Operations and Service Management - Assignment Example

Topic:' OPERATIONS & SERVICE MANAGEMENT Question What is the external performance objectives Wace Burgess should apply to obtaining the M & S business, and discuss how these might differ from performance objectives applied to existing customers. (15 marks) Wace Burgess should use the SMART technique as a first measure of external performance objective. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time Bound *The below information is based in part on insights from Thomas Gilbert's "Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance". Wace Burgess also needs to have ardent focus on external performance objectives like Information, Tools, Incentive and environment and understand the correlation with the internal determinants like Knowledge, Capacity, Motivation and Attitude. Wace Burgess can adopt smart technique to obtain M & S business Wace Burgess is prominent with specific skills to qualify for the franchisee of M&S.Important skills like ease if manufacturing and design concept are prerequisite for obtaining M & S business. The quantity of job to be completed is ideally measured and quantified. The normal output of printer rates is 6000 sheets per hour for normal printing and 4000 sheets per hour for guidelines and 24000 sheets per hour for folders .That is the optimum capacity utilization strategy adopted by Wace Burgess. Other performance objectives which are determinants to obtain business are Orientation, Legal Restriction, Layout and Design, Composition, Process Photography, Darkroom Procedures, Stripping, Plate making, Offset Ink and Paper, Bindery Operations, Offset Press Operation, Production Problems, and Occupations and Evaluation .Main is the usage of special paper for printing for M& S. Unique performance objectives The below performance objectives are to followed by Wace Burgess to differentiate themselves from other service provider Produce print to a high level of quality and in accordance with the visual identity. Provide a rapid response to users in accordance with the following schedule: Design, typesetting and proofing - 7/10 working days Author's corrections and printing - 7/10 working days Finishing - 5 working days Note: All corporate and promotional material (e.g. booklets, leaflets and posters) must be approved by the Publications Officer, before being passed to the Print Unit for reproduction. 3-5 working days should be allowed for this, depending on the complexity of the job. If we are unable to achieve any of the above timescales, the client will immediately be advised of the situation and a revised delivery programmes agreed. Urgent requirements should be discussed with the Printing Services Manager. Undertake quality control throughout production. Co-ordinate the distribution of print within the University and to external customers. Printing Services: Service Level Agreement (SLA) review from Essex university review 2) Outline the main potential risks and rewards accruing to Wace Burgess in accepting the order from M & S. In order to obtain order from M&S,Wace Burgess need to focus and assess on the potential risks and reward for its sustenance and integrity .It is ideal to sign a printing services agreement including the expectations of the client stating all the possible format for orders, Costing ,Capacity planning,Utilisation,Turn around time ,Accuracy parameter, designing process and die cutting etc .There should also be stringent clause on payment terms and penalty or adjustments in terms of late completion of order based on impact of loss incurred by W&S. Major risks involved Wace Burgess should also the need to commercialize the new technology on a large scale and to make profits and prove its sustainability." It is important to note that the Wace Burgess is noticed by M&S because they have been successful in printing technology. Now they are faced with a new challenge of managing creativity while getting a big order from a profound organization like M&S: an identity-shift from a small organisation to larger organisation is a bit risky but inevitable while accruing orders from big companies. Capacity Planning and utilisation By obtaining new order, more additional employees are required to process and complete the order. There should be a proper capacity planning and decision to recruit people with skill and expertise with in depth knowledge on printing technology. The employees may be recruited full time or on a contract basis as and when there is requirement for people to work for big orders. There should also a forecasting and scheduling of shifts for employees to complete orders with ease and adhere to the committed time line. Overtime wages and extra wages for employees must be communicated well in advance for more clarity. Absenteeism, Attrition and lack of skill of employees are potential risk factors straining the new business opportunities .Wace Burgess should have framed policies to understand the organization priorities to a focus on being more cost-effective and on improving the current product as opposed to developing a new technology or product. One of the risks is also the constraining creativity in order to obtain orders from M&S. Fragmentation challenge. There is an increase in the number of activities that need to be undertaken in order to successfully commercialize the newly developed printer device. It is ideal to the increase in the amount of activities as activity fragmentation. The second challenge is referred to as product fragmentation. It is important to note that an increase in product line is not same as developing a new product. Product fragmentation influences the extent to which employees can cognitively focus and/or identify with their work, thereby affecting both cognitive and emotional creative engagement. Shifting goals As a result of accruing new orders, goals often change or are influenced by the order company. There is a challenge of shifting goals wherein priorities and goals continually change, resulting in limited cognitive, behavioural, and emotional engagement in producing creative results. Due to continuous orders and changes in work pattern, employees reported not being able to stay focused on a given problem for a sustainable amount of time necessary for creativity, which can ultimately influence cognitive engagement. Employees also reported experiencing reduced passion, as they now do monotonous job to meet the requirements of the new client M& S. Cancellation of orders Cancellation of orders is major risk which is highly unpredictable and can hamper the progress of Wace Burgess. The Cancellation and compensation terms and adjustment terms should be reported in detail in Service level Agreement. Rewards perceived by Wace Burgess Performance rewards is given to for excellence for workers appreciating their work, dedication and knowledge with a time based commitment Appreciation bonuses to motivate the employees completing big orders at a stretch. Team awards for a specific fragment of workers displaying confidence in job and influencing to achieve as team. This also increases cooperation among employees and work coordinated as a team. Incentives as margin share of profit incurred after completion of M&S order can help in employee motivation and retention. These are the potential risks and rewards accruing to Wace Burgess in accepting the order from M & S. 3) Critically discuss whether Wace Burgess should accept the order from M &S if they are awarded it. Wace Burgess should accept the order as it is a opportunity to scale up their potential and level of business. Wace Burgess is a member of the Wace Group, a company in the pre-press and print technology market, with a mission: "To become a world-class company providing complete production service for corporations, enhancing the perceived values of their products and services by improving the quality and efficiency of the communication process" Company profile The Wace Group operates in a wide range of communication-related sectors including imaging networks, advertising, promotional print, corporate literature, academic journals, rigid and flexible packaging, and labels. Wace Burgess, a business employing around 250 people, specialises in the colour printing of greetings cards, gift wrap, posters, calendars, book jackets and folders. Their customers are mainly creative publishers, supplying retailers. Specifications of M&S order Wace Burgess had forecasted vision to be a lead player in the market and technological developments and wanted to involve actively in attracting new and big customers. With the help of their excellent reputation for quality and responsiveness, they were good enough to get a chance to supply for a large retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S). Vicky Dockety, one of the account managers, had for some time been talking, via a publisher, to M&S and she now seemed to be close to actually getting the first order. She had already outlined the preliminary requirements to some of the technical specialists and several managers within the company. The vast majority of the orders were for print runs of between 5,000 and 10,000 sheets, the average being about 8,000. T The most popular size of card was around 175 x 125 mm (for some typical orders see Table 4.1). A sheet was a piece of thick paper printed in the lithographic printing machines, normally with standard sizes of up to 720 x 1020 mm, and with typically 12 to 16 cards printed on it. However, M&S had specified a smaller size of sheet, with smaller cards, very carefully arranged so that almost no paper would be wasted. They were also asking for just five design variants. The delivery requirements were also unusual in that they would be precisely scheduled over several weeks, in contrast to the single delivery for most normal orders. The special paper could be obtained from one of the usual paper suppliers, but for the metallic inks and gold-blocking, they would have to use a relatively new supplier of whom they had little experience. The die-cutting and gold-blocking would be outsourced, as the factory did not have suitable equipment for the job. It seemed that there were no technical problems with the card or any unusual features that would have to be solved. Major Business catch is that if Wace burgess gets the order, it has the following concerns and the ways brainstormed to tackle the same. If Wace Burgess were to get the order from M&S, it would mean processing a single order of 600,000 sheets, there is a real challenge in delivering on time and sustain the good name in the market. Huge order from M&S which is a leading market player and would expect quality and on time delivery of orders. There is a risk involved in maintaining the reputation among other competitors. Reliability of manufacturing and technical departments on getting the order and completing the same without any hassles. There are huge existing orders booked and there is challenge in capacity planning and utilisation. Wace Burgess can handle the same by making the employees to work two eight-hour shifts in the printing, bindery and packaging sections. Overtime option or Sunday extra shift option on Saturdays and Sundays can be given if there is a requirement for more people. Team combinations of new and old workers are deputed to have balance in work pattern and effective focus completion of job. There is also challenge in the setup times but the same was also handled efficiently by the supervisors. Set-ups are very fast both for guillotining and folding: around 10 minutes each for a typical job. Die cutting process takes time and suggestion was given to outsource the die cutting and the compliance of the same can be monitored .It is possible to outsource die-cutting as well as the embossing, but it is more difficult with the folding and packaging. Strategy to use home workers for folding and packaging leading to more transportation cost it would take some time, and this takes a lot of organising and transport. If outsourced, this must also meet our very specific standards in order to meet the customers' quality demands.' There was a concern for quality compliance and the company has a ongoing quality check procedure for all printed materials starting from beginning to the end of process. Only high quality, on-spec products will be sent out, and it is because of this that the customers trust us with their most demanding work. Thus Wace Burgess had all the avenues to provide best service by formulating a strategy to handle M&S business and confident in meeting the expectations of the retail client M&S.As stated earlier, the above facts reiterate that Wace Burgess should accept the M&S order. 4) Given that Wace Burgess are awarded the order from M&S and accept it, discuss if Wace Burgess should introduce any new or special practices in the factory. If Wace Burgess is awarded the order, there are certain changes or specific practices to be introduced in order perform effectively and satisfy the client. Capacity planning and Utilisation Requirement: Huge order with a tight deadline from M&S.There is always a quest for quality based design .Need more staffs to be appointed to meet the additional orders and specific requirements of the client. Actionable Change Wace Burgess can handle the same by making the employees to work two eight-hour shifts in the printing, bindery and packaging sections. Overtime option or Sunday extra shift option on Saturdays and Sundays can be given if there is a requirement for more people. Team combinations of new and old workers are deputed to have balance in work pattern and effective focus completion of job. Implication of adhoc setup times. Another best practice is that Set-ups are very fast both for guillotining and folding: around 10 minutes each for a typical job. Die cutting process takes time and suggestion was given to outsource the die cutting and the compliance of the same can be monitored .It is possible to outsource die-cutting as well as the embossing, but it is more difficult with the folding and packaging. Strategy to use home workers for folding and packaging leading to more transportation cost it would take some time, and this takes a lot of organising and transport. If outsourced, quality demands can be met to satisfy our customers. Change in the recruitment pattern Company cannot recruit additional staff on company rolls unless and until there is stable huge order is placed and continued. Wace Burgess was in the verge of hiring extra people as contract when required .The contract staff can work part time and major catch for the same will be students and others on a short term basis and they should be only involved in labour intensive jobs like packing which can be done without any specific knowledge expertise in printing. Work force order Wace Burgess adopted a new technique to form teams having one experienced and other new as combination. This has a dual advantage of conceptive thinking from the new staff and experience of the old staff leading to effective quality assurance and sharing of knowledge from old to new. Outsourcing strategy To process huge order involving more people, outsourcing becomes a critical determinant for saving time and energy. Die cutting process takes time and suggestion was given to outsource the die cutting and the compliance of the same can be monitored .It is possible to outsource die-cutting as well as the embossing, but it is more difficult with the folding and packaging. Strategy to use home workers for folding and packaging leading to more transportation cost it would take some time, and this takes a lot of organising and transport. If outsourced, quality demands can be met to satisfy our customers. 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