Operations and Service Management: Inventory Analysis at Morrison

This report analyzes the inventory management practices at Morrison, a large UK retailing company. It identifies key operational management practices, such as warehouse management and inventory control, and critically examines their impact on organizational efficiency. The report evaluates the technologies used by Morrison, including WMS software, artificial intelligence, and GPS tracking, and how these technologies are embedded within the inventory process. Furthermore, it discusses the supporting functional areas linked to inventory management, such as store management and supply chain, and how they contribute to the company's success. The analysis also touches upon inventory management techniques like FIFO and Just-in-Time, highlighting their importance in Morrison's operational strategy. The report concludes by emphasizing the significance of effective inventory management in achieving organizational goals, enhancing customer satisfaction, and gaining a competitive advantage.

Operations and Service
Management

Executive summary
Inventory management is the process of ordering, managing, keeping, and utilizing inventory
appropriately which will help a company to achieve their goal. There are various benefits of
inventory management in retailing company such as satisfying customers, better productivity,
cost reduction and many others. The main aim of the company is to identify the operation
management practices, the ways of selected operation management practices which impacts the
organisation’s efficiency to achieve their goal. This report also aims to identify the technologies
which is used by the company to manage their inventory and the supporting functional areas
which can be linked together to ensure success of the company.

Executive summary .........................................................................................................................2
Introduction .....................................................................................................................................4
Main Body.......................................................................................................................................4
Identify operation management practice within a chosen organization.......................................4
Critically analyse how this selected operation management practice impacts the organisation
in regards to efficiency.................................................................................................................5
Evaluate how technology could be embedded in this process or evaluate how this has already
been achieved...............................................................................................................................7
What supporting functions are linked to this operation management practice and evaluate how
can they assist with ensuring organisational success?.................................................................8
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................13
Online-...........................................................................................................................................14

Introduction
It is an essential for every organization to manage their operational activities appropriate.
This will help them to achieve their organizational goal effectively (Tanaka, Leung and Cook,
2022). Inventory management is the process of managing and utilizing stock of company in such
a manner which will help the company to avoid facing the risk of lack of items within the stores.
It is essential for company to manage their inventory appropriately especially in retail industry.
Morrison is one of the largest growing retailing companies in UK which is headquartered in
Bradford, UK. It is founded in the year 1899 by William Morrison. The following report covers
main operational management practices with Morrison company, the ways in which operational
management practices impacts the organization in regards to success. This report also covers
technology that could be embedded in this process or evaluate how this has already been
achieved. At the end of this report it will cover interlinked between supporting functional
departments which are linked to operational management practices. The following report will be
carry out by collecting various secondary information from internet sources and journals.
Main Body
Identify operation management practice within a chosen organization.
Inventory management is the process of ordering, storing, using, and selling a company’s
inventory in an appropriate manner which will provide benefit to company. There are various
kinds of benefits of managing inventory of an organization and few of the benefits are mentioned
below-
Cost saving- A better inventory manager knows that how much inventory is required by the
company and in what quantity due to their effective management (Ramos, de Morais and
Barbosa-Póvoa, 2019). Hence, this will help the company y to order only that much inventory
which is actually needed. Therefore, this will help to save the cost of money for spending it on
unwanted inventory requirement.
Enhance productivity- Better inventory management will help the company to enhance their
organizational performance. Especially in context of retailing sector, good inventory
management will help the companies to maintain the items in their stores and make their

customers satisfies. Employees also get engaged in work when they found that company is
having appropriate inventory. Hence, this will enhance productivity of the stores.
Customer satisfaction- Appropriate inventory management of a retailing company will help the
customers to get more satisfied because when a customer is able to find all products within a one
store than he/she is not required to move from store to store to find their required product
(Zhang, Huang and Yuan, 2021).
In context of Morrison, they have their own warehouses for storing their products in
bulk and then shift them from their warehouses to their supermarkets and hypermarkets across
the UK. They use various kinds of software and technology to manage their inventory
appropriately. The store manager is required to convey the message to warehouse manager about
the product whichever they need to retain in their store inventories. The warehouse manager
makes sure that the ordered inventory will be reached by the stores on appropriate time. They are
having their own vehicles for shifting bulk of inventories from place to place. This will help
them to track the route and time for receiving inventory by store managers. Secondly, the store
manager of Morrison analyse the products which are having more demand in market so that they
will order some extra quantity of those products only which are having more demand at recent
time. Morrison also focuses to manage their warehouses appropriately and keep the products in
such a manner which become easy to find in future. They divided their warehouses in various
compounds and keep similar kind of product in one compound. This will help warehouse
employees to find the items easily and transport it to required stored.
Critically analyse how this selected operation management practice impacts the organisation in
regards to efficiency
Inventory management of Morrison will help them to achieve their organisational goal and
further impacts the organisation in positive way to create efficacy for the company. There are
various ways in which effective inventory management will help the Morrison to achieve their
organisational goal effectively. In context of Morrison, each store has inventory room and each
store is assigned an inventory manager which will record all incoming and outgoing stocks
effectively. Keeping the records appropriately will help the company to analyse which product is
having more demand in market. Secondly, they are able to satisfy their customers with their
inventory management because every retailing customer need that they will find their required

products within one store so that they should avoid to move store to store to purchase different
products. Hence, effective management of inventory will help the Morrison to fulfil this need of
their customers and whenever any customer requires any product they will quickly offer them.
This will further help them to satisfy their customers and their customers gain motivation to
reach the store again next time (Nugra, Wiyarta and Kurniawan, 2018). Hence, appropriate
inventory management will help the Morrison to gain customer’s satisfaction and develop their
profitability and brand reputation in market.
On the other hand, they are able to increase the total number of their customers by
satisfying them to provide their required products. Hence, employees of the stores are also
requiring working effectively to explain the features and benefits of their products. In simple
words, appropriate inventory management will also motivate employees to engage more in their
organisational task. Hence, an appropriate engaged employee can help the company to achieve
their goal with efficiency (Morrison Inventory Management, 2022). Inventory management of
Morrison can also help them to gain competitive advantage within the industry because better
offering to customers and lowering the prices will help to attract more customers and influence
them to become loyal customers of the company. Hence, more customers’ means more market
share and it further help the company to become the industry leader by gaining competitive
advantage. Effective inventory management also help the company to maintain their cost benefit
by reducing to invest in those products which are not in demand (Atnafu and Balda, 2019).
Arranging inventory by Morrison will also help them to analyse their productive and
unproductive activities at inventory management task so that they will eliminate the
unproductive activities from the company and invest more for productive activities only.
Techniques and theories of inventory management-
First In, First Out method- This is the inventory management technique which helps the
companies to effectively manage their inventories for their benefit (Muchaendepi and et. al.,
2019). According to this technique, companies will select those items to shift in store which they
ordered first. For example, Morrison, order any item in the month of September and again
ordered the same product in the month of November then the company will use September
ordered item first than November ordered item. This will help the company to save their products
from getting spoiled in case of eatable products and it also help the products to avoid reaching
their expired date in inventory rooms only in case of non-eatable products.

Just in Time- It is form of inventory management where a company is required to work closely
with their suppliers and maintain a good relationship with them so that raw material which is
arrived will be schedule to begin packaging soon (Mankazana, Silase and Molefe, 2018). In case
of high demand of any product and by change Morrison face the lack of inventory even in their
warehouses than they are required to use this technique if they are having good relations with
their suppliers and order the products as soon as possible for further packaging and labelling
process.
Evaluate how technology could be embedded in this process or evaluate how this has already
been achieved
Technology plays an important role in managing inventory for Morrison. Few of the
technological role in inventory management for Morrison is mentioned below-
WMS software optimising warehouse operations solutions- In context of Morrison, they use
in- DEX WMS Warehouse Management Software which helps Morrison to remote various
picking options to operate effectively (Warehouse Management Software Boosts Stock Picking
Accuracy to 99%, 2022). It also helps them to increase picking accuracy and reduce load time.
This software will help the company to analyse total number of items available in their
warehouses and how much they require to order from their suppliers (Macoir and et. al., 2019).
This software keeps all records of incoming and outgoing of inventory as well as it also records
the orders from stores of Morrison which they receive. This software helps Morrison to improve
their workflow efficiency. The results of using this software for the company is mentioned
below-
1. Efficiency delivery £1m in annual business profit.
2. The picking accuracy of the company increases by 99%.
3. This software helps the Morrison to get integrated and be connected with other
warehouses of the same company.
Artificial intelligence- With the main aim of drive efficiency and improve customer service,
Morrison has developed a system which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning for
managing their inventory within their 491 stores across the UK (Morrison uses artificial
intelligence to stock its stores and drive sales, 2022). This system will help them to predict that
which stock is needed by which store among 491 stores. This system record sales data, and

precise weather data for the company so that they will predict that in which season or weather
time the specific product is having more demand (Russo, 2019). Store manager of Morrison also
add dates and time to the system so that on busy days the system will not allow to keep the
shelves empty.
GPS tracking system- Morrison also uses GPS tracking system for their inventory management
activities where they can easily track the vehicle which is having their products with the main
aim of placing them from their warehouse to their stores (Marra and et. al., 2019). This system
will help the company to analyse the shortest route with less traffic to reach at the destination.
Here, Morrison’s truck and vans use this system to analyse the route as well as appropriate time
to reach at stores. The store manager can also track the vehicle while sitting in their stores and
get to know the time remaining to reach the inventory in their stores. This system is not only
used in vehicles only but it is also used in warehouse to analyse which box of item is placed
where so that employee will find it easily. This will help the employees to save their time to
search for the item they require from huge quantity of products in warehouses.
Barcode system- A barcode is unique graphics with numbers or texts and when this barcode is
scanned, the data from the product is instantly transferred to computers. It is the technology
which is used to track the inventory easily and in fastest manner. Here, company places a
barcode to each product in the warehouse and it get scanned by handheld mobile device.
What supporting functions are linked to this operation management practice and evaluate how
can they assist with ensuring organisational success?
There are various departments which are linked with inventory management and help the
Morrison to manage their inventory appropriately. Few of the department links with inventory
department is mentioned below-
Marketing department and inventory department- Marketing is the department which
is responsible to analyse needs and wants of customers and their preferences (Tajpour and
Salamzadeh, 2019). This department help the inventory department to analyse the demand of
product within the market. They directly communicate with inventory manager and convey them
the names of those products which are having high demand in market so that inventory manager
will order additional stock of the same product which is in demand. On the other hand, they also
help the company to predict the products whose demand can decline in near future so that

inventory manager will not invest high cost and time to manage the arrangement of those
products which are having low demand.
HR department and inventory department- HR department is responsible for hiring
and managing employees within the company and they are also having important role in
formulation of organisational policies and guidelines which is essential for employees to follow
to maintain discipline at workplace (Gill, 2021). In context of Morrison, their HR department
help the inventory department to hire skilled and talented employees and inventory manager who
have appropriate knowledge to manage their inventories. They also focus to provide them
training from inventory specialist trainers to enhance their skills for organisational benefit. HR
department formulate guidelines and convey it to each department including inventory
department so that their employees will follow them appropriately. Secondly, they are also
responsible to check whether employees in inventory department are performing well or not so
that they will terminate unproductive employees and hire more productive employees.
Sales department and inventory department- Sales department is responsible for
analysing and improving sales of their product in the market. In context of Morrison, their sales
department will convey details about the product which are having better sales in market. Hence,
this will help the inventory manager to analyse which product they need to order in more
quantity as compared to other products.
IT department and inventory department- IT department will help the inventory
department to provide those essential software and tools and machines which will help them to
conduct their work effectively and easily. They are also responsible for solving the technical
issues faced by inventory department. They keep on updating the software which is used by
inventory department so that they will record appropriate and adequate amount of stocks for their
organisational benefit.
Physical flow and transformation process diagram of Morrison’s supply chain process-

Illustration 1: https://www.slideshare.net/mattbentley34/morrisons-analysis-of-
preseen-case-study
Lean production theory- This is the theory which states that a company must reduce their waste
as much as possible and enhance the quality of their products and services. There are few
techniques of lean production which are mentioned below-
 Kaizen- This is the technique where a group of employees work together to achieve the
aim of regular and improved process of manufacturing. This is the process which can
help the mentioned company to focus on collectively talents and other useful resources to
create a culture for continues improvement in reduction wastage.
 The 5S System- In include sorting, which means eliminating those activities and
resources which is not required by the company, set in order is another step which
consist of set selected resources in a proper and useful manner so that it will not get
wasted. Shine comes after set in order which consist of prepared quality products,
standardize consist of writing standard for each of the above elements of mentioned

process. At the end it covers sustain which means to adopt the strategy continue by the
company.
Six sigma process- It introduces a set of standards for organizations to follow,
with the ultimate goal of trimming operational waste and redundancy and
therefore eliminating errors, defects and waste. There are five stages in six
sigma process which is mentioned below-
 Define- It is the stage where company identifies all the information which is required to
break down a problem.
 Measure- This is the process where organisation analyse their existing capabilities to
resolve the issues. In context of Morrison, they list out the issues and make effective
strategical plan to mitigate these issues.
 Analyse- Here, the useful data is extracted from the collected information. In context of
Morrison, they will analyse that that which factor is impacting more tom mismanage their
inventory within the organisation.
 Improve- This is the action stage where Morrison will implement the strategies for the
main aim of improving the performance of their inventory management.
 Control- After implementing the strategies, Morrison is required to monitor the
performance of their employees and overall organisation and in case they found any other
requirement within this process then they fulfil it as soon as possible for their
organisational benefit.
Conclusion
From the above information it is concluded that inventory management is the process of
managing, ordering, storing and utilizing inventory appropriately by a company. It helps a
company to satisfy their customers, reduce cost, reduce wastage, and improve productivity and
many others. Inventory management also helps a company to gain competitive advantage within
their industry. In context of retailing sector, inventory management help them to satisfy their
customers because customers in this industry need to prefer those stores for shopping which are
having large variety of products in appropriate quantity. Technology also plays an important role
in managing inventory for a company. GPS tracker will help the company to track their
inventory vehicle’s route and exact time for the vehicle to arrive at the stores. Secondly, little

software will further help the inventory manager keep records and manage their inventory well.
it is also concluded that there are various departments which interact with inventory department
and help them to their operations. For example, marketing department will help inventory
department to analyse the marketing demand, IT department will help them to provide
maintenance of their machines and tools and HR department will help them to hire skilled and
talented employees within the inventory department to manage the work effectively.