Operations Management Report: Lean Manufacturing Techniques

This report delves into the core concepts of operations management, exploring how businesses can achieve a competitive advantage through strategies such as low-cost operations, differentiation, and responsiveness. The report analyzes two distinct organizations, Collectionair and Airbnb, highlighting their unique service and product offerings. It further examines the cultural and ethical challenges faced by operations managers in a global environment, including issues related to management styles, international business practices, and employee relations. The report then focuses on the application of the lean manufacturing technique, detailing its principles, benefits, and its practical implementation within an organization such as Harrow Security Vehicles. The report provides a detailed analysis of the lean manufacturing process, waste management, and its positive impact on customer service, stock improvement, and overall business growth.

Running head: OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Operations Management
Student’s name:
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Author’s note

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Table of Contents
Question 1........................................................................................................................................2
1. Competitive advantage through operation management.........................................................2
2. Two organisations providing unique service and products.....................................................2
3. Examples of cultural and ethical issues that face operations managers in a global
environment.................................................................................................................................3
Question 2........................................................................................................................................4
Question 3........................................................................................................................................9
Reference List................................................................................................................................11

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Question 1
1. Competitive advantage through operation management
Competitive advantage through operations can be achieved through three features:
a. Low-cost b. Differentiation c. Response
2. Two organisations providing unique service and products
Collectionair
UAE based start-up organisation Collectionair, is an online platform for collectors and art
lovers to purchase, sell and borrow art from markets. The main focus of the organisation is in the
Middle East and Africa based provinces. This startup offers unique art products to the customers
with affordable price which are hard to find, it allows the customers to trade pre-loved and new
artworks. This organisation authenticates the products by checking valuation, insurance,
condition reports and shipping (Collectionair.com 2017). Collectionair is unique in its offering to
the customers and it is preferred destination for art from most of emerging countries and it has
made a partnership with many international curators. It sells artworks ranges between $500 and
$50,000. This organisation tries to make a bond between B2C and C2C and its website has
contents related to art news, art tips, art value, buying process of artworks. This startup
organisation launched its Beta site in March 2017 that enabled the customers to purchase arts.
This organisation followed architectural innovation as this organisation took all lessons and
overall technology and they applied them in a different market.
Airbnb
Airbnb is also an online platform and hospitality service providers that enable the people
to rent and lease short-term lodging including, apartment, vacation rentals, homestays, hotel
rooms. Airbnb does not own those lodging and the organisation plays as broker. Airbnb takes the
service fees from both hosts and guests from each booking. This organisation came into
existence in the year 2008. It started its journey from San Francisco, however; now it is serving
worldwide. People can access the mobile app of iOS and Android. Recently, Airbnb started a
new service for the customers that is completely unique. Airbnb is providing opportunity to the

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travellers to discover the most unique Airbnb rentals. This rental service allows the travellers to
stay in tree house, castle, train, dragon-shaped house and pyramid shaped rooms and Arabian
style rooms. These types of rooms and stays are offered on Rental section of website and mobile
app of Airbnb and people can book these (Amexessentials.com 2017). This is most unusual
Airbnb service which makes the service of Airbnb unique. This is a differentiation strategy taken
by the organisation that provides them with competitive advantage.
3. Examples of cultural and ethical issues that face operations managers in a global
environment
Cultural issue
The managers in global business environment need to have understanding about common
management style. The managers need to have also knowledge about international business
practice and they should have tolerance to different management style that can reduce the
disagreement of employees. Operation managers face the issue of building trust among the
employees and cultural imperatives are process of business customs to follow by the managers in
global scenario (Chan et al. 2016). In global environment, managers have to manage employees
from different background and cultural exclusives people sometimes disrespectful for different
cultural people. Sometimes, gender inequality can also pose problems in global environment.
Different culture operates in different levels and managers need to focus on more values as long
as they need to meet the objectives.
Ethical issue
The operation managers in global environment have to provide training to the employees and
they need to bring about heightened awareness about ethics. Managers have to follow ethics in
the decision-making process. Managers have to take the decision about people management as
they have to manage the human resource. The managers should not discriminate among
employees according to their colour, belief and creed. Key decisions of managers must be based
on interests of both external and internal customers (Slack 2015). Both the customers must weigh
equally in the mind of managers and ethical dilemma about employee safety in the workplace,
pollution, waste disposal and restrictive company cultures.

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Question 2
Operation Management Technique and its application to the organisation
Lean Manufacturing Technique
Lean manufacturing is one of the simplest and effective operation processes, which
reduces the waste from the manufacturing process. Among the various operation processes, lean
manufacturing is significant for the waste management. This operation process gives an
opportunity to the manufacturer to improve their process and incorporate best practice in their
operation process (Leong and Cheung 2017). Lean manufacturing process allows the business
organisation to deliver higher quality product at low cost. Many business industries, as well as
the automobile industries, use this lean manufacturing process to enhance the profitability of
their manufacturing operation. Waste, which is created through unevenness and overburden, can
be reduced by lean manufacturing technique. In order to increase the customer value lean
manufacturing is undertaken by the manufacturer.
Figure 1: Aspects of Lean manufacturing process
(Source: Leong and Cheung 2017)
There are six principles in the lean manufacturing process one of the most important is an
elimination of the waste (Helleno et al. 2017). As for example, Harrow Security Vehicles is a
popular automobile company of UAE that follows lean manufacturing process in their operation.

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However, by using lean manufacturing process this organisation is able to reduce production of
defects, waste of over processing, inventory waste and a waste of overproduction. Such wastes
come during the manufacturing process. Hence, the waste elimination idea helps the
manufacturer to review each of the areas of the manufacturing process. Harrow Security
Vehicles can identify the non-value added area and is able to discard it from the manufacturing
process (Harrow-security.com 2017). Continuous improvement is another and more critical
principle of the lean manufacturing process. The basis of the lean manufacturing process can be
formed by this principle (Nordin and Md Deros 2017). Continuous improvement helps the
manufacturer to implement necessary changes in their operation process and maintain the
continuous improvement. Hence, continuous improvement can be done by incorporating training
program in the organisation. In the context of Harrow Security Vehicle, they offer the training
program to their employees to bring continuous improvement in the workplace by introducing
lean manufacturing process.
Respect for humanity is a major principle of the lean manufacturing. The workforce is
the most valuable resource for an organisation. However, without proper labour force, it is
difficult for an organisation to achieve the success of a business (Leong and Cheung 2017). In an
organisation, if the people do not feel respected then they lose respect for this organisation.
Hence, Harrow automobile company focuses on providing respect to the staffs to enhance the
efficiency of their work. Lean manufacturing highlights the levelised production. This is a
method through which same number or amount of product is produced in every day. However,
often the manufacturer takes orders then produces the product, which often leads them to face
extreme pressure from the customers. On the other hand, some organisations manufacture
products based on their forecast that causes overproduction, which affects the profitability of an
organisation. Harrow automobile company maintains the levelised production by incorporating
lean manufacturing in their operation process. This helps them to maintain a standard level of
production and to reduce the waste of inventory and overproduction. By implementing such
operation process the manufacturers are able to set the level of volume production (Danese et al.
2017). For this purpose, a good forecast and good record of the shipping history are required.
In time production is a vital principle of the lean manufacturing. For an organisation, it
is important to deliver the product within the proper time. Lean manufacturing helps an

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organisation to determine the exact quantity of the product that needs to be produced (Bossi
2017). Therefore, Harrow automobile organisation is able to deliver their product when it is
required by the customer by following the in time production principle of lean manufacturing.
Development of the quality is a crucial principle of the lean manufacturing process. Through
this principle, an organisation generates an idea that quality should be improved and cost should
be reduced in the manufacturing process. Harrow Security Vehicle focuses on the quality
improvement in the design of the product.
Figure 2: Impact of lean manufacturing on the business
(Source: Bossi 2017)
Lean manufacturing includes several benefits for an organisation in order to reduce risk
and to maintain the continuity of the work. Creation of the flow in the operation process is a big
advantage of the lean manufacturing. In the context of automobile industry application of the
lean manufacturing helps the organisation to develop flow through establishing the visual design
(Danese et al. 2017). By the implementation of the lean manufacturing process, Harrow Security
Vehicle removes unnecessary tools, equipment and supplier in their logistics operation. An
organisation can colour coding to distinguish one department from other. This enables the
workers to navigate their work and carry out their responsibility.
Waste prevention is the major advantage of the lean manufacturing. However, often the
business organisation fails to identify the customer needs and they follow a wasteful process in
their business (Patel and Patange 2017). Lean reduces the waste from its occurring in the

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operation process. In the context of Harrow automobile, the lean manufacturing allows the
worker to recognize the areas that need to be improved. Therefore, the workers are able to
understand the wasteful practice in the business. In the automobile industry, malfunctioning
equipment is the prime source of the waste. However, poor maintenance of the equipment causes
breakdown of the equipment. A lean manufacturing process is associated with the TPM to
remove the waste. Hence, TPM reduces the breakdown of the equipment through its Eight
Pillars. Harrow automobile company is able to review the regular maintenance of the equipment
and to make a report of any problem. Hence, if any equipment is found as defective then it is
replaced by the preventive maintenances program (Danese et al. 2017). Additional training is
provided to the staffs of Harrow Security vehicle in this process.
Figure 3: Waste management by eight pillars activity
(Source: Danese et al. 2017)

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Improvement in the customer service is a positive outcome of the lean manufacturing
process. In the context of Harrow Security Vehicle lean manufacturing helps this organisation to
improve the product quality by reducing the rework and defects in their service. Stock
improvement can be done by reducing the inventory waste. Lean manufacturing is beneficial for
Harrow Security Vehicle to grow their business. As for example, this operation technique allows
this organisation to offer lower price and reliability over their competitors. The manufacturer can
reduce the internal cost of the business through implementing lean manufacturing technique
(Bossi 2017). Often the manufacturer of the automobile industry faces a quality issue, which can
be removed by the root cause analysis that is a major problem-solving technique. During the lean
manufacturing process, Harrow Security Vehicle is able to put the mistake-proofing activities to
strengthen the process. This results in the improvement of the quality of the product. Visual
management is another benefit of the lean manufacturing (Heizer and Render 2011).
Any operational issue in the workplace can be managed visually by lean manufacturing
technique. Harrow Security Vehicle can evaluate the entire area of the operation by applying this
visual scanning technique. As a result, any abnormalities can be identified quickly. Reduction of
the manpower is a significant activity of the lean operation technique (Murugesan et al. 2016).
In order to reduce the operation cost, workforce reduction is crucial for an organisation. Getting
more done with fewer people is one of the major outcomes of lean manufacturing. It is a major
responsibility of an organisation to do standardized work with increased efficiencies and the less
people. Reduction of the space is another part of the waste management. Reduction of the raw
and finished inventory leads Harrow Security Vehicle to save their space in a vertical manner.
Problem elimination and establishment of the safe working environment are the other
advantages of the Lean manufacturing process forces the Harrow Security Vehicle to carry out a
continuous investigation of the problem until it can be removed. On the other hand, unnecessary
elements are removed from the workplace to maintain the safety in this process (Bhamu and
Sangwan 2016).

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Question 3
Problem regarding the food wastes management in a restaurant
Environmental sustainability is a big part of the operation management technique in a
business. In the context of the food industry, waste management is crucial to maintaining the
environmental sustainability. As for example, Baguette Restaurant and Coffee Shop LLC has
been facing problem regarding the transportation of food waste. However, food waste
transportation is a very costly process, which enhances the operating cost (Christ et al. 2017).
This is a major problem of the operation management in this organisation. There is no way to
carry the food waste to the dumping site except the truck. Therefore, if the restaurant sectors do
not transport the waste properly then it will affect the health of the neighbourhood as well as the
health of the environment. In the context of Baguette Restaurant and Coffee Shop LLC
transportation of the heavy waste to the dumping, the site from the plant is an expensive process.
Apart from the high-cost transportation of the heavy waste includes risk and it may affect the
safety of the staffs.
Solutions
Baguette Restaurant & Coffee Shop needs to follow the basic step of waste minimisation,
the goal should be reduced, reuse and recycle. Percentage of food waste in general almost is
11.3% in a restaurant (Jain et al. 2015). Baguette Restaurant & Coffee Shop dumps the waste in
a far place as they do not have waste elimination technique in nearby place, hence, it costs
money for the restaurant. The possible step from the management is to create a team for the
waste minimisation first. Then, they need to track and analyse the waste in the restaurant.
Documentation of waste and purchased food needs to tally and the team should conduct an
inventory management to compare the quantity of garbage and purchase. Baguette Restaurant &
Coffee Shop can change the menu to minimise quality of leftovers and lastly, it is needed to
recycle the wastes.
5S technique of waste elimination
Sort strategy includes removing unnecessary items from the workplace and attaches the
removal tags to infrequently items. Baguette Restaurant & Coffee Shop should remove the

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unnecessary from the work in operation process to make faster the work process. Set in order is
the process that Baguette Restaurant & Coffee Shop must customise the work area in order to
improve the efficiency. This restaurant has a counter on the left side and seating arrangements
are on all side. This process improves visual organisation to streamline the workforce. Shine is
related to clean the workplace and this cafe cleans the tools and equipment (Guerrero et al.
2013). Moreover, Baguette Restaurant & Coffee Shop can find and eliminate the sources of
contamination as they provide maximum stress on hygiene factor. Standardise process should
help Baguette Restaurant & Coffee Shop to create consistent workflows that can assign and
schedule the work. The management manages the work in a way that everyone knows the
responsibilities. Sustain process in Baguette Restaurant & Coffee Shop needs to analyse the
results and they need to train the workforce to meet the organisational objectives.
Comment on the possible benefits of the solutions
Baguette Restaurant & Coffee Shop will have a team in analysing the issue of the
restaurant and they will provide a solution. In minimising the waste, Baguette Restaurant &
Coffee Shop will focus on recycling, at first, the restaurant needs to understand what materials
must be recycled. The recycled materials are jars, bottles, jugs, jars, plastic bags, wasted foods,
food peels. Recycling will provide benefits to the restaurant as the management does not need to
spend extra money on transportation of waste materials. At first, implementing recycling
machines and technologies are costly, however; pre-consumer and post-consumer food waste
need to separately recycle. Food waste is not immediately harmful to the environment, however;
they create methane gas that is alarming greenhouse gas. This recycling will benefit for both
restaurant to decrease the cost of operation and it is successful business practices. It is helpful for
the environment as wastes are eliminated from nature.
5S techniques can provide the restaurant with less waste and it can lead to improving efficiency.
5S makes it easier to search items and it can scrap materials within the restaurant. This technique
will provide extra space used for storage and it will reduce the cost of spacing for the restaurant.
In addition, the 5S technique can help the organisation to implement more safety for the staffs
and customers as clutter is removed and unsafe practices are also eliminated. This waste
management technique can improve the morale of the employees and it is equal to greater
commitment to the job role.

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333.
Bossi, C., 2017. Succeeding in the Shale Business With a Lean Well Manufacturing
Management System. Journal of Petroleum Technology, 69(03), pp.42-44.
Chan, H.L., Choi, T.M. and Ho, Y.M., 2016. How consumer demand affects order quantity in
practice: an empirical study on inventory management decisions in fashion
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Christ, K.L., Christ, K.L., Burritt, R. and Burritt, R., 2017. Material flow cost accounting for
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