Operations, Logistics and Supply Chain Management in Mercedes-Benz

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Understanding Operations, Logistics and Supply Chain
Management
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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Critical review of relevant Operation, Logistics and Supply Chain Management theories.......4
Analytic discussion with relevant and similar example(s) and applying appropriate solutions
of Operations Management........................................................................................................7
Conclusion and Recommendation............................................................................................10
Reference List..........................................................................................................................11
Appendices...............................................................................................................................14
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Introduction
The logistics, supply chain and other things related to a business need to be managed in a
proper manner in order to make sure that the issues are being catered related to product
development and management. Market concentration gaining is a process that required a
proper support from all the stages of a company. In case of product providing companies and
the service providing companies the demand and regulatory services may differ, in this case
the service providing authority that will be taken into consideration is Mercedes. It is a
German automotive organisation, which has a global reputation of providing classic cars. The
there might be different kind of issues that can be effective for the organisational productivity
and in this essay these are going to be described. Depending upon those some theories will be
selected to reach conclusion and provide recommendation.
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Critical review of relevant Operation, Logistics and Supply Chain Management theories
Few aspects can be considered in accordance with the requirement. There are different
theories that connect the functions of the supply chain management, logistics and the
operations department. The issues associated with these functioning segments can be easily
solved and in accordance with that, the management can take precise decisions that are
associated with product performance development. The theories that can be considered in this
case are given in the following segment to make proper analysis of the factors that determine
an organisation’s functionality. Some of the theories are Total Quality Management (TQM),
JIT, Lean Production, Continuous improvement and others.
Total Quality management
The total quality management process is considered the most effective measure in order to
ensure quality service to the targeted customers. The companies using this process are
financially stable to implement this management policy to the system. From the view point of
Aquilani et al. (2017), it is important to find the required improvements before conducting
any experiment to enhance the service quality. The opinion is evident because low knowledge
related to internal environment of a business is going to be an effective measure to be taken
into consideration. On the other hand, Psomas and Jaca (2016), stated that, a company needs
to be assured of the financial status to incorporate the Total quality management. The total
quality management has seven main principles that make it different from the rest of the
procedures.
This systematic analysis gives a detailed outlook of the issues that are hidden in the specified
segments of the business approach process. In accordance with Honarpour et al. (2018), a
domination of relevant technologies for a particular segment needs to be monitored
frequently to magnify the potential of them. On the other hand, it can be also illustrated that
with proper quality management and the relevant tools one organisation can be nullify the
issues associated with quality assurance. The total quality management makes sure that an
overall development is being witnessed in every part of the organisation and for this reason
the implementation phase should be monitored as well apart from the functional period.
Sharing the work, giving responsibility to individuals, quality enhancement and making a
proper deduction of what needs to be done in order to introduce more benefits to the system
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is the main aspect of implementing the TQM process into the system. In accordance with the
viewpoint of Al-Dhaafri et al. (2016), the TQM process is an extra pressure to the financial
resources but it provides the best outcome one organisation can only even think of if
managed adequately.
Customer Focus
The customer-focused approach makes sure that the company is focusing on the prime needs
to an organisation and it is ensuring a better ambience for the customers who are depending
on the organisation for their needed services. The customer centric approach provides
flexibility to the people to service providers to consider the most relevant and approach
strategies for betterment of the organisation. In accordance with the viewpoint of Gebauer
and Kowalkowski (2019), a systematic approach needs proper guidance and in case of
providing service to the people, one organisation needs to be aware of the requisites that are
not being fulfilled by the rest of the service providers. This provides a strategic advantage and
only a customer centric approach can be effective to comply with the requirements.
Companies like retail organisations, automotive companies and many service-providing
organisations often consider this option to be beneficial for them. This magnifies the process
of having a customer centric approach and the demands are fulfilled properly.
From the viewpoint of Kiseleva et al. (2016), it can be stated that the customer-focused
approach maximises the possibility of gaining more return on investment in a particular
business venture. In contrary to the opinion, Harmeling et al. (2017), states that, a precise
approach maximises the potential of a service-providing organisation and a customer centric
approach makes the service-providing organisation more affluent. This helps in finding the
issues from the end of the service receiver to nullify them and make betterment in
corresponding segments. From the viewpoint of Kiseleva et al. (2016), a customer centric
approach maximises the chances of proper financial return because amendments are made in
accordance with the demands found in narrow down analysis.
Just In Time
The process of asking for resources can be of various kinds and one of the most important
one is Just in Time. In this context, it is important to make sure that the process in Japan has
solved the issues associated with proper resource management at least 20 years ago. In
accordance with the viewpoint of Mo Yeh (2019), it is evident that the issues associated with
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the resource, price quality can be mitigated by JIT, but a proper monitoring is highly
necessary. In this context, the example of Mercedes can be considered because it is beneficial
for them to consider the approach process in order to maximise the return on investment by
ordering the goods when it is necessary. This is going to nullify the chances of resource waste
and the atrocious effect on the resources is going to be nullified as well. On the other hand,
Ma et al. (2016), the best thing is to go for an overall analysis, the factors associated with it
like misuse of resources, and mismanagement of the resources cannot be overlooked.
Figure 1: Complexity Management
(Source- Christopher, 2019)
In this context it can be also be argued that the complexity management process needs to be
evaluated as well in order to make logical amendments to magnify the business process. The
process helps in making a good communication with the customer, reducing the resource
waste, being more flexible, delivering proper quality services and many others. In accordance
with Kayvanfar et al. (2017), the most of the people in an organisation tries for fit in a system
and for that purpose, they utilise the resources, as they want. The unprotected and
unmonitored use of resources hamper the production from quality and quantity perspectives
and this is why JIT should be implemented in a system. The business ambience of Mercedes
needs to analyse their part in the system and make amendments in accordance with that.
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Lean Production
The lean production is one of the most renounced procedures to make sure that the company
is wasting a minimum amount in the production line up and maximising the production in a
simultaneous manner. The lean management process can be used in the automobile industry
and that is why Mercedes and other big names in this segment are making sure that they are
relying on the process. This is a necessary aspect to be taken into consideration in order to
make proper betterment in the scenario. The process of adhering to the issues should be
prioritised and in accordance with Rinehart et al. (2018), it is one of the most effective
measures that can be beneficial as well. This is a process of making proper kind of
amendments in the production line up and it is essential to ensure proper kind of productivity
in different parts of the company.
Figure 2: Professional Client Relation
(Source: Harvey, 2010)
A proper client relation is necessary to be incorporated in the system to understanding the
requirement of the lean management because this is going to provide more information
regarding lean management (Harvey, 2010). According to Jasti and Kodali (2015), it is
important to make sure that the issues associated with the waste production magnification is
analysed properly to make a logical implementation of the process. It is important to create a
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flow, map the value and identifying the value from the customer perspectives in order to
maximise the return from the ventures. According to Netland (2016), the success factors can
only be effective if the issues associated with the proper kind of management is identified in
the initial phase. In this process, implementation of the method will be more effective than
ever.
Agility Management
Agility is a process of complex decision-making skills that are associated with proper kind of
situation betterment. A four dimensional betterment process can be considered in this context
as well. A process of better kind of project management can only be done with proper
analysis of the situation and the agility management process adds layers in this system to
maximise the potential. According to Brewis (2018), it is important to make sure that the
issues associated with the decision-making can be easily solved by a step by step approach.
The same concept can be added for the company Mercedes because they take up different
business venture that are associated with proper kind of project prospects. From the
viewpoint of Benaben et al. (2015), it is high time for a company to consider such
methodologies that are essential for proper kind of process management to maximise the
return on investment.
Analytic discussion with relevant and similar example(s) and applying appropriate
solutions of Operations Management
The company Mercedes needs to make sure that the quality service is being delivered to the
people who are the prime target for them. In accordance with the current scenario it can be
stated that the company is performing exponentially in the Asian market and it is found that
the follow up of different production management processes has magnified the return on
investment and the quality of the service providers have been increased as well.
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Figure 3: Sales of Mercedes car in 2017 and 2016
(Source: Daimler, 2019)
From the given data, it is evident that in the markets of Asia, it is performing productively
and there is a good amount of increase in the sales figure of the company (Daimler, 2019).
The operations help in analysis of the market where it is dealing in and in this process, this is
going to magnify the potential return drastically. The process management does the
simplification of the demand in the market effectively after proper analysis of the issues they
are facing in. With the help of identified data, the company Mercedes to maximise the return
on investment in the market of the United Kingdom alters the management process.
The service delivery processes used by the organisations matter drastically and it is highly
important to make sure that the issues associated with project management are being
considered in this case (Smith and Amin, 2017). In most of the cases it is seen that the issues
associated with the management of the matters is necessary understood. The company
Mercedes mainly focuses on the quality service providing and for this reason, they target the
proper customer care service delivery system, in order to match the expectations of the
people. The most of the times it is seen that the issues associated with the quality
management is nullified with the proper communication with targeted customers. It is a
necessary improvement to consider. The manufacturing process the company Mercedes
follows is MPS system, which is considered the master production schedule. This is the best
option to be taken into consideration for the management because this process ensures a
quality managed approach, the issues related with designing, and customer satisfaction is
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nullified. According to Rawlinson and Wells (2016), the management needs to think of
newest ventures to intrigue a potential service delivery system as the old techniques are
becoming in effective.
In order to make sure that the delivery is being done in a proficient manner, the company
Mercedes has managed to equip the entire system with drone guided technology. This is the
recent and most developed technology that can be used by an organisation and in this context
the service providing authority is going to have a good kind of reviews from the people after
using it. According to Rahman and Tadayoni (2018), digital technology is an essential
element in the automobile segment to transport requested orders from one place to another
but the negative aspects of less monitoring should be analysed as well.
Figure 4: Hierarchy of needs
(Source: Hoyle, 2007)
Apart from that, the traditional delivery system used by the organisation is well equipped
with modern technology so that mishaps can be avoided properly. The hierarchy of needs
should be analysed as well in order to make proper kind of demand analysis and increase
productivity. The market where Mercedes is dealing in the United Kingdom is expecting a
quality service, and in this process, it is highly important that the entire organisation is
contributing in the system properly. The company ensures that the issues are being identified
whether it is in the product line up segment or in the product delivery system. The
collaboration and interlinked system makes a proper kind of amendment in the entire process
to make sure that the issues are being mitigated properly. From the viewpoint of Kiehtreiber
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et al. (2018), a centralised operation management is necessary to channelize the threats
associated with the approach process considered with it.
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Conclusion and Recommendation
From the above discussion it is seen that the issues associated with proper kind of project
management is a high threat for a company like Mercedes. The company is filled with
efficient decision makers and from that, it can be ensured that the management is going to
make a proper kind of project management evidently. The above discussion states that the
managing the issues is directly related with the decision making skills; hence it is evident that
the theoretical descriptions are an important resource for proper management. It can be
further concluded that the management process needs to be effectively communicated with
the employees as well so that they can provide the valuable opinions too. This can be
deduced that the quality service provided by the service providing authority is a result of
proper internal communication and adaptation of technical modifications. Still some
improvements can be made to the entire system and that can be done by proper
recommendations.
Firstly, the company needs to think of the recent initiatives that have been taken into
consideration. The drone technology Mercedes is thinking of has a potential but being a new
direction towards logistics, the company has to monitor the activity from the initial period.
Secondly, the total quality management process is a costly measure and the revenue
generation process may be hampered with it. Still they should use it to magnify the quality
service with minimum amount of resource waste. This will portray a better picture of the
organisation to the target market they are considering.
The third thing they need to take into consideration is the proper analysis of the JIT measure.
It is reported that many company uses it and some of the cases they run behind the schedule.
Mercedes cannot depend on the measure fully to utilise the resources properly. They have to
consider the drawbacks of the process to make sure that the production line up is always
filled with proper resources.
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