Operations Management Phil Garage Limited

Question: Discuss about the Operations Management for Phil Garage Limited. Answer: Introduction Operations management has been recognized as a significant factor in the success of a company. Chandes and Pache, (2010, p. 232) argue that the modern business world requires effective administration of business operations so as to create the highest productivity possible within an organization. Various organizations in diverse business sectors have one similarity of converting resources into usable products as demanded by both the existing and potential customers. According to Seuring, (2013, p. 1513), for a firm to remain competitive in the business environment, the management must frequently design and control the production processes as well as redesign business operations so as to meet consumer needs. While operations management is critical, it remains a challenging task because the solutions the solutions found by the management need to be applied responsibly within the business environment. The purpose of this report to identify the critical issues and challenges facing operat ions management in Phil's Garage. Further, the report will give recommendations to the company's management on what steps should be taken so as to address these challenges facing Phil's Garage in the service sector. Background and Purpose of Phils Garage Phils Garage, a discount muffler-style garage is owned by Phil Greene and was incorporated in the year 2013. The company is based in the United Kingdom. Phils Garage undertakes the operations of servicing brakes, mufflers, and shock absorbers and manages one bay in the garage for each of their three services. The sales department works directly with the company's key customers as well as generating material requests and sending them to the procurement department who get in touch with the suppliers for the garage to receive the three mentioned tools. The director, Phil Greene has contracted a quality improvement consultant, Oscar Smith, to help him better understand the parking operations and improve its productivity. Effecting this process, Oscar uses the one on one interview method to generate an excellent relationship map for the activities of the garage to its customers. Organization Structure Binder and Edwards, (2010, p. 232) postulates that organizational structure dictates task allocation, coordination, and supervision of corporate activities towards achievement of the set objectives. First and foremost, Phil's Garage is owned by one director, Phil Greene who oversees all the operations of the industry. The relationship map drawn by Oscar shows that the three parts of the company, namely: Brakes bay, Muffler bay, and Shock absorber bay operate together in unison and in one direction towards improving the company's profitability. Every department acts as a supplier since they produce goods and services to the customers. On the other side, every functional role in the organization serves as a client since they receive inputs of production from an outside player. Phil's Garages customers are transport vehicles who always purchase motor spare parts from the company. The relationship between the enterprise, its customers, and suppliers is not at its best, and this calls for a remedial action with immediate effect. Organization Strategies The current motor service sector is highly competitive; this requires every company in the business environment to come up with unique policies that can enable the achievement of long-term goals (Krajewski et al., 2013, p. 66). The three departments of Phils Garage company should be involved in the establishment of the companys strategies. Currently, Phil's Garage strategy of improving profitability is contracting a quality improvement consultant who will assist the company's director in understanding what steps should be undertaken to realize this goal. Further, as per Chandes and Pache, (2010, p. 325), the company should carry out a thorough market survey to understand what type of vehicles are being used in high rate in the market so as to offer such services at greater heights than any other services. Furthermore, Phil's Garage has the sales department whose role is communicating with the existing customers to know their demands. However, the director should make it mandatory for the sales team even to seek for the potential client's opinions so as to win a broad range of the market base. Products and Services The core business of every company is the provision of the right goods and services to the customers (Abhyanker, 2014, p. 867). Phil's Garage has diverted its operations and offers three main products and services which are functioning brakes, mufflers, and shock absorbers for the customers. According to the interview between Phil and Oscar, the sales team presents the final bill and collections of payments from the customers. Providing these services remains a critical role for the company, and this depends on the reliability of suppliers of the spare parts to the enterprise. As seen in the flow chart drawn immediately after the interview, the flow of job orders follows from the sales to the three bays, but there is no link back to the sales. As per Ciegis et al., (2015, p. 100), failure of having a connection between the sales team and the three service sectors hinders Phil's Garage from generating high profits, and this should get corrected with immediate effect. Production System and Job Design According to Subramanian and Ramanathan, (2012, p. 220), business enterprises that have well-developed output and employment systems realize their goals more efficiently than those with poorly designed internal control systems. Phil's Garage has a poor job design since there is only one director with even no secretary. The production system of the company values the customers and suppliers as the only key stakeholders. From the relationship map, the sales team is in direct link with the purchasing department who act as an intermediary for the company to reach the suppliers of raw materials. According to Walter and James, (2011, p. 988), the existence of middlemen in the company's production system reduces its effectiveness which in turn lowers the profitability levels of the enterprise. Further, the presence of one director who still acts as the overall manager of all the company's operations creates doubt on whether the industry operates optimally. The director should employ more pe rsonnel and establish a sound job design that clearly outlines the roles of every employee in the Garage's operations. Process Measurement and Analysis Implementation of a simplified process capability enables an enterprise to plan what needs to be done at the organization level so as to improve profitability. It is necessary for the management of a company to measure the input and output of itself as well as those of other key stakeholders (Walter and James, 2011, p. 994). For Phils Garage, the critical connections and interfaces include the external linkages between the Garage, its customers, and suppliers. However, the interfaces should get based on the internal operations basically between each major function within the company, such as the bays and the sales, or the sales and purchasing. Implementation of measurement policies that necessitate the establishment of internal interfaces will assist Phil's Garage ensure a smooth flow of activities directly from one department to the other and thus realize more profits. Aggregate Planning, Inventory Management Systems, and Procedures Inventory management plays a very significant role by enabling business managers to keep accurate records of stock in and stock out, and this helps them determine whether the company has enough inventory to meet the market demand. However, Gunasekaran and Ngai (2012, p. 690) argues that there is a need to establish sound procedures and plan for the inventory efficiently so as to avoid inefficiencies. Phil's Garage always require inventory from the suppliers so as to meet the market demand for motor spare parts in the respective bays. The fact that the company is run by a single director calls for an immediate action to get taken so as to assist in effective aggregate planning and to lay of reasonable procedures for managing stock. The primary inputs for Phil's Garage are work orders, purchase orders, materials, equipment requests, brake work complete, and shock absorber work complete. Keeping accurate records for all these utilities requires active planning of different departments f or the organization. Locational Decisions for Facilities and Operations Decision making helps companies solve various problems that face their business operations. The three primary services of Phil's Garage Limited requires the management to make right choices on how to acquire the raw materials and facilities necessary to meet the client's needs. In the shock absorber Bay, the company should buy high quality and durable shock absorbers so that they establish a healthy relationship with the customers. For the brakes Bay, the procurement team should ensure that all orders tabled to the suppliers clearly define the qualities of the brakes to get offered, different varieties, and ensure that they correlate with the market demand as seen in the structure. According to Ciegis et al., (2015, p. 99), achieving high profits requires a company be sensitive to the needs, complaints, and requests from the clients. Therefore, the company should closely monitor the facilities needed to improve effectiveness in the brake bay, muffler bay, and shock absorber bay. Sustainability and Pollution Control Programs According to Abhyanker, (2014, p. 867), every business seeks to firmly position itself in the business environment by ensuring a sustainable development that meets its present needs without compromising the social life of those surrounding itself. The operations of Phil's Garage are regulated by law, and this hinders the company from carrying out its service operations optimally. Being a business that operates under the motor service industry, the company pollutes the environment, and this is against the corporate social responsibility requirements of business by the law. The release of smoke leads to air pollution which is dangerous to both human and animal health. Currently, Phil's Garage has no program initiated to limit the effect of contamination on the environment something which potentially damages its reputation to the public as well as making the government ti impose high taxes on its operations. The company should, therefore, obtain intellectual property rights that allow t hem to pollute the environment to an individual level as well as coming up with proper waste disposal mechanisms (Binder and Edwards, (2010, p. 255). Conclusion The current competitive business environment requires organizations to align their operations towards the same direction. Achieving profitability needs proper planning, processes measurement and establishment of a suitable production system in a company's attempt to produce goods and services. The service sector necessitates the creation of effective organization structure and strategies so that the enterprise meets the set objectives. Recommendations Based on the arguments of the above report, Phil's Garage has to make numerous changes in its operations so as to compete efficiently and improve productivity in the motor service industry. The company should recruit secretaries whose role should be keeping the company's operations records. Also, the company should establish a strong link between the three functional parts, the sales team, and the purchasing departments so as to ensure a proper monitoring of its operations. Further, the company should establish policies of minimizing environmental pollution so as to ensure sustainable development in the business environment. References Abhyanker, R., 2014.Garage sales in a geo-spatial social network. U.S. Patent Application 14/174,867. Binder, M. and Edwards, J.S., 2010. Using grounded theory method for theory building in operations management research: A study on inter-firm relationship governance.International Journal of Operations Production Management,30(3), pp.232-259. Chandes, J., and Pach, G., 2010. Investigating humanitarian logistics issues: from operations management to strategic action.Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management,21(3), pp.320-340. Ciegis, R., Ramanauskiene, J. and Martinkus, B., 2015. The concept of sustainable development and its use for sustainability scenarios.Engineering Economics,62(2). Gunasekaran, A., Ngai, E. W. (2012). The future of operations management: an outlook and analysis.International Journal of Production Economics,135(2), 687-701. Krajewski, L.J., Ritzman, L.P. and Malhotra, M.K., 2013.Operations management: processes and supply chains. New York: Pearson. Seuring, S., 2013. A review of modeling approaches for sustainable supply chain management.Decision support systems,54(4), pp.1513-1520. Subramanian, N., and Ramanathan, R., 2012. A review of applications of Analytic Hierarchy Process in operations management.International Journal of Production Economics,138(2), pp.215-241. Walters, D. and James, P., 2011. What motivates employers to establish preventive management arrangements within supply chains?.Safety Science,49(7), pp.988-994.