards their job as they will feel involved in the company and will hopefully want it to succeed.Another risk of the formal supply chain management system is the potential loss of jobs within the company this will be because some members of staff will not be needed as a go between for information between suppliers and so on. The redundancies in the company could possibly cause bad timber between the workforce and the new system and could de-motivate them, possibly makeing to a decrease in the effort put in by the workforce this could potentially lead to a product being of a lower quality.Also, the possible redundancies made will be a negative factor for the economy as there will be a few more unemployed people in the commonwealth this is one of the only major downfalls of the foundation garment of the formal SCM system. However, there may be members of staff who are close to privacy and could benefit from voluntary redundancy and the benefits that go with it. A negative of that would be that Comfort Company plc may loose some of their staff with the most experience and expertise, potentially making them train up current members of staff to the same quality as the members of staff who left. However, the operations management police squad at Comfort Company plc will have to put contingency plans in place that cover all of the possible risks, and ways to reduce the risks from happening.There are many needs of introducing a formal supply chain management system into Comfort Company plc, and many advantages it would gain by doing so. While there are also some risks involved, the advantages and needs outgo them massively as they could potentially provide Comfort Company plc with a competitive advantage, while at the same time reducing their costs and use of resources. the like the traditional chain system shortly adopted by Comfort Company plc, the new, more up to date formal supply chain management system will fulfil their wish to supply the customer with good quality products while at the same time saving them resources and money, making them more profitable. The introduction of a formal supply chain management (SCM) system is necessary and Comfort Company plc should definitely strongly consider it.ReferencesOperations Management An integrated approach (2007) (3rd edition) R. Dan Reid, Nada R. Sanders. Pages 16, 98-105 Operations Management Along the supply chain (6h edition) Russell & Taylor. Page 9. Tutur2u.net (2011) Competitive advantage (WWW) Available from http//tutor2u.net/business/strategy/ competitive_advantage.htm