Operations and Service Management

Student Name: Usman

Table of Contents

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Introduction
Operations management is an essential function to all organisations. The efficiency and
performance of an organisation is crucially depending on the operations management efficiency
of that organisation (Solow, 2012). An organisation is producing and offering different products
or services where operations management is ensured the efficiency in the total process. Aston
Martin is the UK based car manufacturing company. Operations management is considered very
seriously in Aston Martin’s business operations. This report will explain quality management
operation management practice of Aston Martin, impacts of operations management, embedded
technology in the process and supporting functions of operation management.

1. Identify one operation management practice within Aston Martin

Operations management refers to the activities managing the resources that are used in the
production and delivery process of an organisation of certain services or products (Havey, 2015).
In other words, operation management is arranges input, process inputs for getting outputs. Hill
(2012) explained that inputs are included all kind of materials for producing product or service
and labour, processing the inputs and receive outputs such as finished product or service for use.
So, operations management is included the entire activities from input raw materials into finished
goods or services and deliver to the customers.

Operations management is important for Aston Martin for different reasons:

 Operations management is important to ensure production efficiency. Effective

operation process properly utilise the resources so that production is increased.
 Operations management is important to increase quality of products or services.
Different techniques are used in operations management to ensure better quality of
products.
 Operations management is utilised the resources from start to the end in the production
process so that waste of resources is declined.
 The capacity management of a production process can be properly maintained by
operations management (Hullet, 2015).

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  The demand and supply of products or services according to the market needs can be
controlled by operations management.

Quality Management practice within Aston Martin

Quality is the key issue in operations management practices to all organisations. Management
wants to improve quality of products and meet the quality standards to fulfill customer
satisfaction (Jones and Robinson, 2017). In automobile industry, quality management is a center
concern in the entire business operation. Aston Martin is suing different quality management
practices in operation management that are discussed below:

 Kaizen: Kaizen is a Japanese word that means Continuous Improvement. It is a globally

acceptable quality management technique and especially used is automobile industry.
Kaizen philosophy is focused on the improvement gradually in small changes rather than
rapid or massive change overnight (Kazmi, 2018). Kaizen philosophy is followed never
ending cycle that means continuous improvement will be taken place until operations of a
company is stopped. At Aston Martin, kaizen approach is used in the research and
development section of the company. Using kaizen, Aston Martin is continuously
improving the design of vehicles, engines and other features to produce high quality and
sustainable cars for customers. As a result, Aston Martin is now considered one of the
luxurious cars manufacturing company in the automobile industry.
 Total quality management: TQM is another important operation management tool that
is used to gain long-term success to satisfy customers. TQM is included customer
perspective in the operations process so that customer satisfaction can be achieved and
organisations will achieve long-term business growth and sustainability (Mukherjee,
2016). TQM is focused on eight elements such as customer focus, integrated system, total
employee improvement, continual improvement, process centered, systematic approach,
communication and fact oriented decision making (Neely 2017). Since TQM is covered
the entire organisation and operation process so Aston Martin is used TQM for the
overall improvement of the operation process of the company. TQM is benefitted Aston
Martin to quality management because it includes customer centric focus so that the
expectation of customers can be understood properly. Therefore, Aston Martin can

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 improve employee performance, improve process system, maintain good communication
with employees and customers and take right decision to achieve customer satisfaction.
 Six-sigma: It is quality management tool which is used to achieve maximum perfection
with lowering defect in production (Murray, 2016). Six-sigma is widely used in the
operation process in the automobile industry because high level of perfection is needed in
finished product in automobile manufacturing company to achieve maximum customer
satisfaction. Sig-sigma is a data-centric and disciplined approach to eliminate defects.
Aston Martin is used five key process of six-sigma such as define, measure, analyse,
design and verify in entire production plant from start to finish to ensure low defective
vehicles for customers (Pycraft, 2018). Sig-sigma is also helped Aston Martin to reduce
waste and cost because the company has not face problem to withdraw cars from the
market due to defective car batch. Therefore, customer satisfaction about Aston Martin
cars is very high and the company is made position in the luxurious car industry.
 Lean production: It is another quality management tool that is used to increase
maximum utilisation of resources in the operations process. In this technique, the time of
production is reduced through supplying necessary materials in the production line within
the estimated time (Silver, 2013). Aston Martin is used lean production technique in the
car production line so that additional supply of materials can be controlled in the
production line. As a result, the cost of production of Aston Martin is reduced and the
company can retain good profit margin.

2. Critically analyse how this operation management practice impacts

the Aston Martin efficiency
Companies are using operation management practice for achieving the efficiency in the
production process and organisational performance as a whole. The efficiency of the operation
management practice of Aston Martin is analysed below:

 Waste identification: A vital concern of a company is reducing the cost in production

through increasing utilisation of resources in operation process. In the production line,
Aston Martin is needed hundreds of materials to complete a finish car. The final
production cost is determined including all materials and components in the production
process (Wilson, 2017). Aston Martin is used lean production technique in its operation
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 management process to identify waste material and eliminate waste material from the
production process. As a result, the speed in production process is increased and the cost
of production of Aston Martin is decreased.
 Inventory performance: Inventory is the primary input in the operation process.
Inventory management is decided the cost of production and product final price. As a
result, all companies want to achieve efficiency in inventory usage. Aston Martin is used
six-sigma operation management technique that is very effective for achieve efficiency in
inventory management. Six-sigma helps Aston Martin to detect defective inventory and
eliminate defects from the production line. As a result, Aston Martin is achieved
operation management efficiency in inventory usage and performance.
 Customer satisfaction: A core aim of entire operation management practice is achieving
the customer satisfaction. Fulfill the satisfaction and need of customer is a central
concern in operation management practice (Trinnirello, 2011). Aston Martin is designed
its operation management process to fulfill the customer satisfaction through increasing
the operation efficiency of the company. Aston Martin is used TQM approach that is
focused on the customer needs and achieves long-term efficiency in the business
operations of the company. TQM approach is designed by Aston Martin considering the
customer needs so that the expectation of customers can be understood properly.
Therefore, Aston Martin is successfully including high quality and features in the
produced cars that fulfill the expectation of customers and the company is achieved
operational efficiency.
 Fact based problem solving: Problem is inevitable in operation process. When problem
is aroused, it is essential to solve the problem as soon as possible to get efficiency in
operation process (Havey, 2015). Right decision making can only be possible when facts
or evidences are available because decision making through speculation does not give
better solution. Aston Martin is used TQM, six-sigma, lean production, kaizen
approaches of quality management practice in the operation process. These approaches
are scientific and data centric so that effective decision making can be taken by Aston
Martin that is increased the operation efficiency of the company.
 Improve business performance: Operation management practice is used by organisation
for the prime aim of improving business performance. All companies want to increase the

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 maximum utilisation of resources in the production process so that cost and waste in the
production is minimised (Jones and Robinson, 2017). Aston Martin’s operation
management practice ultimate goal is improving business performance. Aston Martin is
used different quality management approaches such as kaizen, TQM, lean production and
six-sigma to improve efficiency in the entire business. As a result, Aston Martin has
achieved success to gain position in the automobile industry with high quality cars and
fulfill customer satisfaction.

3. Evaluate how technology could be embedded in this process

Technology is the essential component of operation management process. In other words,
operation management of a company is incorporate with technologies to achieve the operation
process effective and successful. Aston Martin is used different quality management operation
practice which is embedded technologies to achieve maximum efficiency. For example, Aston
Martin is used technology to assist Kaizen for different reasons e.g. technology is provided
structure of quality improvement, develop a repository knowledge that allows active
management, and supports management to track the results (Neely, 2017). Kaizen software
hardware is used in the operation management practice in Aston Martin which is designed
considering the key improvement standards of the company. As a result, technology is provided
evidence based fact to the Aston Martin so that effective decision-making can be possible for the
management.

Identify the defect in operation process and decline material waste; six-sigma is used in Aston
Martin. This quality management approach is fully supported by technology. Six-sigma is used
sophisticated statistical tools that determine defects or variations in the operation process
(Kazmi, 2018). Process improvement is core issue in Aston Martin operation management
practice. Therefore, six-sigma technology is implemented in product design, development and
maintenance. Technology is used in six-sigma training of employees at Aston Martin so that
employees can identify the errors in every phase in the operation process and repairs the defect to
improve the process. Six-sigma software is used by Aston Martin that includes all information
and the data is represented in a graphical and numerical form. As a result, the progress of
improvement in the operation process can be compared over the period of time.

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Information technology in the TQM process is impacted significantly on the majority number of
organisations. TQM is used to manage the entire organisational process to ensure improving
quality in services and products and fulfill customer needs (Murray, 2016). Technologies are
used by Aston Martin in TQM approaches to create a good relationship with the stakeholders.
For example, suppliers are important input of Aston Martin operation management and the
company is recorded supplier’s information in the information technologies of TQM process. As
a result, Aston Martin can analyse the performance of suppliers and suppliers’ products and take
decision to continue relationship with good suppliers and cancel contract with worse suppliers
(Pycraft, 2018). Also, information technologies in TQM process of Aston Martin is properly
analysed the customer needs and provide information to the R&D team about customer needs.
Therefore, advance features can be included by Aston Martin in the products that satisfy
customer needs. As a result, Aston Martin can achieve efficiency in cost and quality also in the
entire organisational performance.

The extensive use of technology has been seen in lean production. Lean production approach is
calculated the demand and supply of materials according to the production (Silver, 2013).
Technologies are used in lean production by Aston Martin to reduce material waste in the
production systems and increase maximise productivity. Lean production technologies are
helped Aston Martin to identify the necessity of inputs in the production process so that the
company can arrange necessary materials from the suppliers. Also technologies are used to
evaluate the quality standards according to the customer need and organisational standard. As a
result, Aston Martin can achieve efficiency in material management and fulfill demand and
supply in the operation process.

It is to be noted that operation management approaches are today embedded fully with
technologies. Different hardware, software and IT infrastructure are used by Aston Martin in the
operation process. As a result, high automation can be achieved by the company and the quality
of products is improved at best level so that overall efficiency of the company is increased.

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4. Supporting functions are linked to this operation management
practice
Operation management practice cannot possible without the supporting functions of an
organisation. Supporting functions are helped operation management practice to achieve the
efficiency in operation process and achieve organisational success (Hullet, 2015). For example,
finance is an essential supporting function in operation management practice of Aston Martin.
Without continuous flow of finance, operation process of the company cannot run for a second.
Finance function of Aston Martin is arranged sufficient financial support according to the
demand of operation management process of the company. As a result, Aston Martin can achieve
efficiency in operation management that is made the company successful to meet customer
needs.

Information system is also a considerable supporting function in operation management practice

of an organisation. Information flow is needed in every phase of the operation management
practice at Aston Martin. For example, information system is created bridge in different
functions in operation management so that the accuracy in the operation process can be achieved
by taking right decision with support of information (Mukherjee, 2016). Aston Martin has
developed flexible information system so that consistency of information flow is achieved in
different functions of operation management. Thus, Aston Martin can achieve organisational
success through achieving efficiency in operation management.

Training of employees is an essential supporting function of Aston Martin operation

management practice. In every phase of the operation process, employee is necessary to operate
manual activities and machinery operations (Solow, 2012). Aston Martin is used different quality
management approaches that need proper training to understand and technological knowledge.
Aston Martin is provided different training opportunities to the employees so that they can
properly perform the roles and responsibilities related to the jobs.

Transport and warehousing is necessary supporting function to the manufacturing oriented

companies. In the production plant, raw materials are needed and companies need sufficient
transport and warehouse facilities to collect raw materials and reserve of materials for delivering
materials in the production line on time (Wilson, 2017). Aston Martin is used hundreds of
materials in the production line to manufacture a finished car for delivery to the customers. So,

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Aston Martin has large warehouse where sufficient materials are stocked for the production plant
so that the production line of the company does not face shortage of materials supply. As a
result, Aston Martin is successfully declined the lead time of material supply in the production
line so that production cost and waste is minimised. And, Aston Martin is achieved efficiency in
the operation management practice.

Conclusion
Operation management is a vital function of an organisation. The organisational performance of
a company is highly involved with efficiency in the operation management practice. The product
or service final price is depending on operation function. Therefore, companies are using
different operational management practices e.g. quality management, supply chain, inventory
management, capacity management etc. to reduce waste and cost and improve quality and
efficiency in operation management and organisational performance. Also, companies are used
technologies in operation management practice to achieve operational efficiency and customer
satisfaction.

References

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