Project Management and Operations Management

The assignment involves a case study of BPC Electronics, where the manager analyses the problem and develops strategies to improve the identified problems. It requires effective decisions to be taken to improve efficiency within business activities. The manager also measures improvements in activities and takes correction actions if any deviations are found. The study guide covers topics such as operations management, project management, total quality management, and six sigma improvement plan.

Qualification Unit number and title
Unit 16: Operations and Project Management
Submitted on:
22/10/2018 29/04/2019
Learni
ng
Outco
me
Learning Outcome Assessme
nt Criteria
In this assessment you will have the opportunity
to present evidence that shows you are able to:
Task
no.
Evidence
(Page no)
L O1
Review and
critique the
effectiveness of
operations
management
principles
P1 Conduct a review and critique of the implementation of
operations management principles within an
organisational context.
M1 Review and critique the implementation of operations
management in relation to Six Sigma methodology and
Lean principles
D1 Apply appropriate theories, concepts and/or models to
justify strategies of a continuous improvement plan for
achieving improved efficiency.
LO2
Apply the concept
of continuous
improvement in
an operational
context
P2 Prepare a continuous improvement plan based on the
review and critique of operations management
principles within an organisational context.
M2 Analyse the effectiveness of a continuous improvement
plan using appropriate theories, concepts and/or
models.
LO3 Apply the Project
Life Cycle (PLC)
to a given context
P3 Apply each stage of the PLC to a given project,
producing necessary supporting documentation for
completing the project e.g. a business case, project
plan, work breakdown structure.
M3 Analyse the rationale for the project methodologies,
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tools and leadership within the PLC for the given
project.
D2 Critically evaluate the PLC through a practical and
theoretical exploration of its effectiveness.
LO4
Review and
critique the
application of the
PLC used in a
given project
P4 Review and critique the effectiveness of the PLC in
application to the chosen project using appropriate
theories, concepts and models.
M4 Critically analyse how the use of appropriate theories,
concepts and models in the PLC will differentiate
between large and small-scale projects.
Learner declaration
I certify that the work submitted for this assignment is my own and research sources are fully acknowledged.
Student signature:
Operations and
Project Management
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
P1 Conduct a review implementation of operations management within an organisational
context.........................................................................................................................................1
TASK 2 ...........................................................................................................................................3
P2. Continuous Improvement plan..............................................................................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................4
REFFRENCES.................................................................................................................................5
INTRODUCTION
Operations Management is defined as the administration of the business practices to
achieve maximum level of efficiency within the organisation. Hence majorly it is concerned with
converting raw materials and labour into efficient goods and services so as to maximise profit for
an organisation. Project Management is considered with administering, executing and controlling
the project activities in a effective manner to achieve the desirable outcomes. The chosen
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organisation is BPC electronics which is an electronic manufacturing company and excels in
product design and provides products through out UK (Binder, 2016). Project will throw light
on the principles of operational management and a continuous improvement plan along with the
actual improvement plan within an organisation.
TASK 1
P1 Conduct a review implementation of operations management within an organisational
context.
Operational Management is an area of management which is concerned with designing,
controlling and production of goods in order to achieve maximum efficiency in manufacturing of
goods and services. It ensures that operations of the business activities are carried out in such a
way which leads to maximum utilisation of resources without any wastage. There are different
principles of Operational Management which helps the manager within the respective
organisation to conduct the business activities in a proper manner.
 Total Quality Management- It is an management approach which involves employees
in continual improvement in providing goods and services to the customer. It is the
continuous process of detecting and eliminating errors in the manufacturing process that
ensures the products are produced with maximum efficiency and overall improves the
quality of the final product or a service. The advantage associated is that it reduces cost
throughout the organisation especially in the areas of scrap, rework and helps in detect
reduction and helps to improve the overall quality of the products. Disadvantage
associated is TQM is expensive to implement as incurs cost for the organisation to
provide training to the employees and it took years to show positive results.
 Just In Time- It is also known as Just in Time production where products are created in
order to meet demands, not created in surplus or in a advance manner. This is an effective
inventory strategy to decrease waste and to increase efficiency by receiving the goods as
they are needed for the production process. It has greatest advantage it reduces cost for
the respective company to store inventory and leads to waste reduction and smaller
investments for the company. But there is a risk of running out of stock and hence more
planning is required by the managers hence this requires more time (Fleming and
Koppelman, 2016).
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 Inventory Management- It refers to the process of ordering, storing and using the
company's inventory in a effective way which includes the effective management of raw
materials and finished products which assist the manager of the respective company to
proper store the inventory as well as helps the manager to take effective decisions
regarding reordering and helps in keeping the track of the stock manually. The greatest
advantage associate is it helps the manager within the respective organisation to take
proper decisions regarding keeping stock and reordering of products but it is complex and
a costly process for the company as it requires effective personal in managing and
handling data and requires training for the software and keeping it up to date.
These are the effective principles of Operational Management which the assist the manager of
the respective organisation to produce the goods effectively by minimising the effects and errors.
These principles can be effectively applied within BPC Electronics as with the inventory
management it helps the manager within the respective organisation to properly stock the raw
materials and the final products as well as provide ideas to the manager to what amount to
purchase or produce and can effectively take decisions. With the help of Total Quality
Management it assist the managers of BPC Electronics to reduce the waste during their
production process and achieves maximum efficiency in production and attain maximum profits
for the company (Harrison and Lock, 2017). Just in Time production technique helps the
managers of the respective organisation to reduce the cost of storing inventory as well helps in
reducing waste and helps in providing products according to the demands of the customer.
TASK 2
P2. Continuous Improvement plan
Continuous Improvement plan- It is a process or an ongoing effort to improve or make
changes in the products and services according to the changes in demand of the customer. It is
effective process to provide goods to the consumer according to their demand and meet up their
satisfaction level.
Continuous Improvement Plan
Provider
Date
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Source/Origin Anticipated outcomes Present performances Strategies for
improvement
Promotional Tools Lack of information of
BPC electronics would
lead to lows sales and
will reduce profit for
the company (Heizer
and et. al., 2017).
This leads of low
customers trust on the
company as they are
not aware about the
company;s products
and policies.
Companies should start
advertising their
products and creating
awareness among the
customer so as to
enhance their brand
image.
After Sales Service Customers anticipate
them after sales
services are not
provided by the
company.
Customers feel that
warranty period
provided for the goods
is for 9 months, which
leads to reduced sales
BPC Electronics should
provide necessary
information to the
customers and should
take feedback from
them to make changes
in their products and
services according to
their demands.
For example- BPC ELECTRONICS which is lacking in their promotional tools and after
sales services should identify their present performance and should bring continuous
improvements by starting advertising in online and print media and provided after sales services
so as to improve the performance within respective company.
Six Sigma Improvement plan
Six sigma improvement plan focuses on improving the capability of their business
process which leads to increase in the performance and profitability by improvements in the
profit by reducing the defects and errors in production process and enhances the quality of
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products. The method which is associated with Six Sigma is DMAIC which assist to reduce the
problems and improves the quality of the products.
 Define- Under this step managers of the respective company defines the problems and
objectives of the company. Manager within BPC electronics should define their business
problems such as lack of promotional tools and after sales services from which the
respective company is facing the problem of decreased demand and lesser profit margins.
 Measure- Here manager of the BPC Electronics measures the current performance and
keeps the record of the activities and measures the successful of the product in the
market. It is the duty of the manager within the respective organisation to measure the
appropriateness of strategies such as adverting tool for creating awareness and after sales
services. Measuring the appropriateness of this strategies will provide insight to the
manager to take further decisions.
 Analyse- Here manager of the BPC Electronics analyses the problem and develop
strategies in order to improve the problems identified (Heldman, 2018). It is required by
the manager to analyse the deviations found by appropriately adopting the strategies and
thus requires effective decisions to be taken to improve the efficiency within the business
activities.
 Improve- This is considered with making improvements and changes in the business
activities by adopting various theories and principles and providing quality products to
the consumer. This requires manager at BPC electronics to improve the organisational
performance and improves the efficiency of the business practices by adopting various
strategies and moreover effective approaches should be adopted such as Total Quality
Management and six sigma approach to minimise defects and waste and thus removes
efficiency in its business practices.
 Control- Managers measures the improvements in the activities and if any deviations are
found correction actions are taken so that waste and errors can be eliminate during
production process. This activity adopted by the organisation helps to measure variances
and deviation in their business practices and takes effective actions against the same so as
to maintain efficiency ion their business practices. Therefore adopting effective strategies
it leads to increased awareness of the company and enhances productivity and
profitability.
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For example- six sigma improvement plan adopted within respective organisation allows them
to remove defects and waste in the production process and improve the performance and
productivity within respective organisation.
CONCLUSION
From the above project it has been concluded that operations and project management
helps in executing and controlling the project activities in better manner so that efficiency can be
achieved and defects can be removed. Moreover with the help of continuous improvement and
six sigma improvement plan it assist the managers of the respective company to make changes
goods according to the demands of the customer.
REFFRENCES
Books and Journals
Binder, J., 2016. Global project management: communication, collaboration and management
across borders. Routledge.
Fleming, Q.W. and Koppelman, J.M., 2016, December. Earned value project management.
Project Management Institute.
Harrison, F. and Lock, D., 2017. Advanced project management: a structured approach.
Routledge.
Heizer and et. al., 2017. Operations management: sustainability and supply chain management,
12/e. Pearson Education.
Heldman, K., 2018. PMP: project management professional exam study guide. John Wiley &
Sons.
Kerzner, H., 2019. Using the project management maturity model: strategic planning for project
management. Wiley.
Kundu and et. al., 2015. A journey from normative to behavioral operations in supply chain
management: A review using Latent Semantic Analysis. Expert Systems with
Applications.42(2). pp.796-809.
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