Roll No: BM-019211

Year: Ist Year (2019-2021)

Term: 3

Subject Name: Operations Management

Subject Code: BM-1307

Date: 22/05/2020

Answer 1: A) Understanding the Case:

The above case study is on an Italian wholesaler; its main activities consist of purchasing goods
from suppliers and selling and distributing them to retailers that in turn sell to end consumers
through a “real shop”.
 The wholesaler here wants to start a new e-business: the e-commerce activity. The
wholesaler wants to sell directly to end consumers, bypassing the retailers and, at the same time,
continue the B2B transactions.

Before it he was using the traditional method: That is, the wholesaler receives goods from
suppliers in the receiving area; the goods are unpacked, sorted and stored in the warehouse.
When a retailer asks for products, they are picked from the shelves and packed according to the
retailer’s order. After that, the products packed in secondary packages are loaded onto the truck
and dispatched to the retailer. Finally, he sells the products to end consumers in real shops. The
packages are not labeled with identification technology (e.g. barcodes, RFID, etc.).

This project concerns the study of a new packaging system (in terms of material, shape,
accessories used for protecting the product) to be used for online shopping. The new package has
to take into account mainly the logistics aspects required by the e-commerce business.

So, according to the case, the company has taken strategic, tactical and operational
decisions related to packaging of the products, if the wish to enter into new e-commerce
business.

 So here are the points along with the diagram discussed below which clarify and
discusses all the level:

 In order to define a new packaging solution for the e-commerce business and, according
to OM discipline, the strategic, tactical and operational levels have to be analyzed.

 Strategic Level: The definition of a new packaging solution for the e-commerce
business, allowing transactions costs to be minimized and leading to an increase in
business, is a strategic decision.
 Tactical Level: The tactical management defines the main packaging requirements and
the operational level has to implement the solution.

 Operational Level: The activities of the operational level are to test the products and
packages in order to verify the resistance to shocks, build the website from sell by the
WWW, study the shape, materials and accessories for packages, define a package that is
as easy as possible to handle and transport and analyze the installation of RFID tags in
secondary packages.

 
 The new solution is implemented by the wholesaler and implies several benefits: an
increase in sales with minimum effort, a reduction in transaction costs and an increase in
customer satisfaction thanks to the environmentally friendly packaging. Moreover, the
products are now traced every time and in real time, thanks to the installation of RFID
tags in secondary packages, reducing thefts, loss and increasing security.

1 B) If I want to convert my automobile business in e-commerce then the operation

strategies which I will be using is:

 Hybrid Layout
There are many ways a business can arrange its manufacturing facilities. These
include process layouts, product layouts, and fixed-position layouts. We're going
to look at how these layouts can be combined in different ways to increase
productivity. These are referred to as a hybrid layout, which is a layout that is a
combination of the three main manufacturing layouts. We will look at three
different hybrid layouts: cellular, flexible manufacturing, and mixed-model
assembly.

 Cellular layouts
 In a cellular layout, each station on the manufacturing floor is capable of
performing all the steps needed to make a product. This means that if there are
five workstations, then five products can be simultaneously made. For example,
instead of having all the hammers hanging against the far wall, in a cellular
layout each workstation will have its own hammer. The workers won't have to
leave their workstations to look for tools. Each workstation will have all the
tools the worker needs. Clothing manufacturing facilities may use this type of
layout with each workstation having its own sewing machine with all the needed
tools. Each workstation can sew its own set of clothes.

Group dissimilar machines into work centers (called cells) that process families
of parts with similar shapes or processing requirements

 Identify families of parts with similar flow paths

 Group machines into cells based on part families

 Arrange cells so material movement is minimized

 Locate large shared machines at point of use

 Production flow analysis (PFA)

Reorders part routing matrices to identify families of parts with similar processing
requirements
  Flexible manufacturing system

 Automated machining and material handling systems which can produce

an enormous variety of items
 Consists of
 programmable machine tools
 automated tool changing
 automated material handling system
 controlled by computer network
 Combines flexibility with efficiency
 Layouts differ based on
 variety of parts the system can process
 size of parts processed
 average processing time required for part completion

 Mixed-model assembly line

 Processes more than one product model in one line.

 Produce multiple models in any order on one assembly line
 Factors in mixed model lines
 Line balancing
 U-shaped lines
 Flexible workforce
 Model sequencing

Benefits derive from this operation strategy can be:

 Inventory Analysis: To manage inventory in the supply chain, ABC analysis

(also called Pareto analysis) comes into play. It divides inventory into three
categories A, B, and C; “A” has the most value and tightest controls, and “C”
has the least.
 Data Challenges: Data is often soloed, which makes it difficult to compare. But
newer systems and setups are making this easier and helping analysts and
managers examine data in new, helpful ways.

 Process Design: Researching, forecasting, and developing a sound process takes

expertise and energy, but the results can be lasting.
  Forecasting and Goal Setting: The best forecasting often combines a look at historical
data with analysis of changing conditions.
 Collaboration Among Departments: With good communication and collaboration,
operations management can work effectively with finance, sales, marketing, human
resources, and other departments.
 Being Green: Ecological soundness has become a strategic and legal necessity at
companies nowadays, especially in manufacturing.
 Managing People: With all the advancements in machinery and technology, people
remain critical to the equation, though often in different types of jobs.
 Use of Data: Analytics are essential for strong planning, adjustments, and decision
making. Two common types are efficiency metrics and effectiveness metrics.

Answer 2: