Operation Management Principles in an Organisational Context

Operations and Project Management INTRODUCTION 3 TASK 13 P1 A review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles within an organisational context 3 TASK 26 P2 Continuous improvement plan 6 TASK 39 P3 Applying PLC to a project and providing supporting documents 9 TASK 414 P4 Effectiveness of PLC in application of the project 14 CONCLUSION 15 REFERENCES 1 INTRODUCTION Operation management involves the process of planning, organizing and supervising the operations of the company that are being followed in a

Operations and Project
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................3
P1 A review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles within
an organisational context.............................................................................................................3
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P2 Continuous improvement plan...............................................................................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................9
P3 Applying PLC to a project and providing supporting documents.........................................9
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................14
P4 Effectiveness of PLC in application of the project..............................................................14
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Operation management involves the process of planning, organizing and supervising the
operations of the company that are being followed in a company. These processes ensure higher
profitability and improvement of efficiency of a manufacturing organisation by overall
improving it's processes (Bernhardt, 2017). It is an area of management concerned with
designing and controlling the process that are followed in production and redesigning of business
operations for producing goods and services. It ensures that minimum resources are used in an
effective manner to meet customer requirements. Project management on the other hand is the
practice of initiating a project plan, planning the stages, executing the plans, controlling the
processes and closing the work of a team that had been assigned to a particular task whose goals
and objectives have to be achieved. The first part of this report discusses the operation
management principles and concept of continuous improvement of Devanet UK Ltd. which is a
British designer and manufacturer of metal and leather components such as buckles, bespoke
jewellery, clasps of bags etc. In second part of the report, project life cycle of Yorkon Building
System (YBS), a new product launched by Portakabin is discussed. Along with this supporting
documentation required to complete the project with the use of project methodologies, tools and
leadership with extended planning which involves market research, research and development
are discussed.
TASK 1
P1 A review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles within an
organisational context
Introduction to Devanet UK Ltd. : Devanet UK Ltd. is a British company established in
2005 and is a specialist in designing and manufacturing of buckles, metal components, bespoke
jewellery and clasps for bags, fashion-wear, designer buckles, leather components etc. Devanet
products are styled and manufactured at its Congleton factory in Cheshire. It gives one of the
quickest and best prototyping services in the UK. Customers can submit a brief of the design
they want and can have a rapid 3D printed prototype made within 48 hours. Its services also
includes CNC milling, embossing, foil printing, diamond engraving, laser engraving and
computer pattern stitching. The company provides production services for individuals,
companies and promotional houses. Devanet aims at providing a total packaged solution from

concept to finished goods in metal, web and leather goods (Enshassi, Kochendoerfer and Al
Ghoul, 2016).
Operations : All the business activities within an organisation that helps in its existence
and smooth running along with earning profits are collectively referred to as business operations.
Operations modify resources or data inputs into desirable goods and services which creates
worth to the customers (Galli, 2018).
Operational Management : The management of business practices so as to create
highest level of efficiency in an organisation with balancing costs and revenues in a way that
achieves highest net operating profits possible. Operational management involves utilizing
resources from staff, materials and technology so as to create goods and services for the
customers based on their needs and requirements (Heizer, Render and Munson, 2017).
Basis Operations Operational Management
Nature These are various day to day
activities that happens in an
organisation in order to achieve
certain goals and objectives.
It is the management of these activities
efficiently and effectively so that
minimum resources are used and profits
can be maximized.
Importance It manages all the departments of
the organisation to ensure that
production gets completed within
time and the flow of resources
needed is maintained.
To improve the overall productivity and
to handle design, operations and other
activities that are essential for
production of goods with efficiency.
Review and critique of the operational management principles used in Devanet UK
Ltd. :
Case Study : Devanet UK Ltd. manufactures leather components for which many animals are
slaughtered every year for their skins and other things. The processing of leather has a
detrimental affect on the environment. Although vegan leather is being used which are man
made and environment friendly but they are not 100% biodegradable which causes pollution on
earth.
Following are the operational principles that are applied by the company :

Principe of causality It refers to the connection between cause and effect. Problems are
the results of underlying causes. Devanet UK Ltd. is not able to
apply this principle effectively because the leather items
manufactured by it are causing environmental problems.
Principle of accountability It is the answerablility, blameworthiness and liability for the
actions, decisions, policies that are taken by an individual in the
organisation related to something for which hey are responsible.
Devanet UK Ltd. is unable to apply this principle as the leather
components that are manufactured by the company are not 100%
biodegradable that is causing environmental pollution.
Principle of variance It is the variance in processes which encourages variance in
creativity so that various products can be manufactured with the
change in demand of products in the market. Devanet UK Ltd. is
successfully applying this principle as a diversity of products are
being manufactured in the company in accordance to the customer
needs.
Principle of success For any organisation the definition of success keeps on changing
with the accomplishment of goals and objectives with time. The
interest of customers is to be well thought out, for this all the
principles are to be revised occasionally. Hence, Devanet UK Ltd.
needs to provide products that are safe and of good quality.
The extent to which operation management principles meets the requirements of Devanet
UK Ltd. :
From the above table it can be seen that Devanet UK Ltd. Is not able to apply the
principles of operations management efficiently. The for parameter that get affected by this are : Cost : Devanet UK Ltd. applies the principles of variance as it deals in a variety of metal
hardware, web and leather good products which increases the costs due to extensive
research and development involved in the process.

 Safety : Devanet UK Ltd. produces belts, buckles, bags etc. that uses leather components
for which many animals are slaughtered every year for their skins and other things. Also
though the company also uses vegan leather, it is not 100% biodegradable which causes
harm to the environment. So the principle of accountability is not properly applied in the
company. Delivery : The principle of causality helps in providing safe and quality products to the
clients of a company by solving all the problems and creating value for the customers and
the environment. The company must develop some ways in which their leather products
are safe for both the customers and environment.
 Quality : For the company to stay progressive on the path of success it needs to focus n
being responsible towards both customers and environment in terms of quality and safety.
This helps in building trust of the customers and of the government that the products of
the company are safe.
TASK 2
P2 Continuous improvement plan
Continuous Improvement plan is a continuous effort to improvise products, processes and
services of an organisation by reducing wastage and simultaneously improving quality. This
continuous improvement gives an organisation a competitive advantage and helps in increasing
its productivity and profitability. It is related to identifying benchmarking standards of
organisational success (Kerzner, 2017).
Lean Principles : These are five-step thought process that emphasises on eliminating waste or
the non-value adding components while maximizing customer value using the limited resources
available(Lean and packing: 5 eye openers, 2019).

Source : Lean and packing: 5 eye openers, 2019
Define value Value is defined by customer's perception of needs for a specific
product like price, place of availability etc. Value is the amount of
money a customer is willing to pay for the product. Devanet UK Ltd.
can use this principle so as to manufacture and design products by
customizing them as per needs and requirements of the clients. It can
provide more customised products to customers which helps it in
determining the prices.
Map value stream These involves all the sequential procedures that are to be taken in
converting a specific product from raw materials and delivering final
value to the customers. Through this way non-value adding process
can be identified and eliminated. Devanet UK Ltd. Can use this
process so as to reduce the cost of it's products.
Create flow After removal useless or non value adding steps from the value stream,
a continuous flow of remaining steps is to be ensured without any
interruptions, delays or bottlenecks.
Establish pull This helps in delivering products to the customers as desired. As a
Illustration 1: Lean and packing: 5 eye openers

result inventory and work in progress can be managed saving money
of holding the stocks. Devnat UK Ltd. can reduce cost of holding stock
thus reducing prices of it's products.
Pursue perfection Every employee should implement lean priciples so that perfection
while delivering products to customers can be ensured. Devanet UK
Ltd. can use this principle to deliver safe and quality products to the
customers with safety of environment.
A continuous improvement plan for the organisation :
The lean principles if applied properly in an organisation can help in identifying the
processes that do not add value and eliminating them so as to reduce wastage while improving
the efficiency of the organisation in providing better products to the customers with the limited
resources available (Kerzner, 2018). The principle help in encouraging a continuous
improvement culture so that organisation can remain competitive in the market while decreasing
its costs and increas'
its profitability.
Basis Existing Methodology Proposed Methodology
Cost Devanet UK Ltd. offers variety of
products for which an extensive research
is done that in turn increases the costs of
its products.
The company can outsource its research
and development to more experienced
firms so that costs can be saved and
product prices can be reduced.
Quality Devanet UK Ltd. is a diverse company
that provides high quality products in
metal, web and leather goods.
The company can improve its quality in
products by investing continuously in
new and innovative technologies to
provide quality products to it's
customers.
Safety The leather components used by the
company to make belts, buckles, bags
etc. leads to killing of many animals
every year for skin and other materials.
The company must build ways in which
more eco-friendly goods can be
manufactured by either recycling the
leather goods or by the use of cork which

Also vegan leather used by the company
is not 100% biodegradable.
a natural vegan leather.
Delivery Devanet UK Ltd. exclusively
manufactures it's products in the UK and
makes available to the customers it's
products as and where needed.
The company can open its outlets in
other countries outside UK so as to make
its products available to a wide range of
customers this increasing its customer
base.
Recommendations to improve functions of Devanet UK Ltd. ;
The principle of causality and the principle of accountability needs to be properly applied
by the company so as to ensure that the leather products it manufactures and designs such as
buckles, belts, wallets, bags etc. can ensure safety and quality to not only its customers but also
to the environment. The company needs to devise ways in which the leather can be recycled so
that minimum pollution is caused to the environment. Cork leather is the most sustainable leather
which can be recycled, are environment friendly and possess many benefits in the makeup of
belts, handbags, wallets etc. it is waterproof, stain resistant and it can also absorb more carbon
dioxide.
TASK 3
P3 Applying PLC to a project and providing supporting documents
Case Study : Portakabin is the UK's market leader of modular buildings and innovations related
to these buildings for more than 50 years. The company operates in 6 countries and has a staff of
more than 1,300 people. Portakabin is a B2B organisation which means it deals with other
businesses. Recently Portakabin has launched its latest product, the Yorkon Building System
(YBS). This new product is based on the most advanced technology of modular buildings. Its
design is based on extensive planning which is based on extensive market research and other
research and development activities.
Project : Portakabin has launched its latest product, the Yorkon Building System (YBS) which is
the most advanced technology in modular buildings which can give the company a great
competitive advantage. (Lock, 2017).

Project Life Cycle (PLC) :
The project life cycle determines the stages through which a project goes through as it
proceeds from starting point to finish point. Every project goes through these stages so that the
desired results can be obtained from completion of the project. A well defined life cycle brings
orderly and structured completion of a project(Project Life Cycle Definition, 2019).
Source : Project Life Cycle Definition, 2019
1. Initiation : It is the starting point of the project or an idea. At this stage the identification
of the business needs, problems or opportunities is done and ways of of solving the
problem or grabbing the opportunity are found out. The feasibility and major deliverables
of the project are identified and after getting approval from the higher authorities the
project work starts (Martens and Carvalho, 2017).
Methodology : The methodology used by Portakabin was through business case which
provides justification for a project based on their commercial benefits.
Company Overview Portakabin is a leading modular building innovator in the UK market
for more than 50 years. It operates in 6 countries and has a staff of
Illustration 2: Project Life Cycle Definition. 2019

more than 1,300 people.
Vision and Mission Mission: To provide peaceful and reliant building structures to all our
customers across Europe by providing them quality products and
services.
Vision : Being the leader in the industry by providing industry-first
innovations to our customers moreover providing them with warranty
packages, advanced modular building systems and unique building
range.
Objectives Helps other businesses in cutting their carbon footprint and achieve
environmental objectives.
Helps in providing space for schools, hospitals and businesses.
Strategies Yorkon Building system (YBS) is designed to give the benefits of
traditional buildings. They can fit to any footprint and the external
walls can be made without sections or columns. These buildings can
be made ready at a great speed that is up to 50% faster than traditional
buildings.
Tools : Responsibility assignment matrix (RAM) was used by the company to identify
the role that can be assigned to all the people who were a part of project team. This matrix is a
structural chart which visually makes clear and distinguish between the roles and responsibilities
of all the team members. Through this process, accountability of all the members become clear
and the ambiguity related to the reporting of their progress regarding a decision and an
information is made clear.
Leadership : The managers of the project used authoritative type of leadership so as to
identify team members, assigning their roles and responsibilities and the time frame in which
they needs to finish up their tasks. The goals and objectives that were to be achieved by this
project were decided by the managers without involving the subordinates in any of the processes.
2. Planning : In this process the project tasks are broken down into smaller and achievable
tasks that are easily achievable within a given time. Smaller goals have high potential of

getting achieved successfully. It relates to the use of various schedules and charts such as
Gantt Charts and Work breakdown structure to break the tasks that can be achieved
within time.
Methodology : A project methodology was adopted by the company to properly execute
the project that led in its successful completion (Nakamura and et. al., 2015).
Cost The cost that was incurred by the company on YBS project was around
£2,00,000.
Communication A matrix communication structure was adopted by the company which
helped the project members in interacting with all the team members and
upgrading on the development of work done.
Quality YBS buildings are high-quality modular buildings which suits the demand
of the customers. Modules are available in various widths, lengths and
heights.
Scope It has a huge scope as the extending businesses, schools, hospitals etc. needs
huge building structures for their working. Modular buildings can be very
quickly made at a pace of 50% faster rate than the traditional buildings.
Tools : The tools used by the project manager for project planning were work breakdown
structure and Gantt chart as given below :
Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) -

Gantt chart -
Leadership : The company followed democratic leadership at this stage so as to integrate
the functions of all he team members and involving them in decision making process. The idesa
of all the team members wee given importance so that loopholes in the project can be easily
studied and corrective measures can be taken on time.
3. Execution : It is the act of executing the activities of the project in accordance with the
agreed plans and procedures to satisfy the specialisations and contractual requirements.
The aim of this process is to accomplish the desired results of the project.
Methodology : Six Sigma methodology was used by the company for execution of the
stages of a project in order to understand actual requirements to complete the project, eliminate

wastages during the process so that minimum wastage is done with providing highest quality
modular designed buildings to the customers (Robson, Haddad and Griffiths, 2018).
Tools : The company use Critical path Management and PERT to identify the minimum
length of time to finish the project. Through this way the company is able to build highly
designed modular building to its customers approximately 50% faster than traditional buildings.
Leadership : Coaching style of leadership was followed by the company to teach the
team members at all the stages of the project by guiding them in an efficient manner. This leads
to better performance of team members and encourages them to improve their mistakes so that
execution can be done in the best manner.
4. Closure : It is the final step of a project life cycle which emphasises on providing final
product to the stakeholders, surrendering project documentation to the business, ending
contracts that were done with suppliers, freeing up project resources and communicating
the closure of the project to the stakeholders. Lessons learnt are examined about what
went well and what didn't.
Methodology : Critical Path Method is used to identify the success of a project within
stipulated time frame (Sánchez, 2015)(Singh and Singh, 2015). The success of the project can be
analysed after completion of the project. Yorkon Building System provides the latest modular
building technology and has been able to provide building structures to customers as per their
needs and requirements.
Tools : Formal customer sign-off, release of resources, lessons learned, documentation of
the complete process and celebration after the successful closure of the project.
Leadership : Democratic style of leadership can be used so that the reviews and
feedbacks from the team members can be accumulated for proper documentation of goals and
objectives achieved.
TASK 4
P4 Effectiveness of PLC in application of the project
Every project has various phases of development through which it passes with
achievement of desired goals and objectives (Slack and Brandon-Jones, 2018). An
understanding of these phases allows the managers to maintain and control the activities of the

project efficiently. It provides a structured plan for completion of project, communicating the
progress of work done on timely basis and helps in defining the roles of the members. It also
helps in completing the project within a pre determined budget and stipulated time. Waterfall
model is a sequential design process in which progress of the stages of plan can be seen as
flowing steadily downwards through the stages of project life cycle. It is a breakdown of project
activities into linear and sequential phases where each phase depends on the deliverables of the
previous phase. The theories, models and concepts adopted in each stage makes the complete
project a success. The methodologies, tools and leadership styles adopted at each stage of PLC
gives a clear idea of goals that are to be achieved so that the project gets completed within time.
CONCLUSION
The above report gives a vast idea about the importance of operational management
principles in the administration of business practices to create highest level of efficiency possible
in the production and manufacturing processes. This helps in timely delivery of quality items to
the customers within time and as per the desires of customers. The report further gives a
continuous improvement plan which helps the organisation in improving its quality of products
and efficiency in managing waste and cost related to various processes. In second part of the
report detailed overview of how a project gets started and executed through various stages of
project life cycle is explained. This helps in identifying non-value adding stages and eliminating
them so as to reduce costs and wastages.