Nissan Automobile Company: Operations Management and Business Requirements

Running Head: NISSAN AUTOMOBILE
Nissan Automobile Company
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Running Head: NISSAN AUTOMOBILE
Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Nissan Automobile......................................................................................................................................3
Mission Statement......................................................................................................................................4
What We Do................................................................................................................................................4
Who We Are................................................................................................................................................4
Problems.....................................................................................................................................................5
Business Requirements...............................................................................................................................7
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................9
Reference:.................................................................................................................................................11
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Running Head: NISSAN AUTOMOBILE
Introduction
In 1999, Nissan developed a new way to manage their business when Renault helped prevent the
company from going into bankruptcy with the purchase of a significant amount of stock. This
paper will detail how Nissan now generates value for its customers and achieves a competitive
advantage through operations management as well as compare and contrast service and
manufacturing operations when it comes to providing value to customers. Theories and
techniques will also be detailed including the critical path method and the program evaluation
and review technique and how Nissan uses these techniques in their business. Data analysis
tools and techniques to drive forecasting systems and identify supply chain risk will also be
discussed and how Nissan addresses these topics in their business model to be a responsible
company and to ensure sustainability.
Nissan Automobile
Nissan uses operations management to generate value for its customers in several ways. One
way they generate value is to hire officers from different global regions, this way they are
eliminate any potential miss-communication derived from cultural differences (Schmidt, Kimchi-
Levi, 2013). This allows Nissan to better understand the needs of the regional customers as well
as understand any feedback they may receive. Another way Nissan uses operations management
for customer value is in the way they address risk and identify issues as early as possible. In
2011 when Japan was hit with a significant earthquake, Nissan implement a plan developed early
to address the situation with a focus “on human life, prevention of follow-on disasters, rapid
disaster recovery and business continuity” (Schmidt, Kimchi-Levi, 2013 p.5). This process
allowed the company to address their manufacturing facility and supply chain in an expedient
manner in order to supply cars to their customers with little or no delay and prevent the loss of
sales due to lack of available inventory. They also utilized logistic time of shipping from Japan
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Running Head: NISSAN AUTOMOBILE
to the United States, about 20 days, in order to identify alternative sources for critical items and
used air instead of sea to shorten lead time to mitigate stock out risk.
Mission Statement
Nissan mission statement 2013. “Nissan provides unique and innovative automotive products
and services that deliver superior measurable values to all stakeholders in alliance with Renault.
What We Do
Nissan uses operations management to generate value for its customers in several ways. One
way they generate value is to hire officers from different global regions, this way they are
eliminate any potential miss-communication derived from cultural differences (Schmidt, Kimchi-
Levi, 2013). This allows Nissan to better understand the needs of the regional customers as well
as understand any feedback they may receive. Another way Nissan uses operations management
for customer value is in the way they address risk and identify issues as early as possible. In
2011 when Japan was hit with a significant earthquake, Nissan implement a plan developed early
to address the situation with a focus “on human life, prevention of follow-on disasters, rapid
disaster recovery and business continuity” (Schmidt, Kimchi-Levi, 2013 p.5). This process
allowed the company to address their manufacturing facility and supply chain in an expedient
manner in order to supply cars to their customers with little or no delay and prevent the loss of
sales due to lack of available inventory. They also utilized logistic time of shipping from Japan
to the United States, about 20 days, in order to identify alternative sources for critical items and
used air instead of sea to shorten lead time to mitigate stock out risk.
Who We Are
Nissan service operations and manufacturing operations have differences and similarities
however both work toward organizational excellence. They are similar when it comes to doing
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