Operations and Project Management in Ford Motor Company

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OPERATIONS AND PROJECT
MANAGEMENT
1

Contents
LIST OF FIGURES.............................................................................................................................4
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................................. 5
LO 1................................................................................................................................................ 6
P1 REVIEW AND CRITIQUE OF IMPLEMENTATION OF OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
PRINCIPLES IN TVR MOTORS......................................................................................................6
M1 REVIEW THE IMPLEMENTATION OF OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT IN FORD MOTOR
RELATING TO SIX SIGMA AND LEAN PRINCIPLES.......................................................................9
LO 2.............................................................................................................................................. 11
P2 PREPARE A CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT PLAN ON THE BASIS OF REVIEW OF
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES WITHIN FORD MOTOR COMPANY.........................11
M2 ANALYZE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT PLAN BY USING
APPROPRIATE THEORIES AND CONCEPTS................................................................................14
LO 3.............................................................................................................................................. 17
P3 APPLY EACH STAGE OF PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE (PLC) IN THE PROJECT PRODUCING
NECESSARY DOCUMENTS SUCH AS BUSINESS CASE, PROJECT PLAN AND WORK BREAKDOWN
STRUCTURE.............................................................................................................................. 17
M3 ANALYZE THE RATIONALE FOR THE PROJECT METHODOLOGIES, TOOLS AND LEADERSHIP
WITHIN THE PLC OF THE PROJECT...........................................................................................21
LO4............................................................................................................................................... 22
P4 REVIEW THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PLC IN THE GIVEN PROJECT WITH THE HELP OF
APPROPRIATE THEORIES AND CONCEPTS................................................................................22
M4 ANALYZE THE USE OF CONCEPTS AND THEORIES IN PLC THAT WILL DIFFERENTIATE
BETWEEN LARGE AND SMALL-SCALE PROJECTS......................................................................24
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................... 26
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REFERENCES.................................................................................................................................27
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: OPERATIONS V/S OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT.............................................................7
Figure 2: LEAN PRODUCTION.........................................................................................................9
Figure 3: SIX SIGMA APPROACH...................................................................................................10
Figure 4: ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING...............................................................................12
Figure 5: SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT OF FORD MOTOR COMPANY.......................................12
Figure 6: NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT....................................................................................13
Figure 7: CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT PLAN.............................................................................14
Figure 8: PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE OF FORD MOTOR COMPANY......................................................17
Figure 9: WBS STRUCTURE OF FORD MOTOR COMPANY............................................................20
Figure 10: PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE.................................................................................................. 23
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INTRODUCTION
The assignment is concerned with the effectiveness of operations management and its
principles in one of the largest automobile manufacturing company of UK, Ford Motors. The
report will discuss various concepts and theories of improvement in business operations with
the help of models like introduction of new product, product life cycle, management of supply
chain, Kaizen concept, and etc. The report will also lay its emphasis on practices of project
management and documentation needed for planning, implementing and directing the projects
in Ford Motors. The last part of the report will focus on the measurement of performance and
monitoring and evaluation of PLC of Ford Motors.
Ford Motor Company, UK was developed in 1903 by Henry Ford, headquartered in Michigan,
US. Ford Motor is a multinational corporation that manufactures and sells automobiles
worldwide under its brand name Ford and produces and markets luxury vehicles under the
brand name Lincoln. After general motors, Ford is the 2nd largest automotive in the UK (Dyrud,
2016). The company earned revenue of US $160.33 billion till 2018 and employed 199,000
peoples till December 2018.
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LO 1
P1 REVIEW AND CRITIQUE OF IMPLEMENTATION OF OPERATIONS
MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES IN TVR MOTORS
INTRODUCTION
Ford Motor is the fifth largest automaker in the world on the basis of vehicle production in
2015. The products offered by Ford Motors are automobiles, vehicles, pickup trucks, SUVs,
automotive parts and commercial vehicles (Dyrud, 2016). The company has produces 6.6
million vehicles till 2017. The Ford motor company focuses on improving its productivity by
continuously engaging in enhancing the quality of vehicles and services given by the company
(Dyrud, 2016). The effective implementation of operations management in Ford considers the
following areas:
Operations v/s operations management:
The operations management in Ford motor focuses on making strategic decisions that deal
with the dynamic conditions of the business (Maxcy and Silberston, 2017). These decisions
cover various areas of operations management which include designing of goods, services,
processes and capacity, strategies regarding layout, logistics, management of the supply chain
network, management of inventory, quality management, scheduling and maintenance. Thus,
ford motor is engaged in effectively managing all the activities that are related to the
production and marketing of automobiles (Maxcy and Silberston, 2017).
The operations of Ford motor UK includes planning, organizing, directing and controlling the
tasks of the business in order to convert the raw materials and efforts of the workforce into
valuable finished goods which attract the customer and increase their satisfaction (Piercy,
2015). These operations comprise of the purchasing of raw materials which include auto parts,
etc., a production process where the raw materials are processed into finished goods such as
cars, trucks, buses, etc., marketing, warehousing, distribution and selling of the products.
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Therefore the process of operations management deals with the transformation of inputs into
the outputs (Maxcy and Silberston, 2017).
Figure 1: OPERATIONS V/S OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
(Source: Piercy, 2015)
Different approaches to operations management:
The management of operations is concerned with formulating of strategies and policies,
planning for ordering the raw materials, applying various theories and concepts within the
organization, measuring and controlling the performance of production in order to improve
quality and reduce cost and thus, resulting in optimum utilization of the resources of the
company (Piercy, 2015). Thus, the effective management of operations plays a crucial role in
gaining a competitive advantage to the business.
Scientific theory of management:
Taylor’s scientific theory focuses on increasing the productivity by eliminating unnecessary
physical movements by the workers and assigning tasks and responsibilities to the workers
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according to their strength and capabilities in order to get effective results (Shafritz et al. 2015).
Ford utilized the strategies formulated by Taylor in the business operations in order to achieve
the complete advantage of expertise by reducing the cost, using efficiencies in the production
process and thus, improving productivity. Taylor's theory helped for the motor in producing
cars more quickly and at affordable rates and also resulted in an increase in demand for the
automobiles offered by the company and the company sold 10 million Ts Model by 1924
(Shafritz et al. 2015).
Relation between operations and various other business functions:
The operations function of Ford motor plays a significant role in creating valuable products at
improved quality, reduced cost of production and increased demand of the customers
(Nahmias and Olsen, 2015). The operations of the business are related to other functional
departments such as finance, human resource, research and development, marketing, etc. in
the following manner:
Operations and finance function: the operations manager has to estimate the need of finance
for purchasing the raw materials and engaging in the production process and communicate the
requirement to the finance manager accurately (Nahmias and Olsen, 2015).
Operations and human resource: the need of human resource by the operations department
can be fulfilled by communicating the demand of the position to the human resource manager
so that skilled personnel can be recruited and selected for the vacant position (Nahmias and
Olsen, 2015).
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M1 REVIEW THE IMPLEMENTATION OF OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT IN FORD
MOTOR RELATING TO SIX SIGMA AND LEAN PRINCIPLES
Improving efficiencies and effectiveness by using principles of lean and six sigma
Lean production: Ford motor company established a base for lean production by focusing on
major areas such as standardization, reducing wastage of materials and movements, managing
the supply chain by applying just-in-time manufacturing in the business, emphasizing on
providing excellent customers services, thus improving the productivity (Nicholas, 2015).
Figure 2: LEAN PRODUCTION
(Source: Nicholas, 2015)
Thus, the lean production brings all the resources such as human, machine, material, money,
etc. together at the right time at the right place in order to reduce the cost and eliminating
wastage from production, transportation, inventory, movements and defects so as to improve
the quality and thus, aims at bringing continuous improvement in the operations of the
business (Nicholas, 2015).
SIX SIGMA
The Ford Motor implemented Six Sigma in the business in 1990 in order to reduce the overall
production cost, improve the quality and satisfaction of the customers. This approach applied
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by the ford motors was called Consumer-driven Six Sigma. With the help of six sigma strategy,
ford was able to achieve effectiveness and efficiencies in the business (Kornegay, 2015).
Figure 3: SIX SIGMA APPROACH
(Source: Kornegay, 2015)
The DMAIC approach under the six sigma methodology helps in improvement of the existing
processes and systems applying the process of defining, measuring, analyzing, improving and
controlling the activities in order to increase improvement in production and solve problems of
the consumers to encourage efficiency (Kornegay, 2015).
CONCLUSION
Therefore it can be concluded that the combined use of six sigma and lean production in Ford
Motor has helped the company in streamlining its operations, increasing the value of its
products by eliminating the wastage and reducing the cost of production. These techniques are
complex and require a high level of training as they result in increased efficiencies and
effectiveness of the production (Kornegay, 2015).
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LO 2
P2 PREPARE A CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT PLAN ON THE BASIS OF REVIEW
OF OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES WITHIN FORD MOTOR COMPANY
INTRODUCTION
The continuous improvement plan is focused on bringing changes for the betterment of the
company by improving its manufacturing, production, management and other business
procedures. Ford Motor adopted the following plan in 2006 and it helped the company in
gaining competitive advantage in the industry (Mitra, 2016).
Operations functions of Ford Motor that helps in improving effectiveness and efficiencies:
MINIMIZATION OF COST: The Ford Motor focuses on automating the process of production
and manufacturing. It adopted the function of the assembly line in order to ease the process of
production of products at good quality and reduce the overall cost of the operations. Ford
motor company applies six sigma and lean production in business in order to improve the
quality of production and reduce the cost (Mitra, 2016).
QUALITY IMPROVEMENT: The Kaizen concept used by Ford Motor in business is helpful in
eliminating wastage and defects and thus, ensuring specialization in the quality of services and
products offered by the company. The Six Sigma technique used by Ford Motor is engaged in
improving the quality of operations at a different level in the business (Mitra, 2016).
TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT: This operation of Ford Motor is engaged in integrating the
marketing, finance, HR, production, design, etc. functions of the business for satisfying the
needs of the consumers by providing the products and services with good quality. TQM aims at
doing the things right every time for contstantly improving the production process in the Ford
Motor Company (Mitra, 2016).
ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING (ERP): ERP software helps in automating the activities of HR
and finance department such as order processing, inventory control, production scheduling,
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etc. Ford Motor planned to run a joint venture with Oracle corporation with the formation of
autoXchange that will help in the procurement of supply chain in the business electronically
(Zijm and Regattieri, 2019).
Figure 4: ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING
(Source: Zijm and Regattieri, 2019)
SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT (SCM): The SCM of Ford Motor focuses on maximizing the
satisfaction of the consumers by developing economic and efficient supply chains within the
business and managing all the operations starting from allocation of raw material to
transformation of raw materials into finished goods (Hugos, 2018). The ford utilizes systems of
quality control in order to minimize the defects in the inventory.
Figure 5: SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT OF FORD MOTOR COMPANY
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(Source: Hugos, 2018)
NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT (NPD):
The product development in Ford Motor comprises of four phases consisting of many
programs. These phases of product development can be explained as:
Figure 6: NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
(Source: Aikhuele et al. 2017)
The product definition phase: in this, the managers define the needs of the customer and
assess the feasibility of the program in order to formulate plans and strategies and set targets
and allocate resources (Aikhuele et al. 2017).
The design phase: in this phase, the defining and designing of the quality, style, engineering,
technology, etc. for the manufacturing of the product after analyzing and understanding the
requirements of the customer with the help of market research (Aikhuele et al. 2017).
The verify and launch phase: the product design is ready by this stage and now the product is
tested using different software tools and in the sample, market to monitor its efficiency and
make changes wherever needed before launching the product (Aikhuele et al. 2017).
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