ASDA Supply Chain Improvement: BM563 Operations and Service Management

This report provides an analysis of ASDA's supply chain operations, focusing on improving efficiency through operations management practices. It evaluates the application of various technologies, such as logistic management software, radio technologies, blockchain, AI, robots, and 3D printing, to enhance ASDA's supply chain. The report also identifies supporting functions, including purchasing, that are linked to operations management. The analysis considers the impact of globalization, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the need for collaborative relationships with suppliers to achieve competitive advantages. The goal is to recommend improvements to ASDA's operations practice, supported by academic theory and business templates.

Operation and Service
Management

Executive Summary
Operations management is the practices which are the methods of operating the business
to provide the services that are needed for the completion of its daily operations. Supply chain
management is one of the practices of operations management which deals with the flow of
goods and services and includes all processes that transform raw materials into final products.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION ..........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................4
Operations management practice.................................................................................................4
Analysation of operations management practices for efficiency.................................................5
Evaluation of technology for embedding the operations management practice..........................7
Supporting functions linked to operations management practice................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Operations management is the administrative practices of the business which is helpful in
the creation of the highest level of efficiency for the creation of the highest level of efficiency
that is possible in an organization. In this project the chosen organization is ASDA a supermarket
retailer based in UK, for which the supply chain management is taken as the operational
management practices. The project will be targeting the ways in which the ASDA is able to
manage its supply chain operations. This project is going to be providing about the details that
are related to the ways in which the operations management practices are able to impact the
organization and its regards to the efficiency. In this project the evaluation of the technology
which can be used for the supply chain process has been achieved. This project is also
considered to be the process for the evaluation of the technology. The problem face by the
supply chain management is considered to be number of issues that has arisen in the supply chain
of the UK market after the pandemic. In this project the different technologies that can help the
organization in the development of the supply chain practices will be analysed.
MAIN BODY
Operations management practice
Supply chain management is one of the practices of the operations management. It is
considered to be the flow of goods and services that are included with all the process that are
considered to be acceptable with the raw materials into the final products. It can also be said as
the factor that is able to streamline the business and its supplies for the activities for the
maximization of the customers values and for gaining the competitive advantages in the market
place (Fatorachian and Kazemi, 2021).
The supply chain management is considered to be the factors which are considered to be
the ones that is able to contain the supermarket first private charter that comes in the response to
the global congestion and the rise in the prices of its products. The supply chain of ASDA
enables the firm to capitalise on its B2B relations which is considered to be very helpful for

acquiring a low cost of inputs and maximization of the economies of scale. It can be said that the
establishment of the network is very effective and important for the supplier to build the relations
for the reduction of the costs that helps in enhancing the purchasing of the leverage (Guan and
et.al., 2020).
Supply chain has been said to be the relationship that is considered to be able to expand
for coping with the diverse political, economic and physical environments for the achievement of
the global consolidation. It can be said that the UK retailers are helpful for the adaption of the
more collaborative approach for the SCM to be able to characterised by the relationships. Main
initiatives which are able to support the company and also gain the grocery logistics. The supply
chain of this organization is able to undertake a business transformation in order to align it with
the changes in the organizational structure. The lean thinking of the principles is considered to be
the score carding towards the reduction of the costs and mitigation of the supply chain risks.
Supply chain of the chain of the operational efficiency of the organization. The globalisation of
the supply chain of this company has been the reason for the increase in the complexity. These
issues occur due to the external factors that affect the supply chain of the organization.
The focus of ASDA has been to be able to provide the suppliers services that can help the
customers to be able to achieve the responsibilities of the retailers. It can be said that the
suppliers are fair for the partnerships with the help of the UK’s largest groceries supply chain
code of practice (Kamble, Gunasekaran and Gawankar, 2020). It is also considered to be the
factor which is able to gain the supply chain the grocery suppliers for the being able to manage
the day-to-day business operations which requires a level of commitment that is essential for the
fair issue
Since the Covid-19 the unprecedented demand on the supply chains around the globe has
increased. This is due to the increase in the hindrances that can cause the organization to be able
to play a delivering efficiency for keeping the supply chain and the operations for the challenges
that the environment has to face. It can be said that the operations management areas for the
organization have been considered to be the identification of the savings that can increase the
efficiencies for ensuring the organization remains for as efficiently as possible.
Analysation of operations management practices for efficiency
The operations management of the organization has been considered to be able to gain
the efficiency when it is responsible for being successful with each and every need of the

business and its distinction (Craighead, Ketchen Jr and Darby, 2020). The focus of the
organization is always changing as they are helpful for the development of the organizational
efficiency but also the internal standards of performance. Supply chain is also considered to be
the key towards the ways in which the business is able to harness the resources that are required
for the financial, human, technological or physical resources.
The type of technology that can help manage the supply chain of the organization are,
Logistic management software :
Such as warehouse management software, fleet management software, vehicle tracking
systems, route optimization and also the systems.
Radio technologies :
With an effective radio frequency identification can help you effective monitory for each
product from the point of production. This is considered to be very effective for the creation of
the collaboration in the route optimization systems for better supply chain practices.
Advanced weighing technologies :
It has been said that the high precision systems are also considered to be the factor which
is helpful for the onboard trucks scales that measure payload weight and truck's gross weight.
Computerisation of the weighing technologies :
This has been considered to be the factor which is said to be relevant towards the ways in
which the business is able to automate the planning and execution of the deliveries, consolidation
shipment and integration of the all the transport management operations from one panel to
another.
Inventory planning or forecasting systems :
The management of the organization has been considered to be able to allow the records
of the organization to help in the comparison of the forecasts from the different suppliers.
There are benefits of the supply chain which help the organization gain the efficiency that
it requires,
 For an organization the most essential part of the organization is to manage the ways in
which the business can visualize and track the operations of the organization.
 This is helpful for the company to develop strong collaboration with the suppliers.
 It has been said to be the real-time monitoring organization that is related to the process
such as shipping and invoicing the details.

 This is also considered to be the factor which is helpful for the sales to gain the order
with the market trends data and their analysis.
 This is also considered to be the factor which is responsible for the reduction of the
expenditure.
 In an organization the focus of the organization is laws to wards the ways in which it can
predict the future events in order to prepare itself. Supply chain allows the company to be
able to gain the ability to forecast the factors which are needed for gaining competitive
advantage.
Evaluation of technology for embedding the operations management practice
Following are some key technologies which can be useful for the embedding the
operation's management practices,
Internet :
Being on the greatest technology present internet has been the key towards the
development of most operations. It has been said to be the communication of the information that
are able to deliver the insights that are allowing upending traditional supply chain practices being
helpful for the manufacturers in the transportation of the companies (The 5 Functions of Supply
Chain Management, 2021). Internet has been able to allow the organization to be able to develop
the track of the weather conditions, environmental status and traffic patterns and even more
suppliers.
Blockchain :
The focus of the primarily associated with the cryptocurrencies blockchain, distribution
ledger technology and also ranking it high on the list for the technology to be able to bring
improvement to visibility and transparency for the development of the supply chain process
(Ketchen Jr and Craighead, 2020). Due to the creation of immutable record of transactions in the
technology it is also said to be well suited for tracking the provenance goods and establishing the
trust in the shared supplier information technology and also the tracking of the goods and
established trust in the shared supplier's information.
AI machine learning and analytics :
AI machinery has been said to be the tool or technology which is very easily the best way
of unlocking the insights into the complex global supply network. This is also said to be the
harnessing the combination of the technologies such as the AI machine learning and predictive

analytics of the companies which can also automate the warehouse operations for the
improvement of the delivery times that is proactively managed inventory optimize strategic
sourcing relationships. This is also the creation of the new customer experiences that increases
the satisfaction and boosts the sales. With the help of algorithms and predictive method the
companies can use large data sets and garner insights at granular level. It is also considered to be
the factor which is helpful for the human intervention.
Robots and automation :
Robots as a technology has been said to be coming in use for the moving the goods an
material throughout the warehouse for this company (Ketchen Jr and Craighead, 2020). It is the
part of the fulfilment process. The level of effectiveness of the use of robots in the supply chain
has increase with the daily improvements to the AI technology that allows the human to pick and
pack the automatically heavy loaded tasks which are considered to be very effective for the
improvement of the precision and mobility in the industrial robots. This is helpful for the
business to be able to generate the allowance of the new generation of the co-robots that allow
the organization to work with the humans as opposed to being cordoned off in a separate safety
zone.
3D printing :
This is the technology that allows the decentralization of the production and make the
product and parts in local assemble hubs. This is the technology which has been considered to be
able to cut back the costs on logistics and transportation costs, reduction of the carbon footprint,
sidestep geopolitical risks and tariffs associated with offshore of outsources and getting the
products to consumer faster (Birkel and Müller, 2021.).
Supporting functions linked to operations management practice
The functions which support the operations of the company are also considered to be the
ones that are linked to the supply chain of ASDA are,
Purchasing :
This is considered to be the function that is helpful for the manufacturing process to get
influenced with the raw material that is required and also the production of goods and products.
It is also considered to be the helpful for these materials for the delivering of the time of
production that begins in the coordination of the suppliers and delivery of the companies that are
required for the avoiding the potential delays.

Operations :
The demand of the planning forecasting are also considered to be the factor which allows
the business to be able too helpful to procure the demand of the market that is helpful for the
dictation of the ways in which the units are produced (Min,, Zacharia and Smith, 2019). It is also
considered to be the key factor that is essential for the demand to be forecasted in the ways that it
helps the inventory to lead or demand the dictation of the required production.
Logistics :
Logistics is basically a part of the supply chain which has been considered to be very
helpful for the coordination of all the aspects of the planning, purchasing, production and
warehousing. The focus of the transportation are also considered to be very helpful for the
products that allows the organization in reaching the end consumer without the hindrances. This
is also said to be the adequacy for the organization that allows the business to gain the quick and
low cost operations in the organization.
Resources management :
The production of the organization is said to be dependent a lot on the different resources
of the organization which are responsible for the right resources that allow the allocation of the
right. It is essential for ensuring that optimization of the production schedule that has been
created towards the maximization of the efficiency of the operations (Mastos and et.al., 2021).
For this organization calculations of the efficiency of the operations is considered to be effective
for the resources and the determination of the ways in which it can perform the work on the
given scheduled time. It has been said to be the factor which is essential for the over-provision of
the orders that help the production that is schedules for the feasible and accurate.
Information Workflow :
The information about the ways in which the sharing and distribution of the organization
is able to keep the functions of the supply chain management on track (Xu and et.al., 2020). It is
helpful for the business to be able to gain the entire chain of disruption which is able to arise in
the supply chain for the prevention of increasing the communication practices and also the
visibility of the ways in which the business is able to gain consistency for the ways in which the
it is able to manage the data.

CONCLUSION
With the help of this project, it can be concluded that the supply chain management of
ASDA is one of the most essential parts of the operations of this company. The use of correct
methods and technology can help ASDA to be able to overcome the issues that is has been
having the supply chain. The focus of this organization has been towards responses for the direct
suppliers has been able to develop their own understanding about ASDA. In this project the area
of operations about ASDA’s supply chain has been explained. It also includes the different
activities that has impacted the performance of the company. It is also the identification of the
best practices for supply chain best practices and the functional area has been analysed from this
project. This project will critically analyse the management techniques and strategies for
implementation of the supply chain practices. It will also evaluate the technology that is
embedded in the process of improving the supply chain process. This project is also the
protection of the functions for the links in the operations management for the evaluation of the
practices that enhance the success.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Birkel, H. and Müller, J .M., 2021. Potentials of industry 4.0 for supply chain management
within the triple bottom line of sustainability–A systematic literature review. Journal of
Cleaner Production. 289. p.125612.
Craighead, C. W., Ketchen Jr, D. J. and Darby, J. L., 2020. Pandemics and supply chain
management research: Toward a theoretical toolbox. Decision Sciences. 51(4). pp.838-
866.
Fatorachian, H. and Kazemi, H., 2021. Impact of Industry 4.0 on supply chain performance.
Production Planning & Control. 32(1). pp.63-81.
Guan, D., and et.al., 2020. Global supply-chain effects of COVID-19 control measures. Nature
human behaviour. 4(6). pp.577-587.
Kamble, S.S., Gunasekaran, A. and Gawankar, S.A., 2020. Achieving sustainable performance
in a data-driven agriculture supply chain: A review for research and applications.
International Journal of Production Economics. 219. pp.179-194.
Ketchen Jr, D. J. and Craighead, C. W., 2020. Research at the intersection of entrepreneurship,
supply chain management, and strategic management: Opportunities highlighted by
COVID-19. Journal of Management. 46(8). pp.1330-1341.
Kshetri, N., 2018. 1 Blockchain’s roles in meeting key supply chain management objectives.
International Journal of Information Management. 39. pp.80-89.
Mastos, T. D., and et.al., 2021. Introducing an application of an industry 4.0 solution for circular
supply chain management. Journal of Cleaner Production. 300. p.126886.
Min, S., Zacharia, Z. G. and Smith, C. D., 2019. Defining supply chain management: in the past,
present, and future. Journal of Business Logistics. 40(1). pp.44-55.
Xu, S., and et.al., 2020. Disruption risks in supply chain management: a literature review based
on bibliometric analysis. International Journal of Production Research. 58(11).
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Online
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