Operations Strategy To Address Challenges

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

Company Background 2

Section 1 3

The five performance objectives 3

Operations Strategy to address challenges 3

Focus Strategy 4

Product and Service Design staying close to customers 4

Process Design improving effectiveness 5

Planning and Control enhancing economic efficiency 5

Innovation and Improvement through automation 6

Supply Chain and Quality Management is all about freshness 6

Section 2 7

Integration of Information System to determine Organizational Boundaries 7

Vertical Integration and outsourcing at different stages of production and/or distribution 7

Designing and Managing Operating Networks distribution 8

Creating a competitive advantage through New Process Development 9

Section 3 10

Emerging technologies create effective and efficient Job design 10

Developing a motivational approach in employees 11

Satisfaction of Performance Objectives 11

Conclusion: 11

Appendix 12

Bibliography 12

Company Background

Bloomers Bakery has been in existence for the past few years supplying products to residential and commercial clients in and around London. Productions is situated in Croydon specialising in traditional breads using the very best of ingredients and with 24 hour notice, delivery can be made to commercial outlets at a time convenient to customers. The bakery provides celebration cakes which can be individually designed to customer specifications at very competitive prices. Bloomers Bakery also provides a wide range of products for diabetics. Using no artificial ingredients or preservatives and only vegetable fats, these products are ideal for vegetarians and vegans. Surplus stocks are donated daily to the Croydon Salvation Army, who provides a service to the homeless people. (Bloomers Bakery, 2012)1

In July 2012 the general bread production was moved to a new site, leaving the original bakery to concentrate solely on the production of gluten-free (Gf) products. Currently in the process of completing works in order to comply with legislation, the plan is to start production from early 2013 and by then, expect all their bakers to have gained respective accreditation. New research shows that a switch from ordinary white bread to low Glycaemic Index (Gi) bread2 can help prevent cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes with the added advantage that it also tastes great! Delicious and Healthy Low Gi Breads are now available at both shops.

I chose the bakery business because it was one of my first work experiences and can really appreciate the hard work and challenges involved. As a medium size manufacturing company, the new developments stated above can create a definite source for competitive advantage, especially in niche markets. The bakery industry is very much consumer lead with a constant requirement for new varieties of product competing to gain shelf space while trying to increase customer brand loyalty. Recent market trends have seen a rise for convenience foods and ‘healthy options’ therefore, this creates opportunities to gain market share3.

In spite of having been in operations for a few years, Bloomers Bakery is still facing major problems4. There is a need for flexible systems that can allow adjustments to changes in consumer tastes and food fashions. Combined with the external demands from regulation, environmental and nutritional factors, operations system need to be able to deliver adequate reporting information. While maintaining profit margins, bakery equipments and processes need to be flexible enough to cope with variable modes of operations to match a continuously value added production line, whilst balancing variables such as cost of raw ingredients, energy usage, minimising waste, etc in order to produce a consistently high quality products on time every time.

Bloomers Bakery, 2012 [online]. [Accessed 06th April 2013]. Available from World Wide Web : <http://bloomersbakery.co.uk>

http://www.glycemicindex.com/about.php

http://automationsolutions.mitsubishielectric.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/bakerybro.pdf

Assumption of problems for this assignment

To: Managing Director

From: Operations Manager

Date: 20th April 2013

Report on proposal to overcome major problems and improve overall productivity

Section 1

The five performance objectives

The purpose of an operations strategy is to interpret overall business strategy concerned with goals such as growth and profitability, into goals that direct how operations will be managed. These goals may be defined by the five operations performance objectives of quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and cost. An approach to developing a strategy to achieve these goals is concerned with matching internal operations capability with external competitive market requirements.

Performance objectives relate to one another in a competitive trade-off relationship between them therefore optimum solutions must be sought within the inherent limits of the operation (Skinner, 1985)5. The idea of trade-offs is challenged by the belief that performance can be improved simultaneously along multiple dimensions. Ferdows and de Meyer (1990)6 state that operational excellence can be built in a cumulative fashion with an ideal sequence in which operational capabilities should be developed; through quality, dependability, speed, flexibility and finally achieving excellence in cost. This approach highlights the need to target reduction in costs, only after improvements in the other performance objectives have been secured and implies that certain operational capabilities enhance one another allowing simultaneous improvements across multiple performance objectives. (Greasley 2009:23)7.

Operations Strategy to address challenges

The UK bakery industry is a vital food supplier to the country as a whole; indeed 97% of the UK households consume bread or baked goods daily8. As with most industries, there are many changing pressures and new legislation to challenge a modern bakery. High consumer demands and changing trends are reflected through the supply channel requirement to react to constant change of products and tight deadlines.

The performance pyramid (Lynch and Cross 1991)9, comes from the idea that organisations operate at different levels each of which has a different focus. the pyramid links the business strategy with day-to-day operations with a hierarchy of financial and non-financial performance measures. With profit margins continually squeezed, issues such as waste, energy saving, increased productivity; data collection and legacy equipment support are common concerns. Fitzgerald and Moon (1996)10 proposed a Building block model for performance measurement that can be applied to manufacturing organizations as well to evaluate organizational performance. Ultimately we need to address issues through getting the optimum performance from our factories whilst maintaining/improving dependability through consistency and accuracy. Bloomers Bakery recognises the importance of plant flexibility and need bakery solutions that address issues faced in today’s competitive market.

Skinner, W. (1985) Manufacturing: The Formidable Competitive Weapon, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Ferdows, K. and de Meyer, A. (1990) Lasting improvements in manufacturing. Journal of Operations Management

Greasley, A. (2009:23) Operations Management, 2nd Edition, John Wiley and Sons Ltd

http://automationsolutions.mitsubishielectric.co.uk/industries-2/bakery-solution

Lynch, L.R and Cross, F.K (1991) Measure Up!: Yardsticks for Continuous Improvement

Fitzgerald, L., Moon, P. (1996), Performance Measurement in Service Industries: Making it Work

Focus Strategy

Bloomers Bakery has chosen to separate its general and specialised productions. Usually organizations succeed when they organize their resources and compete across one or two performance objectives with specific capabilities meaning that they can do some things better than others and a strategy that uses inherent strengths will be more likely to offer a competitive advantage.

The idea of focus (Skinner, 1974)11 has been used by many firms to break up large and complex organizations into more simple and focused operations. Although arguments exist that breakup of organizations can leads to higher costs (duplications); many companies found that focusing has led to a decrease in operating and overhead costs. However, a lot of the advantages of focus can be obtained without the subdivision of the organization by using methods such as Operation-within-an-operation, Cell layout, Process design and simplification. There are many different dimensions in which focus can be applied to Bloomers Bakery, including on a range of products or services (product focus like Gluten-free), on market or customer groups (market focus like business to business) or on the process needs of products or services (process focus like automation). Focus could also be based on competitive factors (such as low cost for cakes). This approach aims to ensure that the conditions are created where operations can excel at the criteria that are necessary for market success. Focus based in this way will need to reflect changes in the relative competitive factors of customer needs and competitor actions. However, the idea of focus, by definition, limits the scope of what the operations system can do and thus makes it vulnerable to shifts happening in the competitive environment. (Greasley 2009:49-52)12

Product and Service Design staying close to Customers

Product design enhancement is essential in the highly competitive bakery sector and working closely with clients allows a tailored approach to meet their specific needs such as 'healthier' alternatives. This allow support to all parts of the product development chain from brainstorming product concepts and converting ideas to prototypes, to refining trial products and producing samples for market testing. Pilot production and then scale-up for manufacturing by adapting chef recipes looking out for new and profitable applications of existing plant, and reformulated products that can allow new claims, improve eating quality or extend shelf-life13. Bakers experienced with traditional hand shaping methods should have the ability to transfer this knowledge to semi-automated processes while incorporating new trends and flavours. Splitting production for Bloomers Bakery seems to be a good move in order to guarantee and safeguard a gluten-free environment. When introducing new product, an ecological maxim to reuse packaging materials can not only reduces waste and carbon emissions but also save money.

Service design is all about listening and understanding our trade customers, making sure we work with them to develop mutually profitable business where operation is all about responsiveness, flexibility and pace. While it’s a challenge to work in such a dynamic and competitive market, therefore Bloomers Bakery’s strength should be focus in our relationship with customers. We should take a proactive approach to developing our business by identifying the right levels of service, advice, price and products as key elements with resellers while adding new products and make sure they have our complete range. Since the bakery business is more manufacturing intensive, service design should not be overlooked. The customer experience, however short it may be, can make Bloomers Bakery stand out. First impression counts therefore the bakery's interior design should be welcoming and ideally makes our brand memorable whether on site or off site during delivery, by use of logo, colours, packages and decorative features. An interior design that plays up the bakery's specialty can emphasizes our main product to potential customers in a warm and appetite-enhancing manner highlighting the bakery's use of natural ingredients14.

Skinner, B.F. (1974) About Behaviorism. New York: Knopf.

Greasley, A. (2009) Operations Management, 2nd Edition, John Wiley and Sons Ltd

http://www.campdenbri.co.uk/services/bakery-product-development.php

http://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/design-ideas-bakeries-8834.html

Process Design improving effectiveness

Baking process

Figure 1 –Baking process relies on four main steps15 - mixing, proving/fermenting, baking and cooling.

Creating and maintaining the correct input environment at the flour plant stage is critical for the process to ensure consistency of the dough. Small amount of vegetable fat are used to influence the structure and texture of the bread as well as maintaining quality plus vitamin C can help to stabilise the bubbles in the dough through the oven. Flexible but accurate batching of the raw ingredients with precise delivery of the ingredients can leads to improvements in yield with accurate and secure knowledge of stock levels from an automated inventory therefore eliminating hand written reporting. Mixing of the dough is probably the most important event as quality of the final product is significantly affected by the mixing methodology.

Control of mixer speeds directly relates to the dough structure properties therefore accurate weighing and energy management are vital. It is often important to be able to delay the mix and this requires energy monitoring so the dough is not over mixed and discarded as waste. Key dependability Issues are about recipe control and repeatability of fulfilling customer orders. An increase in delivery speed may not lead to customer satisfaction if it is not produced in a consistent manner. Track and Trace techniques can be applied at this stage to provide each batch with a unique ID that can be transferred to the downstream parts of production.

Critical areas of the prover require the speed and temperature to be maintained accurately and with relative compensation for ambient conditions. The oven consumes the most energy in the bakery so any savings made can be very beneficial. Proven variable speed drives technology used to optimise fan controls has consistently resulted in quick returns on investment and continued ongoing efficiencies. Only a few years ago cooling was an uncontrolled process. Now it can be optimised to maintain product quality and weight loss, enhance slicing and packing, and by recovering heat that would otherwise be wasted, help reduce the overall cost of production16.

Planning and Control enhancing economic efficiency

Control of the various aspects of the overall system includes, bake times, loading and unloading, temperature settings, conveyor controls, fan optimisation, HMI display and track and trace. Management of the recipe can also be included into the control strategy, with alarm, event annunciation and trending. Bloomers Bakers production planning will base on actual and potential customer demand. Key issues are stock rotation, Track & Trace, Batch testing, Re-ordering supply chain and Regulatory reporting.

Control will needs to start from the raw materials therefore accurate speed control machinery enables precise delivery of raw materials through all stages of the line of production. Typical control structures should enable transparency from flour plant to enterprise level in order to create and maintain the correct environment right from the start. Due to regulations and compliance required for specialised products, it is important to guarantee final output quality through information exchange and reports from multiple systems. Information such as dough weight per piece, variance trends from target weight with weight totals are collected and passed to a secure database for management reporting and Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)17. Batch control and management information can then be used as part of a lean manufacturing or six sigma continual process improvement philosophies in order to increase yield and possibly apply target costing. The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of dough weight and variance can be monitored closely and the plant automatically adjusted to reduce waste.

http://www.alliedbakeries.co.uk/what-we-do/the-baking-process.aspx

http://www.mitsubishi-automation.co.uk

http://automationsolutions.mitsubishielectric.co.uk/industries-2/bakery-solutions/bakery-downloads

Innovation and Improvement through Automation

Transition from a small business to a mid-size manufacturing company gives Bloomers Bakery the opportunity to innovate, set and maintain the constant development and growth of a state of the art bakery, whilst enhancing its already-high reputation for quality and excellence in bread making. Key to achieving these twin aims through speed is a commitment to automation, with a guiding principle that it will try to replicate craft skills in order to maintain cost and the standards of the finished product.

A fast growing bakery of high quality with high volume bread will drive new levels of efficiency and accuracy into its production management by using traceability functions from Manufacturing Enterprise System (MES) module. Thus, setting a strong base scalable for future expansion that may possibly take its delivery footprint from regional to national. Utilising the latest automation technology can reduce waste and improve profitability. Quality starts with the very first processes, mixing, dividing and check weighing. It is essential to have good repeatability of these steps, so constant accurate measurement is required, with the data used to fine tune the operations on an on-going basis in order to fulfil customer dependability. Accurate speed control and positioning with Servo technology enables precision control of formers, moulders and pan setting. Variable speed drives through provers and ovens can reduce energy consumption which can increase profitability. Focusing on business challenges and production issues through innovative and high performance solutions can help in reducing costs and boost productivity18.

Supply Chain and Quality Management is all about freshness

The blend of technology, planning and great teamwork delivers a win-win all round19: fresher bread, better quality and a delivery network that's more efficient. The product now has reached its maximum value to the manufacturer so waste reduction at this stage is critical such as preventing deformation of bread packages. Product traceability with label, barcode and sell by date requirements through high speed operation is desired and need to be managed by the control system, with records on conformance and non-conformance cost and reporting for regulatory compliance.

Our bakeries operate pretty much 24/7 to make sure we can keep shelves stocked with fresh bread. With 24 hour notice, delivery can be made to commercial outlets at a time convenient to customers therefore demands co-ordination, pace and accuracy of orders needs to be completed and ready for despatch in due time. Keeping all of this going in the right direction needs big system investment designed to allow us to carry on delivering great quality and superb services to both retail customers and consumers on time, every time. Our Logistics team should provide excellent service that delivers daily to major retailers, convenience stores, food service outlets and local customers. Technology is a vital tool in controlling all these19 links in the value network. Systems should be able to track our vehicles in real time with quick GPS Apps available on most mobile phone now, while in our warehouses, technology enables our people to pick and despatch deliveries with great accuracy. Deliveries are being made every day from as little as few loaves to a truck full - which demands a 24-hour cycle that's advanced, challenging and fast paced as products move through our bakery network to our customers.

http://www.mitsubishi-automation.co.uk

http://www.alliedbakeries.co.uk/what-we-do/supply-chain.aspx

Section 2

Integration of an Information System to determine Organizational Boundaries

From bakery plant to business, integrated solutions for total plant control are specifically designed to provide a cost effective system for tracking and reporting plant level production, Operational Equipment Efficiency (OEE), Key Performance Indicators together with concise and easy to use real time and historical reports for all personnel from the plant level to the boardroom. Such a system is a means for implementing Six Sigma projects or Lean Manufacturing techniques but integration may be costly in terms of time, investment and training in the short term.

Vertical Integration and outsourcing at different stages of production and/or distribution

A potential advantage of vertical integration, whether forward or backward, is the ability to secure a greater control of the competitive environment. Although a market-based economy is supported by the idea of competition, many firms will attempt to reduce competition and thus provide an opportunity to increase profits. Vertical integration helps to keep distinctive competence or capability in-house and not available to competitors. If an activity is seen as strategically important, or it uses specialized knowledge, or is in an area where the company has superior performance to competitors then it is likely that the company will want to keep that activity as part of its supply chain. Another factor is that technological innovations in one part of the organization are available to other elements in the supply chain. Thus product and process improvements can be disseminated quickly. Also improved communication can help coordinate planning and control to improve delivery speed and dependability20.

There are, however, a number of disadvantages of vertical integration and perhaps the major reason for outsourcing is the cost incurred in owning major elements of the supply chain; e.g transportation for delivery of input raw materials. The resources required to own elements of the supply chain are those that cannot be dedicated to the activities that represent the core tasks of the organization. This suggests that there is a risk, in that trying to do everything will mean that the company is not competitive against companies who are focusing their resources and skills on particular elements of the supply chain (Greasley 402-403)21. We can use consultancy of specialists such as sensory scientists to define quality, legislation specialists to guide on labelling, food chemists to assess nutritional composition, and microbiologists to consider microbiological shelf life. Disparate legacy or bespoke system together with organisation culture may not be easily integrated. Ansoff product/market matrix22 may provide some direction on further growth possibilities.

http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/vertical-integration.html#ixzz2QSxnAra1

Greasley, A. (2009:402-403) Operations Management, 2nd Edition, John Wiley and Sons Ltd

Ansoff, H Igor (1965 ) Corporate strategy: an analytic approach to business policy for growth and expansion, McGraw-Hill

Designing and Managing Operating Networks

The idea of automatic exchange of business information with clients could bring dramatic efficiency savings and help cement long-term relationships. A solution is to invest in an infrastructure that provide remote network access, online transaction processing and an integrated Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) ordering system that checks stock and links to the warehouse. The system constantly monitors inventories checking stock levels against optimum levels. Should stocks fall below this level, the system delivers alerts to budget holders and relevant sales staff, before channelling orders back to the internal systems.

Figure 2 - Automation solutions23 from Mitsubishi Electric shows that the Mitsubishi Adroit Process Suite (MAPS) is a life cycle software solution that offers value along the entire value chain. It addresses the short comings of most PLC SCADA integration tools in that it offers value to the engineering and integration phases. It also extends the integrity of the solution and offers the ability to handle normal modifications and maintenance of any automation solution. The single integrated package takes users through all the phases of process design, installation, commissioning, acceptance testing and ongoing maintenance helping to maintain consistency and integrity, improving quality and reducing costs.

Interfacing to check weighing systems can be done easily with the open networking connectivity controllers’ core technology so that each device can communicate with other devices on the network including other manufacturers’ products. This overcomes the issue of integrating different manufacturers’ equipment between each part of the process while connecting legacy systems allowing interface of non pc based solution and can be used to capture data from many different devices, send it directly to inventory management applications. ROI can be achieved very quickly as the location of a defective product and the moment of deviation can be found quickly. This solution allows companies to track each product manufactured and report information directly back to the database management solution such as Oracle or SQL for interrogation by ERP and MES analysis tools.

Figure 2 - Automation solutions example from Mitsubishi Electric

A PLC consists of two basic sections: the central processing unit (CPU) and the input/output interface system. The C-Connector is a non pc based solution which greatly simplifies the cross platform vertical integration from field level to MES and ERP systems such as SAP, facilitating bi-directional data exchange between the PLC system and the ERP system. The C- Connector offers traceability, machine monitoring, maintenance provision and quality control. The C-Batch non pc based solution provides a complete batch control solution that delivers recipe based control. C-batch provides features such as recipe creation and management, creation of batches and control of their execution, automatic execution of recipes and simultaneous execution of multiple recipes. The ISA S88.0124 standard provides a path to significant productivity improvements allowing the same equipment to be used to make multiple products. S88 defines hierarchical recipe management and process segmentation frameworks, which separate products from the processes that make them. The standard enables reuse and flexibility of equipment, and provides a structure for coordinating and integrating recipe-related information across the traditional ERP, MES, and control domains.

MX4 Energy solution25 is an integrated monitoring and tariff management system. It deals with the specific requirements of energy management, can monitor a wide range of commodities which include; electricity, water and gas and provides an environment where energy managers can create reports and produce billing data. This system Energy is fundamental in the process of energy management and allows the user to determine where energy is being used in the plant or process. From analysis of the detailed information produced, control strategies for energy saving can be developed. These strategies can then be implemented by the control system.

http://www.mitsubishi-automation.co.ukphp

http://www.batchcontrol.com/s88/01_tutorial/03-whatiss88.shtml

http://www.mitsubishi-automation.co.uk

Creating a competitive advantage through New Process Development

Knowledge about consumer preferences helps us to develop and design our baking process in order to deliver up to their expectations and thus defines our quality standards. Benefits of the focus approach at Bloomers Bakery include increased clarity in the day-to-day management of operations resources and the ability to focus processes for a specific subset of operations where process improvement initiatives can also be more successfully implemented. However a Focus approach may risks losing economy of scale advantages when resources that were once shared are now dedicated to separate departments. (Greasley 49-52)26

Key Issues in the baking process are gentle treatment of dough with variable product size keeping to weight consistency and changeover time with the safety of simple maintenance. Therefore, new process development through an integrated information system can allow for careful handling of the dough at the dividing stage which is imperative so that there is no damage to the dough structure. Variable speed drives and control technologies provide accurate scaling of the dough and the flexibility to adjust output weights during production. Accurate positioning provides easy repeatable product changeover capability, reducing changeover downtime and improving performance. Controlling the force exerted on the dough is extremely sensitive to ensure the divider maintains the dough quality. This can also help with savings on ingredients such as yeast and flour improvers while improving yield. Increased throughput is achieved by synchronising dough placement speed and tin speed with precision between the various steps in the process. Sensors can monitor every element of the process and instantly feed data back to the controller so that speed matching of conveyors and other equipment is maintained to very tight tolerances. To minimise downtime and identify errors, data has to be collected instantly for production analysis and also stored to meet track and trace requirements (e.g. using RFID). Constant temperatures required across the prover allow the dough to rise in an even uniformed manner and significant energy saving may be available with variable speed controlled fan and conveyor systems optimised for best speed with energy saving performance levels. The profile of the mix is managed through the control system enabling it to be synchronised into the rest of the production process

Competitive advantage from new processes should be analysed through the evaluation of:

commercial performance (product cost, delivery cost, quality cost, etc.)

logistics performance (reliability, precise delivery, etc.)

customer support (geographical distribution of plants and service stations, etc.)

quality performance (quality level, quality reliability, etc.)

technical performance (product design and development, process development, etc.)

Enterprise resource planning systems may allow some customization without requiring a whole new system through the use of application programming interfaces (APIs). Thus the internal operation of software can be tailored to local needs but all software must work to a common interface directed by the need to improve strategic performance, in regards to the performance objectives such as lower prices, higher quality, lower lead times that gives the organization a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Another factor is that technological innovations in one part of the organization are available to other elements in the supply chain. Distinguishing between innovation (radical) and Kaizen (continuous) change, product and process improvements can be disseminated quickly. Also improved communication can help coordinate planning and control systems in the supply chain in order to improve delivery speed and dependability. (Greasley 402-403)27

Greasley, A. (2009:49-52) Operations Management, 2nd Edition, John Wiley and Sons Ltd

Greasley, A. (2009:402-403) Operations Management, 2nd Edition, John Wiley and Sons Ltd

Section 3

Emerging technologies create effective and efficient Job design

A strategic technology may be an existing technology that has matured and/or become suitable for a wider range of uses. It may also be an emerging technology that offers an opportunity for strategic business advantage for early adopters or with potential for significant market disruption in the next five years28. These technologies impact the organization's long-term plans, programmes and initiatives. Some of those directly linked to the baking industry are:

Phase-change materials (PCM) which store thermal energy over time and provide the reserve capacity as needed to handle peak demands with BCS Coatings for non-stick finish and virtually maintenance free with reflective coatings that absorb heats thus providing substantial savings.

Infrared ovens designed to cut baking times permitting easy operation and minimizing the need of maintenance with operator control station including touch screen, alarm diagnostics and product tracking in automatic/manual service mode.

Use of emerging technologies can create effective and efficient Job design through achieving outstanding results in areas of productivity improvement, employee commitment and resource integration with smoother running processes. These new technologies will help the organisation to develop enhanced motivational approach in the employees in the sense that with minimum maintenance needed for equipments, bakers and workers can focus on what’s crucial for the business to succeed. Setting the highest standards in retail execution with automatic planned working scheduled including duties assign to relevant team members. Technology can also assist in the training and development of processes in a manner that builds and sustains a high performing team. This minimizes turnover while encouraging an exceptionally high level of employee morale in providing outstanding customer service.

It should be noted that improvements along a learning curve do not just happen and the theory is most applicable to new product or process development. Scope for improvement is greatest for businesses that include complex repetitive operations where the work pace is determined mostly by people, not machines (Greasley 248)29. Talented people at Bloomers Bakeries are keen to provide the best products and services to our customers in the London region and keen to be one of UK's leading bakeries. Developing a brand that is a key part of a balanced nutritious diet for consumers, is a privilege that stimulate self motivation on doing even better as a company and thus proud of the way we do business by delivering only the best.

Technology can help Bloomers Bakery create competitive advantage while meeting regulatory demands that have forced bakers to produce documented Track and Trace information, especially for gluten free and Gi products. Control systems should be able to report this information to higher level systems and give connectivity to ERP and management systems. ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) tools integrate information from across the entire organisation, including sales, manufacturing, stock levels, etc, with external information. This ensures everybody involved in the business is fully informed of all relevant information, enabling appropriate decision making by ensuring efficiency and productivity that ultimately lead to profitability.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/techtrends2013/10-top-technology-trends-for-2013/itslideshow/16964427.cms

Greasley, A. (2009:248) Operations Management, 2nd Edition, John Wiley and Sons Ltd

Developing a motivational approach in employees

With the planned expansion, Bloomers Bakery will need a team of motivated Bakery Operatives within its manufacturing department working at different stages of production; dough making, oven, tins and lids or packaging, undertaking quality checks and other critical control points of machinery. Vroom’s force of motivation state that an employee's performance is based on individuals factors such as personality, skills, knowledge, experience and abilities (Victor H. Vroom 1964)30. Emerging technologies will enhance the Job design and work organisation allowing tracking of KPIs in order to control the bakery department and ensure consistency of product quality, limit losses and implement successful people management. Empowering bakers to be creative can produce good quality seasonal products while ensuring close control of direct labour cost is achieved at all times.

Employee development and motivation will allow a strong support of quality processes and a customer-focused culture for our bakery. We should establish a set of critical success factors (CSFs) with key measures for each that measures the process and not the person. These provide clear focus on the customer, quality and operational performance. Leadership is about influencing, motivating and inspiring people, coaching and developing their skills, treating them with respect but challenging them to push operational performance. A team leader will seek to create a strong team of people committed to the organisation’s overall goals. A wide variety of data in support of the CSFs are collected relating to customers, suppliers, employees and safety. Benchmarking these allow our relative processes comparison with other successful bakeries nationwide. A success factor can be value of people where the company's human resources strategies are integrated with the strategic business plan. Bloomers Bakery can use an array of methods to encourage employee contributions toward high-performance objectives. These include work team empowerment, reduced levels of manual reporting, education and training available to all staffs, a structured reward and recognition process and a move toward a pay-for-performance system29. The key day-to-day tasks include delivering a safe working environment that shows continuous improvement in working practices and procedures with a continually high standard.

Satisfaction of Performance Objectives

Systematic approach to process assessment and continuous improvement help to contribute towards the satisfaction of performance objectives. Bloomers Bakery needs to establish defined processes for designing new or modifying existing products and services. A Value Chain Analysis (Michael Porter 1985)31 can highlight all primary and support activities for key processes in production, services and delivery. Once identified, processes can be set to meet targets for measurement and performance standards. Bloomers Bakery can look into a process of supplier performance management and move toward partnership agreements with key suppliers in order to fight competition as analysed through Michael Porter’s 5 forces (1980)32. Keeping an eye on competitors like Tesco33 who’s stepping into the artisan bakery market trying to entice customers can allow Bloomers bakery to react appropriately against such move by refocusing its resources and key specific performance objective to fight back for market share through competitive advantage.

Conclusion:

Bakeries of the future require production and management systems that can react to stringent legislation, security and product quality demands with technology that can allow for a powerful automation platform that is flexible, future proof and capable of continued expansion allowing business growth. The strategy for product development in niche products such as Gi and Gluten free is a good move to sustainable revenue generation. In spite of economic recession, people will still spend money on food and with the growing population in London, there is always room for market development nationwide. Our current Focus strategy allows us to gain a competitive advantage through product innovation. Our reputation will depend on reliable quality products and automation solutions to overcome new challenges and continuously improve overall performance.

I hope the proposals analysed above gives a better insight on possible actions to overcome challenges encountered in operations. Please let me know if you want to discuss further any of the points stipulated in this document.

(Operations Manager)

Vroom, V.H. (1964) Work and Motivation. New York, NY: John Wiley and Sons

Porter, M.E. (1985) Competitive Advantage, Free Press, New York

Porter, M.E. (1980) "Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/22c21a44-9723-11e2-a77c-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz2R2kwAE9c

Appendix

ERP – Enterprise Resource Planning, an integrated software solution that incorporates the key business functions of the organization.

Focus strategy - usually employed where the business knows its segment and has products to competitively satisfy its needs

Glycaemic Index (Gi) - is a way of ranking individual foods according to the effect they have on blood sugar levels

HMI display - Human Machine Interface where interaction between humans and machines occurs

MES – Manufacturing Enterprise System supports research on design, planning, and control of operations in manufacturing enterprises

Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) - overall performance of a single piece of equipment, or even an entire factory

PLC SCADA - Programmable Logic Controller-Supervisory Control And Data Aquisition is typically the aspect of the system that controls an entire industrial system

SAP - Systems Applications and Products in Data Processing, SAP supplies widely-used software for integrated business solutions