Operations Production International Journal -Myassignmenthelp.Com

Question: Discuss About The Operations Production International Journal? Answer: Introduction: Value chain is a framework which explains about the various activities of an organization in context with managing the various activities and the performance 0of the company. The concept of value chain has come through Michel porter in 1985 through his business marketing book. Basically, value chain expresses about the process and production view of an organization. It looks over the manufacturing process of an organization and assists the company to manage the process. This project report has been prepared to evaluate the process of value chain and its components of an Australian manufacturing company which name is PRO-PAC Packaging Ltd. This company is handling its business in Australian as well as Canadian and New Zealand market. The vale chain analysis study has been done on company through evaluating the various components of the company. On the other hand, the value chain process of the company has also been evaluated. And on the basis of study, recommendation has been given to the management of the company about the performance and the position of the company. Company overview: PRO-PAC Packaging Ltd is an Australian manufacturing company. The company is handling its business in Australian as well as Canadian and New Zealand market. The main functions of the company are to manufacture the packaging material for companies. Basically, the companies outsource the packaging material to this company. It is one of the largest packaging material manufacturing companies in Australia. The company supplies various packaging products and the services to various industry such as food and food processing industries, warehousing, logistic, agriculture markets, FMCG, retail market etc. (Home, 2018). The company is operating its business since 1987 in Australian market. The main motto of the company is to provide innovative and great range of products. Value chain: Value chain is a concept of managing the activities and operations of production companies. This framework assists the companies to maintain the production process and the activities related to the production. Basically, value chain expresses about the process and production view of an organization. It looks over the manufacturing process of an organization and assists the company to manage the process. Value chain components of PRO-PAC Packaging Ltd are as follows: Primary Activities: Primary activities of value chain include ordering the raw material; process the raw material into finished goods and disposing off the material into the market. Following is the primary activities of PRO-PAC Packaging Ltd according to the value chain analysis: Inbound logistic: PRO-PAC Packaging Ltd arranges all the inbound activities through movements of raw materials, finished inventory, parts from suppliers to warehouses, companies and the clients of the company. Operations: At this stage, PRO-PAC Packaging Ltd arranges all the operations and the functions of the company to converts the raw material, labour, energy etc of the company in finished goods (Toomey, 2012). Outbound Logistics: At this stage, PRO-PAC Packaging Ltd arranges its process in such a way that the storage of the final products could be done in a better way. It assists the company to manage the inventory of the company. Marketing and sales: At this stage, PRO-PAC Packaging Ltd arranges its process and creates, communicates, delivers and exchanges values of the products with its clients. Though, most of the times, company produces the product according to the order. Services: This stage includes all the operations and the activities which are required by the company to satisfy the customers and deliver the goods in a proper way (Sweeney, 2013). Support activities: Support activities of value chain include all the extra activities of the company which is required by the company to maintain the process and the manufacturing process of the company. Following is the secondary activities of PRO-PAC Packaging Ltd according to the value chain analysis: Firm infrastructure: This process includes activities such as legal, finance, public relations, accounts, accounting, quality assurance; general management etc. company is managing all the departments and their activities in a better way. Human resource management: This process includes activities such as recruiting, training; hiring, developing, compensating etc. company is managing all the HR activities in a better way (Mihm, 2010). Technology: This process includes that all the equipment, software, process, technical knowledge etc of the company. Company is managing all the HR activities in a better way. Procurement: This process includes outsourcing of the goods from market and other companies. PRO-PAC Packaging Ltd is not following is to following the same process. Value chain planning is the first step for an organization to analyze and set up a plan for manufacturing process and managing the activities of the company. The value chain planning must be done by the companies after considering all the relevant factors to given a responses to a wide market. The planning has been done by PRO-PAC Packaging Ltd after analyzing the process of the company, activities, processing time, delivering time and various strategies (Ou, Liu, Hung and Yen, 2010). The planning of the company has been evaluated and it has been found that the company has managed and planned a good strategy to manage the value chain position and reduce the cost of the company. Strategy for value chain planning: Value chain planning management requires the perfect prediction and the planning about the process and the planning of the activities of the company. PRO-PAC Packaging Ltd is following the inventory control strategies. This strategy explains that the decision about the inventory must be taken y the organization and the management through evaluating all the related factors. For inventory control, the company includes the statistics of economic order quantity. EOQ is the level of the quantity where the holding cost and the ordering cost of the company would be less. It also evaluates the security units of the company which must always be hold by the company (Lysons and Farrington, 2012). This strategy copes up with various uncertainties and manages the demands and the supply process of the company in better way. The most efficient and effective contribution of this strategy is to manage and identify the inventory turnover ratio of the company for a better conclusion. Competitors position and potential rival: The position of the company has been evaluated against with the competitors and the industry of the company and it has been found that the PRO-PAC Packaging Ltd has positioned itself in a well manner in the industry. The performance of the company in concern with the value chain is quite impressive. Due to value chain analysis, the company has managed, processed and delivered the goods to its clients on the right time. It has also managed the cost of the company and due to it the profitability position of the company has been way better. More, it expresses that the economics of sales of the company has been enhanced due to competition position. The planning and implementation of value chain has assisted the company to improve the market entry and it has also helped the company to utilize the production capacity at its best. Further, it has been found that due to it, the company has positioned itself in a good manner. Information for manufacturing and selling budget: Further, it has been evaluated that budget making is a good step for every manufacturing company as due to budgeting process, it becomes easy for them to evaluate the position and the demand of the goods in the market in near future (Hussey, 2007). For the budget preparation, following items are significantly required by the company: Historical data Future trend Current position of the company New customers of the company Client behaviour Marketing position of the company Significant changes into the economy Suppliers Demand of the products in the market Price per unit etc. (Arndt, 2008). Further, it explains that the manufacturing and selling budget makes it easy for the company to manage the process and the performance of the company in near future. Controlling: Controlling is the last process of value chain in which the planned outcome is compared with the actual outcome and the reason behind differences is measured. The main aim of this step is to make new strategies to control over the process and the differences of the company. It is a significant function as it controls the error of the company and makes corrective action against the performance of the company. Monitoring on selling and manufacturing plans: Through the evaluation on PRO-PAC Packaging Ltd, it has been found that this company could make control over its manufacturing plan and selling plan through analyzing and evaluating the data and the related information. Firstly, the company analyzes the budgeted and actual manufacturing and sales figures of the company and further it measures the total differences among those variables (Chopra and Meindl, 2013). Further, the related factor could be evaluated and through it a conclusion could be made that why these differences have occurred and lastly, the new strategies and policies have been made which would assist the company to monitor its selling plans and the manufacturing plans. Balance scorecard: Balance scorecard of the PRO-PAC Packaging Ltd is as follows: Balanced Score Card: PRO-PAC Packaging Ltd Customer's perspective Objectives Measures Targets Initiatives Retain high value customers Customer retention % Provide various new products and the services to the customers Analyze and evaluate the customer's value in company Customers service Customer retention % discounts and rewards could be offered to the company Evaluate the customer service and the products quality through offering them various new products, discounts and rewards Process Perspective Objective Measures Targets Initiatives Productivity % of output Company's production level Removal of extra activities Employee qualification qualification measurement Company must hire the qualified employees Training must be given to the less qualified people (Cetinkaya, 2011) Innovation and learning perspective Objective Measures Targets Initiatives Skilled Employees Total % of skilled employees Production's increment level Alterations into HR policies Process Innovations Increased output Technology measurement Technology of the company must be changed. Financial Perspective Objective Measures Targets Initiatives Reduce Cost total % of cost High dividend yield Continuous Supervisions Increase Revenues Total Revenue High revenues Continuous Supervisions It explains that the above balance scorecard is followed by the comapny to measure and evaluate the performance of the company. Decision making: Decision making is an ongoing process in which various decisions about the process and changes into the organization are taken by the management or the company. The main aim of this step is to evaluate all the alternatives and reach over a good conclusion. It is a significant function as it controls the error of the company and assists the company to make a better decision. Expand at national or international level: It is one of the most important decisions which are made by every organization at the time of growth. For this process, PRO-PAC Packaging Ltd should identify the main decision which must be done and after it, the information must be gathered by the company such as the foreign economy, their policies, culture etc. Further, the alternatives must be identified by the company which are national level and international level. In addition, the evidences must be weighed by the company through drawing the information about every alternative and after it, the best alternative must be chosen by the company (Beske and Seuring, 2014). And this decision must be implemented by the company through entering into the foreign market. Target a specific group or diversification: Focusing on a specific target or diversify the market is also one of the most important decisions which are made by every organization at the time of entering into the market or expanding the business. For this process, PRO-PAC Packaging Ltd should identify the main decision which is focusing on a specific target or diversify the market. After it, the information must be gathered by the company such as the target group or other groups etc. Further, the alternatives must be identified by the company which are current target group and diversify market (Assey, 2012). In addition, the evidences must be weighed by the company through drawing the information about every alternative and after it, the best alternative must be chosen by the company. And this decision must be implemented by the company through focusing on the diversification or specific target group. Summary: The above study explains about the value chain and the management process of the company. Through study over planning, controlling and decision making of the company, it has been evaluated that the planning of the company is too good and it has helped the company to make more competitive. Further, the controlling power of the company could be evaluated through its balanced scorecard and lastly, the decision making process of the company covers all the related aspect. Recommendation: The above study on PRO-PAC Packaging Ltd explains that the company is managing all its activities, process and operations in a well manner. Still, few alternations are required by the company to be done for the betterment of the business. It explains that the company should focus on the quantitative data more rather than the qualitative data and the management of the company is required to cover all the significant and important information and the data related to performance of the company. References: Arndt, H., 2008. Supply Chain Management, Germany: Gabler Verlag Assey, J.J.M. 2012. A New Introduction to Supply Chains and Supply Chain Management: Definitions and Theories Perspective, Journal of Business and Economic. 5 (1). pp. 194-207 Beske, P. and Seuring, S. 2014. Putting sustainability into supply chain management, Supply Chain Management: An International Journal. 19 (3). pp. 324-333. Cetinkaya, B. 2011. Sustainable Supply Chain Management: Practical Ideas for Moving Towards Best Practice. Springer Science and Business Media Chopra, S. and Meindl, P. 2013. Supply Chain Management: Strategy, Planning, and Operation 5th ed.. US: Pearson, Global Edition Home, 2018. PRO-PAC Packaging Ltd. Viewed on 2nd Feb 2018, from, https://www.pro-pac.com.au/ Hussey, D.E., 2007. Strategic Management: From Theory to Implementation, UK: Taylor and Francis Lysons, K. and Farrington, B. 2012. Purchasing and supply chain management, Harlow, Essex: Pearson Financial Times Mihm, 2010. Fast Fashion in a Flat World: Global Sourcing Strategies. International Business and Economics Research Journal, 9 (6) pp 55-63 Ou, C.S., Liu, F.C., Hung, Y.C., Yen, D.C. 2010. A structural model of supply chain management on firm performance, International Journal of Operations and Production Management. 30 (5). pp. 526-545 Sweeney, E 2013. The people dimension in logistics and supply chain management its role and importance, Supply Chain Management: Perspectives. Issues and Cases. McGraw-Hill: Milan, pp. 73-82. Toomey, J., 2012. Inventory Management: Principles, Concepts and Techniques, Germany: Springer Science and Business Media