The relationship between the operations function and other core and support functions of the organization N.. Every organization has an operations function since every organization produ
Key concepts of operations and operations management
Operations
Operations is often defined as a transformation process Inputs such as raw materials, labor, equipment, and capital are transformed into outputs (goods and services) Customer feedback is used to adjust the transformation process (Adesuko, 2019).
Operations Management
Operations management is the activity of managing the resources that create and deliver services and products Within the process, operations management makes use of various tools and strategies to increase production output and ensure that customer orders are completed on time (Hayes, 2021)
Operation management involves planning, organizing, coordinating, and controlling all the resources needed to produce a company’s goods and services, it involves managing people, equipment, technology, information, and all the other resources needed in the production of goods and services (Kumar & Suresh, 2009).
Operational Functions and Relationship with other Functions in an organization in general
First, we will cover the three core functions of any organization:
Figure 1 The activities of core functions in some organizations
- The marketing (including sales) function – which is responsible for communicating the organization’s services and products to its markets in order to generate customer requests
- The product/service development function – which is responsible for coming up with new and modified services and products in order to generate future customer requests
- The operations function – which is responsible for the creation and delivery of services and products based on customer requests
Figure 2 The relationship between the operations function and other core and support functions of the organization (N Slack, 2013)
Core functions are activities of an enterprise yielding income: the production of final goods or services intended for the market or for third parties Usually the core business functions make up the primary activity of the enterprise, but they may also include other (secondary) activities if the enterprise considers these as part of its core functions (Fiorentino, R 2018)
In addition, there are support functions that enable core functions to function efficiently and include accounting and finance function, the technical function, the human resources function, and the information systems function, etc The outputs (results) of support functions are not themselves intended directly for the market or for third parties Operations will need help from Human Resource Department, since numerous competitors may be interested in the manager position The Human Resource Department would give suggestions to Operations in order for them to make better decisions that would impact the company's success (Stevenson, 2002).
The implementations of operations management processes within an organizational context
The general operational process
At the very heart of business operations is the production of products or services the input of raw materials, – human resources and capital, the transformation process that turns input into output and the output the – – actual product or service itself Operations extend also to areas such as transport of raw materials, distribution of products or services, advertising and marketing, finance and management (N Slack, 2013) Figure 3 below depicts the general operational process
Figure 3 All operations are input–transformation–output processes
Some inputs are used up in the process of creating goods or services; others play a part in the creation process but are not used up To distinguish between these, input resources are usually classified as:
- Transformed resources those that are transformed in some way by the operation to produce the goods – or services that are its outputs
- Transforming resources those that are used to perform the transformation process –
Inputs include different types of both transformed and transforming resources
Three types of resource that may be transformed in operations are:
- Materials the physical inputs to the process –
- Information that is being processed or used in the process
- Customers the people who are transformed in some way –
Many people think of operations as being mainly about the transformation of materials or components into finished products, as when limestone and sand are transformed into glass or an automobile is assembled from its various parts But all organisations that produce goods or services transform resources: many are concerned mainly with the transformation of information (for example, consultancy firms or accountants) or the transformation of customers (for example, hairdressing or hospitals)
Galloway (1998) defines operations as all the activities concerned with the transformation of materials, information or customers
The two types of transforming resource are:
- Staff the people involved directly in the transformation process or supporting it –
- Facilities nd, buildings, machines and equipment –la
A transformation process is any activity or group of activities that takes one or more inputs, transforms and adds value to them, and provides outputs for customers or clients
Output is the result (product or service) produced by the process Sometimes the output of one process is used as input for the next Output is the tangible product or service that is delivered at the end of the process Products and services are distinct from one another (Bellgran & Sọfsten, 2009) Services are generally in the form of activities or processes, whereas products are usually in the form of physical objects Some services do not necessitate the usage of products In reality, most businesses nowadays mix and create both products and services.
Key approaches to operations management
Six Sigma is a method that provides organizations tools to improve the capability of their business processes This increase in performance and decrease in process variation helps lead to defect reduction and improvement in profits, employee morale, and quality of products or services It emphasizes cycle-time improvements while reducing manufacturing defects to no more than 3.4 occurrences per million units or events (Linderman et al., 2003) In order to apply Six Sigma, DMAIC improvement cycle is used as a tool, which refers to a data-driven improvement cycle used for improving, optimizing and stabilizing operations (Pruitt, 2020)
- Define - in this step the team is formed, the Project Charter is developed, the Costumers’ voice is analyzed, a process map is created
- Measure - the actual performance is measured
- Analyze the results of measurements, determining the causes of process imperfections and possible solutions for them
- Improve - the team generates and selects a set of solutions to improve sigma performance
- Control ensuring that improvement sustains over time –
The lean manufacturing principles were formed in Japan Inspired by the Toyota Production System, lean management is a method of managing and organising work with the aim of improving a company's performance, particularly the quality and profitability of its production processes (Essam & Mansar, 2012)
Just-in-time inventory management, Kanban scheduling systems, and other software development approaches are examples of specific lean methods
Lean management helps optimise processes by reducing non-value-added activities (unnecessary operations or transport, waiting, overproduction etc.), poor-quality costs and complications (Goksoy et al., 2011) This method relies heavily on a management strategy that allows employees to work in the best possible conditions Ultimately, the approach has two main objectives: complete customer satisfaction and employee success
Total quality management (TQM) is the continual process of detecting and reducing or eliminating errors in manufacturing, streamlining supply chain management, improving the customer experience, and ensuring that employees are up to speed with training Total quality management aims to hold all parties involved in the production process accountable for the overall quality of the final product or service (Anderson & Perez, 2021)
2.2.4 Business process re-engineering (BPR)
Business process re-engineering is the radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical aspects like quality, output, cost, service, and speed Business process reengineering (BPR) aims at cutting down enterprise costs and process redundancies on a very huge scale (Hussein et al., 2014)
Scientific management is a management theory that analyzes work flows to improve ec onomic efficiency, especially labor productivity (Knod & Schonberger, 2000) This management theory, developed by Frederick Winslow Taylor, was popular in the 1880s and 1890s in U.S manufacturing industries.
A comparison between Six sigma and Lean principles
2.3.1 Advantages and Disadvantages of Six Sigma
• Focus completely on the customer
• Stand out among competitors within the industry
• Increase profits and reduce costs
• Create amazing bureaucracy and rigidity
• Can be very expensive to implement
• Focus on a strict and rigid process to follow
• People are not trusting Six Sigma as a methodology in itself anymore
The first and most important advantage is that Six Sigma focus completely on the customer Within Six Sigma the defect ratio is 3.4 defects per one million products or service processes Six Sigma goes beyond the simple error and takes a close look at the entire process behind the product or service and not only the results and the complaints that customers have So we can say that the advantage is that Six Sigma is proactive and not reactive, and it looks at how improvements can be made even before faults are found either by customers or others parts of the process
Furthermore, for Small Businesses, the advantages of having a Six Sigma quality certification will make them stand out among competitors within the industry For customers of B2B businesses, it is important to know that there is a standard for manufacturing their products and Six Sigma is one of those warranties for businesses It is even important to know that even though the business is small there is somebody that has been trained in Six Sigma and in the proactivity philosophy and the customer satisfaction approach
Other advantages are that Six Sigma can be implemented in many categories within a business and this will impact directly on profitability and reduction in costs; that the methodology focuses on improving every part of the process and not the final outcome and that for Six Sigma the prevention of defects is far more important than waiting for them to appear to fix them
It is difficult to imagine that a methodology created to improve can actually bring problems to an organization The first drawback is that Six Sigma can create amazing bureaucracy and rigidity because the methodology covers all the process of the company and this, in turn, leads to delays and problems in creativity Furthermore, when Six Sigma is taken to the extreme problems can arise because companies tend to favor policies that follow the Six Sigma methodologies and forget about policies or approaches that can only apply to their company So, for example, a company can prefer to follow the Six Sigma methodology and apply a very expensive measure rather than trying a very inexpensive measure that evidently is needed in the business
For small businesses, one of the biggest disadvantages is that applying Six Sigma can be very expensive to implement The main cause of this cost is training Companies have to find certified Six Sigma institutes to get their training or do their training in-house without formal certification Either way, the cost for small business is too high and a lot of training is needed to really get the grasp of the system and to apply it to each and every process
Another disadvantage is that Six Sigma really focuses on a strict and rigid process to follow and that goes against the new trends that favor creativity and innovation because the innovative approach focuses on redundancy, unusual solutions, and deviations in production, and all these things clearly go against the Six Sigma principles
Another disadvantage is that people are not trusting Six Sigma as a methodology in itself anymore They are saying that this methodology is just a continuation of the continued improvement techniques that were applied in Toyota and companies are shifting to other approaches or strategies that require outsourcing of projects that bring big problems with accountability With this in mind, it is clear that Six Sigma also requires many trained staff that needs to be motivated in time and well trained for long periods
2.3.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of Lean principles
• Streamlined design: In the design stage, the Lean focus will be to establish a product with no unnecessary steps or waste This results in a streamlined design that is easier to implement and bring to market
• Long roll out: Starting a Lean program can take a while as the initial process, value streams, and other necessities need to be reviewed and mapped out for the very first time However, once implemented, a Lean process typically runs faster than a non-Lean one
• Reduced costs: Reduced waste results in lower costs, as time and resources are efficiently allocated
• Increased efficiency: Employees follow the same process which is continually honed to ensure perfection This reduces wasted employee time and maximizes labor power
• Consistent quality: As the process of creation is standardized, there are no deviations that would result in poor quality products making it off the assembly line
• Limited flexibility: As it is process-focused, it may seem that Lean limits creativity However, the steps are designed to allow manufacturers to pivot with some frequency
• It’s ongoing: For those who need to check items off the to-do list, Lean manufacturing may not be ideal It’s an ongoing process that is never truly complete
2.3.3 Difference between Six Sigma and Lean Principles
In the above content, Lean and Six Sigma have pointed out the main advantages and limitations of the two methodologies in contemporary academic literature In summary, the complementary and contrasting aspects of the two methodologies need to be identified before the review can continue to study Lean and Six Sigma
Standardized product, preferably with low variety
Manufacturing-, service-, health- care-, government-related product
Market situation Stable, high forecast accuracy No special requirement
Demand Preferably but not limited to high volume No special requirement
Organization Total commitment, long-term buyer/ supplier relationships
Specialist hierarchy, project- based, metric-performance- driven
Human resources Intrinsic, shop-floor level project initiation, bottom-up approach
Extrinsic, top-down selection of improvement initiatives
Focus Efficiency, flow, JIT, standardization, cost and waste reduction
Customer, stakeholder value, process variation, statistical decision making
Limitations Expensive implementation, questionable flexibility
Structured implementation, expensive projects Table 2 The differences in application of Six Sigma and Lean
Lean and Six Sigma can complement each other is various ways The type of product is important for the Lean production philosophy because the product needs to be standardized with a low product variety The flexibility of Lean is the most important reason for this, for Six Sigma, this is not necessarily a constraint A stable market situation is preferable for Lean while Six Sigma can be useful within any market The same applies for the demand where Lean prefers to deal with high volume situations, Six Sigma can deal with all possible demand situations
Regarding the organizational design of a firm, both methodologies stress the commitment from management to the shop floor Six Sigma utilizes a structure of specialists which manage improvement projects, which lacks within the Lean methodology The responsibility of Six Sigma’s specialists is to provide guidance and structure to improvement initiatives, such a structured hierarchy can also be appropriate for Lean Both methodologies emphasize the importance of the customer within a process A different focus can be identified regarding Lean and Six Sigma, in which they can complement each other
Lean and Six Sigma have different approaches regarding the use of an organization’s human resources and the accompanying culture Within the Lean methodology, all employees are seen as process experts which are encouraged to be critical towards their own work This leads to improvement projects to be initiated in a bottom- up manner from the employees themselves (intrinsic) Six Sigma uses the specialist structure for completion of improvement initiatives which are selected on among others quality improvement, increase in shareholder value or efficiency improvement This is more of a top-down approach to utilize the organization’s human resources and can be seen as extrinsic because most employees (except for the specialists) are not directly involved in the decision to initiate an improvement project and the actual process improvement itself
Where Lean focuses mainly on the reduction of waste and increase of process flow and standardization, Six Sigma has a firm focus on controlling process variation and statistical decision making Limitations for both methodologies come in the form of the actual implementation and the associated expenses
The literature study regarding both Lean and Six Sigma has revealed that both methodologies emphasize a structured approach to problem solving and process improvement Further, both methodologies will eventually lead to a standardized process but they reach this in a different matter Lean can be seen as a bottom-up approach (from the shop-floor), whereas Six Sigma is more of a top-down method.
The development of operations management principles in modern context
Modern operations management revolves around four theories: business process redesign (BPR), reconfigurable manufacturing systems, six sigma, and lean manufacturing BPR was formulated in 1993 and is a business management strategy that focuses on analyzing and designing workflow and business processes within a company (Timothy, 2021)
The goal of BPR is to help companies dramatically restructure the organization by designing the business process from the ground up
Reconfigurable manufacturing systems are production systems designed to incorporate accelerated change in structure, hardware, and software components This allows systems to adjust rapidly to the capacity to which they can continue production and how efficiently they function in response to market or intrinsic system changes
Six sigma is an approach that focuses on quality It was primarily developed from 1985 to 1987 at Motorola The word "six" references the control limits, which are placed at six standard deviations from the normal distribution mean Jack Welch of General Electric started an initiative to adopt the six sigma method in 1995, which brought the approach a great deal of popularity.3 Every six sigma project within a company has a defined step sequence and financial targets, such as increasing profits or reducing costs Tools used within the six sigma process include trending charts, potential defect calculations, and other ratios (McClay, 2021)
Lean manufacturing is a systematic method of eliminating waste within the manufacturing process The lean theory accounts for waste that is created through overburdening or uneven workloads This theory sees resource use for any reason other than value creation for customers as wasteful and seeks to eliminate wasteful resource expenditures as much as possible.
Continuous improvement
Operation and Operations Management concepts at Apple
Apple’s processes in the design of its products are handled through a number of organizational components and officials For example, the development and production of Macs involve a Senior VP for Mac Hardware Engineering and a VP for Mac Software Engineering This coordination reflects the nature and characteristics of the corporate structure of Apple Inc In this decision area of operations management, these VPs coordinate with the company’s Senior VP for Operations The system of interactions ensures that the outputs in this operational area are successful in making Apple excel in the design of its technological products
This decision area of operations management emphasizes quality standards and controls Apple Inc.’s Senior VP for Operations coordinates with eight other Senior VPs to ensure compliance with the company’s quality standards (ROWLAND, 2019) The company is known for high quality standards that permeate different areas of the business, including product design and development, retail, marketing, online sales, industrial design, and human resource management Thus, Apple has a holistic approach in ensuring quality to address this decision area of operations management
This decision area of operations management requires job design and human resource strategies specific to the trends in relevant HR management needs In Apple’s case, job design and HR strategies are based on Steve Jobs’ original emphasis on excellence However, the company has been gradually changing its HR strategies under Tim Cook to reflect a more sociable workplace for optimum employee morale Apple Inc has mastered job design and human resource strategies to ensure continued support for its industry leadership
In this decision area of operations management, Apple Inc uses different methods of inventory management, such as the serialized method for effective tracking and control of products The company also uses the first in, first out (FIFO) method, which ensures that most old-model units are sold before new Apple product models are released to the market Apple Store managers also handle the inventory management of their respective stores.
Improvement Process at Apple
Never settling for anything less than the best, Apple is above all a company for which Six Sigma, Lean, and Kaizen are all important Apple’s approach to lean manufacturing and systems, like the company’s philosophy was (and still is) in “thinking differently” (Apple Inc.,2020) In minimization of wastes, Apple’s approach was in the design of its products and use of technology Most Apple’s products (iPhone, iPod, iPad) have only five buttons, and at the launch of the iPhone, most of the smartphones at the time had full physical QWERTY keyboards
Besides, tech company Apple has utilized lean principles to make its lean manufacturing process a success Their motivation was not just reducing waste & associated costs but also to reduce energy consumption They developed reliable & trustworthy relationships with their suppliers so that they could order stock with far shorter preparation times with the assurance orders would be met Furthermore, Apple began to take advantage of drop shipping where products are shipped directly from the manufacturer to the customer, cutting out ‘middlemen’ and therefore reducing shipping & storage costs Apple’s supply chain is designed to enable customers to order custom-built phones or computers and deliver them to their doorsteps in a matter of days at most
Steve Jobs was a driven man He possessed an unrelenting drive for improvement While he may not have embodied all aspects of Kaizen, his thinking in terms of supply chains was a major factor in Apple’s future success Vertical integration is important here It describes the process of one company combining multiple production stages each normally operated by separately Jobs extended vertical integration to dealers, a ground-breaking move that, like Henry Ford, revolutionized his supply chain
Furthermore, Jobs famously said, “You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them
By the time you get it to build, they’ll want something new” (Skotnicka, 2019) This is perhaps the greatest parallel between Six Sigma and Jobs’ thinking Jobs was renowned for his product process innovation, believing he knew his customer’s needs better than they did Jobs based his decision-making on the vision of what Apple’s products could do for its customers, as opposed to market research and direct feedback With Jobs at the helm, Apple’s mission was to solve customer need completely by predicting it for them In knowing what their customer wants, Apple has been able to develop a streamlined product by eliminating tech that doesn’t add value But removal of non-value adding activity doesn’t only apply to their products – Apple is believed to have an appetite for change and a culture of promoting innovation If their business processes were not streamlined and contained non-value adding activity, teams would spend a significant amount of time completing inefficient processes and completing tasks that do not add value This would require additional time, cost and energy thus leaving very little time for creativity and innovation.
The roles of Lean principles within the cycle of continuous improvement in Apple
JIT or Just in Time, is system in operations management under which the production is made as per the demand at that particular moment There is no prior production for any anticipated demand Under JIT, the manufacturing process is highly efficient with limited wastage, high quality control, adherence to schedules & a seamless continuous throughput (Peinado & Peinado, 2018) The aim is to reduce non profitable activities and make the manufacturing system more flexible, eliminating the associated costs of carrying and maintaining the inventory There is no scope for extra inventory what so ever
The efficiency of JIT was especially evident for Apple in 2010, in what became famously known as the
‘Antennagate.’ For this incident, the iPhone 4 lost signal when held by the lower-left corner-the point where the iPhone’s antenna sat (Brymer, 2015) Only the first batch of iPhone 4s experienced the problem, as the company corrected the mistake with the subsequent batch of iPhone 4s that came from the production line Besides, Apple gave its customers free bumper cases to the first batch of customers who had complained of the phones losing signal The fact that Apple managed to produce so many bumper cases at such short notice, and the fact that subsequent iPhone 4s did not have similar problems attest to the fact that like Toyota, Apple uses the JIT principle as part of its lean approach to supply chain and production Moreover, Apple keeps a tight watch on its inventory regardless of the fact that it does not do its manufacturing in-house Such a lean system means that the company can make changes on the products in case of problems
Besides, thanks to the lean manufacturing and systems, Apple’s design minimized wastes by having only five buttons and a touchscreen- features that were missing in most phones at the time of the introduction of the feature Additionally, most of its competitors had bloated operating systems, such as Windows Phone from Microsoft that was the full-blown desktop operating system crumped into the phone In contrast, Apple’ iPhone and the rest of its products had (and have) an intuitive and simplistic user interface, coupled with the sleek design, which endears the company’s products to its customers Indeed, apple has taken advantage of this process in its effort to reduce waste and streamline processes at Apple, and the process is eco-friendly
3.4 The impact of process technology has had upon operational functions and information flows of Apple
The term process technology refers to chemical processing used to refine raw materials into finished products (Bloomberg, 2019) Usage of technology in operation management has ensured that organizations are able to reduce the cost, improve the delivery process, standardize and improve quality and focus on customization, thereby creating value for customers Information technology is an enabler or support system to create or utilise the software product or service
With the position of a business corporation in the field of electronic technology, Apple is taking advantage of every opportunity to bring the corporation digital advantages in the industrial revolution 4.0 In 2017, Apple and General Electric Corporation (GE) of the United States teamed up to bring industrial applications to help deliver predictive and analytical data built on Predix, the “Internet of Things” platform (IoT) for GE's industry, to iPhones and iPads (Apple Inc., 2018) The two companies have released a new Predix software development kit (SDK) for iOS that developers need to create industry IoT applications
Apple has hired robotics experts, and its Web site has several job openings for engineers who can operate high- end manufacturing equipment The product-development team needed a machine to ensure new gyroscope technology that adds motion-detection capabilities for video games and other applications was working properly on the smartphone The resulting contraption has a granite base and cubes that spin several iPhones around 30 degrees a second to test that the movement-tracking technology is functioning Apple then had machines made to place at the end of suppliers’ assembly lines in China for iPhones to run through
Apple also created a method for putting an anti-reflective coating on Mac computers by adding an electrical charge to the display, causing anti-reflective particles to stick to the screen The technique, previously done at small scale for medical devices and astronomy telescopes, hadn’t been automated to produce millions of Mac computers a year Besides, Apple spent more on the machines that do the behind-the-scenes work of mass producing iPhones, iPads and other gadgets That includes equipment to polish the new iPhone’s colorful plastic, laser and milling machines to carve the MacBook’s aluminum body and testing gear for the iPhone and iPad camera lens
Especially, Apple also cares about environmental issues Apple built a 20-megawatt photovoltaic array to supply energy to its billion-dollar data center, in addition to a five-megawatt biogas-powered farm to supply electricity to it iDataCenter Apple’s use of renewable resources has also included the use of sustainable virgin fiber and small packaging for its products Through the specification for it virgin fiber, the company has been able to strike a balance between virgin fiber and recycled fibers for making the packaging for its products Apple's application of this technology to the manufacturing process helps to reduce carbon footprint into the environment (by 64 percent)
3.5 Differences in the possible application of different operation approach to further improve quality of products/ services in general
The main aim of Apple Inc is to offer high-quality products to its customers Apple Inc uses the system of Total Quality Management (TQM) to keep the employees satisfied and motivated The great source of motivation among the team is the communication at the public forums and effective meetings among the employees The company uses four basic tools of TQM as Control chart, Pareto chart, cause and effect diagram, and Histogram – TQM enables the company to bring all the stakeholders together There are various organizational factors of Apple that influence Total Quality Management The senior management of Apple believes that communication is an important key for the implementation of TQM system The principles of the system enable the company to establish an open culture of innovation and trust By implementing the system of TQM, Apple Inc has succeeded in reducing the wastage of the whole supply chain management The company is able to make a balance between responsiveness and efficiency by taking into consideration the principles of TQM
Another case study, Toyota is one of the world’s biggest car manufacturers with global manufacturing and operations The Japanese car manufacturer introduced the lean manufacturing system through its Toyota Production System The system’s genesis came from circumstances that surrounded the company from as far as
1902 at the establishment of the company Additionally, in introducing the Toyota Production System (TPS), it was the view of the company that the system would allow the company achieves four goals One of the goals was to provide excellent quality and service to the customer; this meant putting the customers’ needs first in the production process at all times TPS also aims to develop the employee’s potential, basic the development on mutual respect, cooperation among the employees and between the employer and employee, and through trust
It also looks to reduce cost by eliminating waste, while ensuring maximum profit in the process Finally, the last goal of TPS is the development of flexible production standards that would be able to respond effectively to market demand
As one of the most admired and innovative companies in the world, Apple explicitly follows a lean production While it does not explicitly claim to be lean, Apple is one of the company’s with lean characteristics in its production Knowing the challenge of integrating sustainability into lean operations and supply chains, the enterprise has been keen on developing its lean systems Regarding lean systems integration, Campion states,
“Manufacturers must look for flexible systems that are easily modified and that also improve the process, save time, and reduce errors” Lean manufacturing and systems integration proffer advantages to companies that adopt them Among the advantages is that such integrations are that through them “System integration not only complements lean manufacturingprinciples, but propels the manufacturer towards continuous improvement for the benefit of the company as a whole and the main objective of minimizing waste” At the center of lean manufacturing and systems, therefore, is the elimination of waste, while increasing production and lead times to customers.
Identify and discuss the operation approaches in Apple
Better Products at Lower Cost - The focus on using high quality information to improve processes reduces waste and saves time, leading to reduced expenses that can be passed along to
Requires Deep Commitment - All levels of management must be on board for the program to be truly successful Any lack of effort or resources will
(TQM) clients in the form of lower prices Companies that successfully implement TQM are able to reduce variability, providing the consistency that customers value This creates customer loyalty and earns their continued business
Satisfied customers - High-quality products that meet customers’ needs results in higher customer satisfaction High customer satisfaction, in turn, can lead to increased market share, revenue undermine the success of a TQM program, causing negative ripples throughout the company
High Cost of Time - The high cost of implementing a TQM program, and the fact that it may take several years for the program to be fully implemented before results and benefits are seen, can be a huge disadvantage to a TQM program, especially in today's uncertain growth via upsell and word- -mouth marketing of initiated by customers
Well-defined cultural values - Organizations that practice TQM develop and nurture core values around quality management and continuous improvement The TQM mindset pervades across all aspects of an organization, from hiring to internal processes to product development economic conditions TQM should be considered a long-term investment
Reduced Space Needed - JIT will reduce the amount of storage space which organization will need to rent or buy, which will free up funds for other parts of the business
Smaller Investments - JIT inventory management is an ideal methodology for small production facilities that do not have the funds needed in order to purchase huge amounts of stock at once
Ordering stock materials only when they are needed enables the company to maintain a healthy and smooth cash flow
Waste Elimination/Reduction - A quicker turnaround of stock prevents goods that have
Risk of Running Out of Stock - With JIT manufacturing, the comany does not carry as much stock This is because the comany base its stock off of demand forecasts, and if those are incorrect, then company will not have the correct amount of stock readily available for your consumers
Dependency on Suppliers - Having to rely on the timelessness of suppliers for each order puts the company at risk of delaying its customers’ receipt of goods
If the company are unable to meet
(JIT) p g become damaged or obsolete while sitting in storage, reducing waste This again saves money through preventing investment in any unnecessary stock and reducing the need to replace old stock p y consumer expectations, then they could take their business elsewhere
More Planning Required - JIT inventory management requires companies to understand sales trends and variances in close detail Many companies have seasonal sales periods, meaning that a number of products will need a higher stock level to combat consumer demand
Table 3 Advantages & Disadvantages of TQM and JIT
Recommendations to achieve improved efficiency
Comparison with the methods of other companies in the manufacturing industry
In the last part, the company that is used to compare with Apple is the Samsung company And many reliable articles have shown that Samsung implemented Six- Sigma for their continuous improvement process Samsung's Six Sigma is applied wisely when the company put together a methodology to formally combine SCM and Six Sigma, by training and developing supply chain staff to be more capable of leading SCM innovations Six Sigma of the Samsung Supply Chain is built on two main foundations:
- Platform 1: The Core Methodology was developed by the Supply Chain Business Team (SCM Business Team, later renamed SBT) This group studied six different Sigma approaches of pre-selected global companies (General Electric GE, DuPont, Honeywell), and then adapted and learned –
- Platform 2: Design a process improvement approach based on Samsung Supply Chain practices to guide implementation throughout the various stages
Samsung’s SCM Business Team (SBT) researched Six Sigma approaches at General Electric (GE), DuPont and Honeywell to get perspectives on how other companies have innovatively applied Six Sigma to similar needs:
- General Electric – Samsung’s Business Team focused its research on GE’s business SBT researched GE business that has taken the generic Six Sigma methodology for process innovation (PI), and has tailored them to specific needs of system design and implementation, and product development activities p y g p , p p
- DuPont – Samsung’s main reason for analysing DuPont’s six sigma approach and design was based on the company’s combination of its six sigma principles through the SCOR model DuPont combined Six Sigma principles with the SCOR (Supply Chain Operations Reference) model, which scopes five core management processes, including plan, source, make, deliver, and return DuPont's Six Sigma approach utilizes a quality function deployment (QFD) tool a method for converting customers' requirements to products, – processes or services
- Honeywell Honeywell was selected because of its extensive application of lean methodologies, which – has become a major tool in the implementation of Six Sigma Honeywell developed a proprietary Six Sigma approach called Six Sigma Plus Honeywell’s successful development and eventual ownership of the Six
Sigma Plus, also known as DMAIC, was the main influence behind Samsung’s decision to borrow a leaf from the firm’s approach.
Recommendations for further improvement in the operation efficiency and effectiveness of Apple
at Samsung Corporation through a four-month training program and also had a Supply Chain Management Team to build Build and develop Six Sigma methodology for the company However, Six Sigma implementations could be more expensive than existing methodologies because they require data sources and time to evaluate and synthesize While Apple mainly uses two methods JIT and TMQ JIT helps Apple control the quality of inputs, while TQM is used to successfully control and reduce waste in supply chain management, and also been able to create a balance between efficiency and responsiveness of products and services Apple's main focus to maximize profit for their shareholders and giving back to customer’s best quality service is achieved via TQM It helps management to review innovative quality improvement solutions in their mind that gives the best result and contributes less harm to society and ecology
4.2 Recommendations for further improvement in the operation efficiency and effectiveness of Apple
Based on a study and evaluation of the current method that Apple is using to improve quality, some recommendations will be made for further improvement in Apple's operational efficiency and effectiveness
Apple should use the right Six Sigma approach in its operations rst of all, for applying six sigma Apple's needs Fi to identify the burning platform like Apple is suffering from huge quality loses & it reasons 45% of their cost or Apple's competitors are gaining market share of every quarter by 12% Without having these types of burning problem Apple won't be going for any six sigma solution Finally, Apple's need to take act to achieve their vision; it safeguards that they gain credibility and strong provision from leadership Leadership patrons safeguard will meet Apple's vision, thereby reaching superiority Besides, Six Sigma uses its superiority & gears to transform the real problem to a real solution In Apple, managers can try to maintain this superiority & gears to transform the practical problem into practical solution
Apple needs to make sure it's using and updating the right technologies Apple spent a lot of money on using robots to replace workers assembling Apple devices, but it failed Producing electronic devices like iPhones relies heavily on workers on the production line as tightening screws, gluing, ect robots do not work as well as humans (Ho, 2020) As a result, they had to return to the original traditional way of production and lose a large investment when pouring into the robots To be clear, Apple’s precision electronics have very high requirements on the accuracy of gluing and the errors must be controlled within 1 mm The screws must also be tightened to a certain extent Keeping technologies up to date is therefore critical to an organization's ability to function effectively and appropriately, but Apple needs clear and specific strategies
Furthermore, as the COVID-19 pandemic has shown, the global supply chains of multinational corporations like Apple can be disrupted if not totally shut down during events of global proportions; consequently, Apple needs to change its manufacturing approach from a uni-country one to a multi-country one which would guarantee continuous production and availability of its products and or services so that what happened during COVID-19 does not repeat itself again in the Company’s supply chain history (Bloomberg & Wakabayashi, 2020)
In conclusion, the operational elements of Apple have been thoroughly analyzed in this report Through this report, it is also possible to draw conclusions about current concepts of operations, operations management, process technology, continuous improvement processes and operation approach that Apple is using In addition, descriptions of operational theories have been supplied to compare with the company's actual implementation Apple's operational management approaches include Lean, Six Sigma, and TQM Furthermore, we can easily see that the main enhancements are recommendations and comparisons with Apple's competitors
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