Operations and Integrated Supply Chain and Marketing management

Operations and Integrated Supply Chain and Marketing management

Task 1 (1,000 words assignment): Academic Referencing Essential in this task.

Task 1 – Produce a 1,000 word essay/report answering the question related to the Pars Food Ltd case study. Please refer to both operations/supply chain and marketing and identify points of integration where possible.Find it bellow

 

1a) Describe how operational planning, performance measurement, TQM, and Lean Management can improve the competitiveness of Pars Food ltd in relation to cost efficiency, process effectiveness, sales increase and market share. 

 

1b) Describe how marketing strategies may impact on Pars Food Ltd’s long-term objectives including, those related to cost efficiency, sustainability and quality improvement.

 

You are required to look at sources (such as textbooks and journal articles) to describe how Pars’ operations, supply chain and marketing strategies may affect its long-term objectives as stated in the case study.You are advised to discuss both positive and negativeimpacts and in particular identify the impact on Pars Food Ltd’s financial objectives. Please find Pars Food Limitedcase study in the end of this file.

 

 

 

Task 2- – 1,000 words (divided into two section )(No need to reference in this task)

Task 2:  TWO of the case studies (one from Operations and one from Marketing) to write a reflective piece on what you learned from that case study.First person is acceptable. This is a bit like an Abstract from an article/paper. Therefore , NO REFERENCING REQUIRED.

1_Section 1:Operations and Supply Chain Management– 500 words

The case study for this section is:

1. a) Turn around in Preston Plant (Case study). Please see theTurn around in Preston Plant file.

In each case study there are some lectures notes attached. These notes will help you to know the main points was discussed in each case study.

 

 

2_ Section 2:Marketing Management – 500 words

The case study for this section is:

1. a) Domino’s Pizza (Please use two Case study). Pleasesee the Domino’s Pizza (Case study) file

In each case study there are some lectures notes attached. These notes will help you to know the main points was discussed in each case study.

 

 

 

 

Referencing your work

All work should be referenced correctly using APA6 style.

The APA method of referencing uses the author’s name and the date of the publication. In-text citations give brief details of the work you are referring to in your text. References are listed at the end of the text in alphabetical order by the author’s name.  The general format of an electronic journal reference in the APA style is shown below:

 

Coutu, D. (2009). Why Teams Don’t Work. Harvard Business Review, 87(5), 98-105. Retrieved 29th April 2012 from EBSCO http://searchebscohost.com

 

Author/s name and initials are listed first, followed by year of publication in brackets.  Then there is the title of article and the journal where the article appears, which is in italics.  Then state the volume and issue number (in brackets) along with the pages where article can be located. Finally add the date the article was retrieved and then the name of the database, followed by the web address. Wherever possible use the homepage URL rather than the full and extended web address.

 

 Marking Grid

 

Overall Mark	Exemplary (90-100%)	Outstanding (80-89%)	Excellent (7079%)	Very Good (60-69%)	Good (5059%)	Adequate (4049%)	Insufficient (30-39%)	Completely Insufficient (0-29%)
Task 1 (50%)
Focus & Relevance to the task (10%)	Exemplary focus on elements of task and relevance to the key elements of the task (10%)	Outstanding focus on elements of task and relevance to the key elements of the task (9%)	Excellent focus on elements of task and relevance to the key elements of the task (8%)	Very good focus on elements of task and relevance to the key elements of the task (7%)	Good focus on elements of task and relevance to the key elements of the task (6%)	Adequate focus on elements of task and relevance to the key elements of the task (5%)	Insuffcient focus on elements of task and relevance to the key elements of the task (34%)	Completely insufficient focus on elements of task and relevance to the key elements of the task (< 3%)
Theoretical & Literature Contribution (20%	Exemplary theoretical and literature contribution underpinning relevant and useful theories and strategies (19-20%)	Outstanding theoretical and literature contribution underpinning relevant and useful theories and strategies (17-18%)	Excellent theoretical and literature contribution underpinning relevant and useful theories and strategies (15-16%)	Very good theoretical and literature contribution underpinning relevant and useful theories and strategies (13-14%)	Good theoretical and literature contribution underpinning relevant and useful theories and strategies (11-12%)	Adequate theoretical and literature contribution underpinning relevant and useful theories and strategies (910%)	Insuffcient theoretical and literature contribution underpinning relevant and useful theories and strategies (58%)	Completely insufficient  theoretical and literature contribution underpinning relevant and useful theories and strategies (< 5%)

 

 

Synergy and integration of strategies (10%)

Exemplary synergy and integration of all strategies (10%)

Outstanding synergy and integration of all strategies (9%)

Excellent synergy and integration of all strategies (8%)

Very good synergy and integration of all strategies (7%)

Good synergy and integration of all strategies (6%)

Adequate synergy and integration of all strategies  (5%)

Insuffcient synergy and integration of all strategies (3-4%)

Completely insufficient synergy and integration of all strategies (< 3%)

 

Practical Contribution (10%)	Exemplary practical contribution underpinning examples from Pars Food Ltd Case Study or examples from other sources (10%)	Outstanding practical contribution underpinning examples from Pars Food Ltd Case Study or examples from other sources (9%)	Excellent practical contribution underpinning examples from Pars Food Ltd Case Study or examples from other sources (8%)	Very good practical contribution underpinning examples from Pars Food Ltd Case Study or examples from other sources (7%)	Good practical contribution underpinning examples from Pars Food Ltd Case Study or examples from other sources (6%)	Adequate practical contribution underpinning examples from Pars Food Ltd Case Study or examples from other sources (5%)	Insuffcient practical contribution underpinning examples from Pars Food Ltd Case Study or examples from other sources (34%)	Completely insufficient practical contribution underpinning examples from Pars Food Ltd Case Study or examples from other sources (< 3%)
Task 2  (40%)
Focus & Relevance to the task (10%)	Exemplary focus on elements of task and relevance to the key elements of the task (10%)	Outstanding focus on elements of task and relevance to the key elements of the task (9%)	Excellent focus on elements of task and relevance to the key elements of the task (8%)	Very good focus on elements of task and relevance to the key elements of the task (7%)	Good focus on elements of task and relevance to the key elements of the task (6%)	Adequate focus on elements of task and relevance to the key elements of the task (5%)	Insuffcient focus on elements of task and relevance to the key elements of the task (34%)	Completely insufficient focus on elements of task and relevance to the key elements of the task (< 3%)

 

Theoretical & Literature Contribution (10%	Exemplary theoretical and literature contribution underpinning relevant and useful theories and strategies (10%)	Outstanding theoretical and literature contribution underpinning relevant and useful theories and strategies (9%)	Excellent theoretical and literature contribution underpinning relevant and useful theories and strategies (8%)	Very good theoretical and literature contribution underpinning relevant and useful theories and strategies (7%)	Good theoretical and literature contribution underpinning relevant and useful theories and strategies (6%)	Adequate theoretical and literature contribution underpinning relevant and useful theories and strategies (5%)	Insuffcient theoretical and literature contribution underpinning relevant and useful theories and strategies(34%)	Completely insufficient  theoretical and literature contribution underpinning relevant and useful theories and strategies (< 3%)
Synergy and integration of strategies (10%)	Exemplary synergy and integration of all strategies (10%)	Outstanding synergy and integration of all strategies (9%)	Excellent synergy and integration of all strategies (8%)	Very good synergy and integration of all strategies (7%)	Good synergy and integration of all strategies (6%)	Adequate synergy and integration of all strategies  (5%)	Insuffcient synergy and integration of all strategies (3-4%)	Completely insufficient synergy and integration of all strategies (< 3%)
Practical Contribution (10%)	Exemplary practical contribution underpinning examples from Pars Food Ltd Case Study or examples from other sources (10%)	Outstanding practical contribution underpinning examples from Pars Food Ltd Case Study or examples from other sources (9%)	Excellent practical contribution underpinning examples from Pars Food Ltd Case Study or examples from other sources (8%)	Very good practical contribution underpinning examples from Pars Food Ltd Case Study or examples from other sources (7%)	Good practical contribution underpinning examples from Pars Food Ltd Case Study or examples from other sources (6%)	Adequate practical contribution underpinning examples from Pars Food Ltd Case Study or examples from other sources (5%)	Insuffcient practical contribution underpinning examples from Pars Food Ltd Case Study or examples from other sources (34%)	Completely insufficient practical contribution underpinning examples from Pars Food Ltd Case Study or examples from other sources (< 3%)

 

Structure, Referencing Style, Citation, Quality of Communicate on (10%)

Exemplary Structure, referencing style, citation, quality of communicate on (10%)

Outstanding Structure, referencing style, citation, quality of communicate on (9%)

Excellent Structure, referencing style, citation, quality of communicate on  (8%)

Very good Structure, referencing style, citation, quality of communicate on (7%)

Good Structure, referencing style, citation, quality of communicate on  (6%)

Aqua structure e, referencing style, citation, quality of communication (5%)

Insufficient Structure, referencing style, citation, quality of communicate on (3-4%)

Completely insufficient Structure, referencing style, citation, quality of communicate on (< 3%)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pars Food Limited

Pars Food Limited is one of the market leaders in the UK frozen food industry, employing approximately 400 staff and operating from different production facilities within the UK. A privately-owned company (Ltd.), Pars Food was founded in 1950 by John Clapham whose sons, David and Darren are directors within the company. At a corporate strategic level, the board of directors consists of six main shareholders; John is the major shareholder and Managing Director, his sons are also directors and between them they hold 40% of shares. There are three further shareholders, also directors, who control the other 60% of shares within the company. Pars Food Ltd. generates annual sales turnover in excess of £150m. Their product range includes pizzas, snacks, ready-made meals, soft drinks and desserts, although their main revenue streams come from potato-based product ranges.

Their products are sold direct to restaurants and also to supermarkets throughout the UK. Pars Food Ltd. also own and operate their own distribution and transportation division with 40 lorries/trucks in different sizes, which provide general freight, distribution and warehousing services across UK. The headquarters of the company is based in Bradford. The manufacturing, operation, sales and marketing facilities are located in Hull. All manufacturing operations including the supply of raw materials, production, storage and delivery operate out of the Hull site.

Pars Food Ltd. has a number of Core Values and a Code of Conduct which underpins their actions, decisions, behaviour and strategy. Their philosophy “Pars Food, It’s All Good” is significant as it has shaped the culture of the organisation.

CoreValues

• To work every day to make our customers and consumers SMILE.
• To value continuous improvement in our people, our products and our business.
• To cherish the “Can Do” spirit; Trying but failing is okay, failing to try is not.
• To dare to be different; New ideas, innovation and differentiation matter.
• To value teamwork and the sharing of ideas.
• To win market by market, and create advantage by leveraging our globalscale.
• To believe that honesty, integrity and fair dealings are integral to our success – good ethics is good business.
• To recognise the diversity of our environment and care about our staff, their families and their local community.
• To have pride in our heritage and our reputation as a family business.

 

 

 

 

 

Code of Conduct

The Code of Conduct explains the standards of behaviour that the organisation expects from all of its employees. It demonstrates their commitment to lawful and ethical conduct across their business and throughout all their decisions. Pars Food Ltd. is very proud of their reputation within the industry which has been developed for more than 60 years. They constantly strive to ensure that business is conducted in the manner of their founders with honesty, integrity and fairness. By adhering to this Code of Conduct the business has been able to grow and innovate successfully. They believe strongly in the principle of ethical business to allow them to achieve their goals in an increasingly competitive marketplace in ways that build trust and respect.

Strategy and Vision

Their business strategy is designed to drive sustainable, profitable growth. The vision is to grow Pars Food Ltd. by producing products that their customers love whilst contributing to the wellbeing of all stakeholders. This will be achieved through the commitment of their talented workforce who have a significant stake within the organisation and who are actually creating their future, today.

• Aligned Organisation – Their employees are the heart and soul of their strategy. They develop people as leaders at all levels of the organisation and support them as they pursue the possibilities that will deliver on their vision. They never lose sight of what’s unique and important to each of their customers and consumers, but they act as one on common priorities and coach each other on what is missing to make a possibility a reality.
• Competitive advantage and differentiation – Delivering good food made with an attention to quality and safety at good value to their customers and consumers around the world is their path to growth. Their supply chain is transforming to become a model of resiliency with the capacity to serve their customers from anywhere they are located. Standing out from the pack is no easy feat, but Pars Food Ltd. aims to do just that by investing more than ever before in science, technology and market insights to develop further innovative products that serve a particular need in society (niche market) or that simply satisfy a craving for good food.
• Value–added Products – Their aim is to be more global and attract more customers from Europe. In order to do this, they must be more innovative and develop a platform of globally attractive food products that can leverage their knowledge in retail and foodservice and their supply network.

To summarise, their strategy is built on their philosophy of “Pars Food, It’s All Good”. They believe that with the right staff producing excellent food products from good ingredients which their customers enjoy they will be able to grow the business for the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Products

Pars Food Ltd. is the UK’s largest manufacturer of frozen potato products, but their product range does not stop with potatoes or frozen French fries. They also offer hundreds of other products, including appetizers, pizzas, frozen vegetables, beverages, ready-made meals and desserts which are found in many restaurants and food retailers.

Customers

• Foodservice: The Pars brand can be found in the most challenging of kitchens. They supply quality frozen food products to quick service restaurant chains, as well as casual and fine dining rooms, institutional and catering customers. All products have to meet the uncompromising specifications of their customers.
• Retail: Their convenience foods appear on grocery shelves in almost every retail store throughout the UK. Their products are prepared simply with wholesome ingredients made by conscientious, well trained staff that care about delivering quality in every box, every bag and every bite.

They deliver directly to restaurants, retailers and also some wholesalers in the UK. They plan to expand their market to other European countries and increase the number of customers including restaurants, wholesalers and retailers.

Suppliers

Pars Food Ltd. uses a number of different suppliers within its business including:

• raw material suppliers (e.g. potatoes which are grown and supplied by UK farmers),
• ingredient suppliers,
• equipment suppliers,
• “Soho Transport” a 3rd party logistics (3PL) company who deliver potatoes to the Hull processing plant, and finally:
• Consultancy and training organisations to provide some advisory and staff development services.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Long Term Objectives

1- Establish the company as a public corporation (PLC) within next five years.

2- Increase market share by expanding their market to Europe.

3- Reduce operation costs by minimising waste and cost of poor quality.

4- Improve the quality of both products and services to achieve excellent customer satisfaction and zero customer complaint.

5- Increase product range

6- Invest further in staff, equipment and storage.

7- Become more environmentally and ethically sustainable.

 

Short Term Objectives between 1st Oct 2019 and 31st March 2020

1- Add the authentic and luxury new product as “Pars Chilli Pepper Cheese Nuggets” in 1Kg bags to their product range.

2- Add the value pack of the “Pars Seasoned Twisters” in 1Kg bags to their product range.

3- Buy some specialist potato transport lorries to reduce their reliance on outsourcing.

4- Implement Total Quality Management (TQM), a culture of continuous quality improvement in the company to involve everybody in quality and customer satisfaction throughout the organisation.

5- Get accredited by ISO9001 for standardisation in service and production

6- Purchase a new cutting machine to be used to manufacture the Twisters with value of £300,000.

7- Increase the number of full-time staff on the shopfloor (operations) and in the sales and marketing department by a further 25. Increase the number of part time staff on the shop floor (operations) and in “in-bound” transport by a further 30.

8- Reduce the environmental impact and improve the health and safety of staff.

9- Find new sources of finance for the purchase of additional equipment and to build additional storage facilities.

10- Promote a Lean and Agile operation.

 

Operations 

The key operational activities in Pars Food Ltd. are sourcing, purchasing, manufacturing, packaging, storage, transport, sales and marketing, administration, finance and accounting. The purchasing department deals with farms, Soho Transport, raw materials and equipment suppliers. The manufacturing, packaging, storage and transport department has 10 different production lines, working 24-hour shifts with 280 full time and 20 part-time employees. Most of the production line capacity is used to manufacture frozen chips but other products are also produced in the same factory.

The Production Manager is Jack Holmes, a young engineer who has been employed by the company for two years. He is an ambitious manager who had three years previous experience of working as a production engineer in a ready-made meal food manufacturer in Scotland. His main duty is to manage the production and packaging teams. A simple flow diagram below illustrates the supply chain and manufacturing process of material involved in producing frozen chips.  See Figure 1.

 

Supplying potato              Sorting                  Quality Check                   Washing                               Peeling Cutting                   Quality Check                    Half Cooking                       Blast Freezing

Metal Detecting               Packaging            Inspection                           Storage                Transport

 

 

Figure 1. Supply Chain and Manufacturing Process Flow of Materials

 

The company is currently procuring all of its raw materials using outsourced transport and is considering using its own transport for sourcing potatoes in the future. The Board of Directors is categorically concerned with quality, cost and reliability in its supply chain network; from the initial sourcing of materials to the final delivery of goods to customers. The level of rejection in quality inspection and quality checks for frozen chips is high and they would like to reduce this.

Jane Williams is a food technologist who is in charge of quality control in the company. She is a young graduate from university with just two years experience of research whilst working at a laboratory for “Kraft Food” in the USA. Pars Food Ltd. would also like to improve their performance in JIT (Just in Time) delivery and increase their agility in their delivery to customers.

Craig Calpin, an experienced logistics manager of 25 years, leads a team of 50 warehouse and transport employees. He is constantly complaining about the lack of capacity in freezers for all products and the monthly report for the last few months indicated a high level of fluctuation of stock in storage. There has been a surplus of “Stake Cut Chips” (thick cut), suitable for “Fish & Chips” shops and restaurants, left in storage for more than 2 months with a very low selling opportunity. Craig has also asked for a detailed assessment to be conducted prior to building the new proposed storage for products so that it can be aligned with potential future production and sales volumes.

A further issue in the whole operations process is a lack of standard procedures in the organisation which makes standardisation across the company difficult.  Maintenance costs of outdated machinery have also increased. Marian Holmes, a senior office manager with 20 years experience has been faced with staffing problems due to the increase in administration as she only has 5 staff.

Purchasing activities, including buying, negotiating and supplier selection, are led by two of the directors who have five senior experienced buyers working with them. Their responsibilities are to find appropriate suppliers, deal and negotiate with them, liaise with the production, marketing and finance departments and finally, to identify alternative supply sources globally.

 

Marketing 

The sales and marketing team consists of 20 people who are managed by Philip Jones, the marketing and sales manager. The employees are involved in telesales, advertising, website design and six of the team are regional marketing executives. The marketing department’s main ambitious objective is to increase their market share within Europe, especially northern European countries, within the next two years.  They have already been working with both the quality management and production teams to develop five new products for the future. They have just launched the “Pars Chilli Pepper Cheese Nuggets” and “Pars Seasoned Twisters” product range to appeal to two different segments within the snack market.  The former, targets a basic market and the latter, a more luxury market segment.

The department have asked for additional funding to support their plans and also an increase in their budget for advertising and new product development. They have recently spent £50,000 on advertising for these two new products and have asked for a further £100,000 advertising budget for the next year.

The marketing team is also working on developing new software as part of their Customer Relationship Management (CRM) policy. This will store all possible information from customers including their personal details, their shopping habits, any feedback they have previously given regarding Par Foods’ products and even identify products which customers are currently not buying with a view to using this information in future marketing campaigns and promotions.

The company would also like to conduct research into the organic food market as a possible future growth area. They first need to investigate the wider implications of this both from a legal and an economic perspective. Before they enter this market, it is also necessary to identify potential/actual risks and benefits of their chosen strategy to ensure their business’s economic environmental and social impact is sustainable.

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