Operations Management Report: Greggs Plc Analysis and Strategies

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Greggs Plc's operations management. It begins by evaluating Greggs' operational functions and the role of operations managers, comparing them to industry standards within the bakery sector. The report then details the process management, including a process chart illustrating customer integration. Further sections investigate the application of lean management, capacity management, and customer service strategies within Greggs. The report also covers inventory management, scheduling, and supplier management. Finally, it concludes with recommendations for the Board of Directors, focusing on staff training, and potential mergers or acquisitions to enhance operational efficiency and customer satisfaction. The report aims to provide strategic insights to improve Greggs' alignment with industry best practices and customer needs.

Running head: OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

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OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................1
Scene of the study:.......................................................................................................................1
Purpose of the research:...............................................................................................................2
Outline:........................................................................................................................................2
Operations Management in the Organisation highlighting the key issues as well (Part A-i):.........2
Alignment of organisational practices with industry standards:..................................................2
Role of Operations manager at Greggs Plc..................................................................................4
Process Management in the Organisation including the Process Chart (Part A – ii):.....................5
Process chart showing how customers are processed through operations:..................................5
Description of the process chart:.....................................................................................................5

Management of Greggs
Plc approves requirements
and approves funds to
acquire inventory
Customers visit the bakery chain
outlets and ordering online
Selling staff interacts with
customers directly on their
requirements and expectations
Customers give
feedback on
Facebook, Istsagram
etc
Marketing department collates
customer information
Marketing department communicates customer
information to inventory department
Does the inventory dept. have the
inventory to manufacture goods as per
customer requirements?N
Y
N
Production of goods as per
customer expectations
Inventory presents
requirements before
management
Accounts dept releases
funds
Inventory orders placed
Inventory received
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OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

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.........................................................................................................................................................7
Analysis of the process:...............................................................................................................8
Process analysis and improvement:.............................................................................................8
Customer service strategies:......................................................................................................10
Inventory management:.............................................................................................................11
Scheduling operations:...............................................................................................................12
Purchase and supplier management:..............................................................................................14
Lean management within Greggs:.................................................................................................15
Lean management model:..........................................................................................................15
Example 1..............................................................................................................................16
Example 2..............................................................................................................................17
Application of lean management in Greggs Plc.:......................................................................17
Lean management in product manufacturing:.......................................................................18
Lean management in customer services management:..........................................................18
Example 3..............................................................................................................................18
Capacity management within Greggs:...........................................................................................19
Example 5:.............................................................................................................................19
Conclusion and recommendations:................................................................................................20
Training of staff:....................................................................................................................20
Acquisition and merger:........................................................................................................20

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References:....................................................................................................................................21

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Introduction:
Scene of the study:
Corporate organisations emphasise on marketing products as per the needs, demands and
expectations of the customers. Operations management in these organisations plays a very
crucial in ensuring this alignment of business operations to customers; needs. The operations
management takes place in these organisations at three levels namely, strategic, tactical and
operational. The entire process today is very much dependent on the capacity of the operations
managers to integrate operations of departments like marketing, finance, human resource and
procurement or supply chain management. The operations mangers plays key roles in the
business organisations in integrating these different operational areas to ultimately streamline the
operations of the entire organisations to meet the needs of the customers. Customer needs are
dynamic in nature and keep on changing. Thus, it is not feasible to totally align the operations of
any organisation with customer needs. However, large gap between the two variables namely
customer needs and organisational operations can have detrimental impacts on the business
generations of companies concerned. The senior management bodies in multinational companies
often employ operations management consultants who evaluate the actual operations of the
companies concerned against the industry standards. This evaluation reveals the degrees to
which the organisations concerned are actually aligned according to the needs of the customers.
Given the fact that industry standards constitute operational standards followed by all the leading
companies operating in a particular industry, failure of a company meet the industry standards
actually indicates to one or more issues which are likely to attract business risks. The research
would be based against current operations management of a company against the industry
standards of the particular to which the company belongs. The industry considered would be

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bakery industry and the company chosen to represent the industry in the research is none other
than Greggs Plc, based in Newcastle upon Tyne
Purpose of the research:
The purpose of the research is to explore the operational management in multinational
companies to ultimately satisfy the customers with their products. The research in order to
achieve its purpose has a very well structured layout or outline.
Outline:
The research would begin by evaluating the actual operational functions and the role of
operational managers with the chosen organisation namely, Greggs, the largest bakery chain in
the United Kingdom. The evaluation would take place in the light of the standards of operations
management prevalent in the industry chosen namely, bakery. The evaluation would bring out
the issue which would whose solution the research would seek to find. The second part of the
discussion would study the process management which customers are integrated to the entire
process of operations management using a process chart. The third part would go on to
investigate and assess the application of lean management in Greggs Plc. Then the next part
would go on to explore the application of business forecasting taking once again Greggs Plc as
the base of the study. The discussion would ultimately close by concluding the findings and
recommending strategies to the board of directors of Greggs to deal with the issue uncovered in
the first part.

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Operations Management in the Organisation highlighting the key issues as well (Part A-i):
Alignment of organisational practices with industry standards:
A critical evaluation of the existing operational functions within Greggs performs highly
and contributes towards marketing products which create value for the customers. The product
line of the company is provides evidence to this fact. An analysis of the product line of the
British bakery chain shows that it offers a wide variety of products which adds value to the
customers. The product line of Greggs Plc consists of breakfast, sandwiches, pasta, salads and
soups, drinks and snacks, sweet treats, bakes, platters and balanced choice (Greggs.co.uk. 2019).
An analysis of the product line shows that it has been designed to create value for customers by
offering them with healthy food items free from pesticides, chemicals and preservatives. For
example, the breakfast product offering of the bakery chain consists of food items like almond
croissant, porridge and fruit platters, all of which are not only tasty but also nutritious. These
food offerings are aligned to the lifestyle of the people of the United Kingdom. The consumers
can consume these food items within short time and at the same time can get a portion of their
daily nutritional requirements (Chavez et al. 2016). Similarly, the ‘Drinks and Snacks’ product
offering of the bakery chain contains items like tropical fruit juice, orange juice and yoghurt
containing strawberry and granola. An analysis of the products available for drinks shows that
they in line with the customer centric product line of the bakery have several attributes which
aim to create value for the customers. First of all, the products line fruit juice are tasty which
would life the mood of the consumers, thus bringing down the stress. Secondly, the products
contain sugar and minerals, thus enabling the consumers to meet a part of their daily nutritional
requirements. Thirdly, the minerals in these products boost the immune system of the consumers,
thus enabling the consumers to reduce the negative impacts of lifestyle issues like stress which

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damage their health. Fourthly, it can be pointed out that the company uses pricing strategies to
maximise the value creation to customers (Rahimi and Kozak 2017). The bakery company uses
economic pricing strategy which enable the large number of customers avail its products. Fifthly,
it can be pointed that unlike the local bakery, Greggs Plc. is present both in the form of brick and
mortar format and ecommerce format. The customers can visit the outlets to purchase the
products of company. They can also order the product online on the official website of the
company. Thus, it is evident that the operations of Greggs Plc. are designed to create value for
customers. This analysis shows that the current practices of Greggs Plc. is aligned with the
standards practices of the bakery industry to bring about value creation for customers. Food
Standards Agency, Government of the United Kingdom lays down standard practices which
should be followed in the firms involved in the bakery companies. The body mentions that
bakery companies should comply with the food hygiene measures and food standard measures
mandated by the body. The standards mention that the food companies should ensure that the
suppliers supply food raw materials in appropriate conditions. The suppliers must store the raw
materials in appropriate environmental conditions like like freezing them to prevent spoilage of
the raw materials. Food Standards Agency further mentions that the food industry like bakeries
should maintain proper details about the suppliers. The companies selling food should provide
information to customers regarding food allergens which some consumers might encounter
(Food.gov.uk. 2019). As far as Greggs Plc. is concerned, it can be pointed out that the bakery
business incorporates these government directives in its food processing operations. Thus, it can
evaluated that the operations of firm are aligned with the standard practices established in the
bakery industry by Food Standards Agency.

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Role of Operations manager at Greggs Plc.
It can be pointed out on the basis of the above discussion that the operations manager
plays a very significant role in ensuring alignment of the operational standards at Greggs Plc.
with the industry standards. The page called ‘Board Responsibilities’ shows that the company is
headed by a board of directors which meets to take important decisions in significant operational
areas like risk management, financing, customer management and human resources. The page
also mentions that the directors measure the achieved levels of operations against the key
indicators of performance which are in turn set on the basis of standard operational standards by
the apex management of Greggs. This analysis of the control of apex managers on the operations
of the company in significant areas like risk management and customer satisfaction ratifies the
role of operations managers at apex levels to ensure smooth operations in the company.
The second evidence to prove the important role which operation managers play in
ensuring alignment of the performance of Greggs Plc. with the industry standards is provided by
the statement showing financial performance of the company. The statement shows that the
company earned a turnover of ₤835.7 m in 2015 against ₤804 m and ₤762.4 m in the years 2014
and 2013. Pulles et al.(2016) opine in this respect that business organisations are able to earn
continuous profits on ensuring customer satisfaction at steady rates. Malininas et al. (2017)
strengthen the opinion by pointing out the perpetual customer satisfaction is achieved only when
companies operate in ways aligned with the customers’ requirements. Wang et al. (2016) point
out that operations managers ensure that organisations operate in alignment to the needs of the
customers. Thus, it can be established on the basis on the analysis that the operations managers at
Greggs Plc plays significant role in ensuring alignment of the operations of the company with the
industry standards.

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Process Management in the Organisation including the Process Chart (Part A – ii):
Process chart showing how customers are processed through operations:
Description of the process chart:
The process chart shown below shows how Greggs Plc. process customer orders or
requirements through operations. As shown in the diagram below, the process of integrating
customers in the operations of the bakery company initiates with the customers offering
feedbacks about their experiences of purchasing bakery products from Greggs. The customers
here can purchase the products of the bakery at the outlets and order products online. The
customers communicate their experiences directly to the sales staff or on the social media
handles like Facebook and Instagram. The marketing department’s staff members collate the
customers’ feedback regarding consumption of the products of Greggs, their expectations and
issue, if any. The marketing department communicates the expectations of the customers to the
inventory management department or the manufacturing department, if the former is under the
supervision of the latter. If the inventory department already has the inventory which would be
required to manufacture products as per the customer’s requirements, the production of the
finished goods (bakery products) are initiated, If the inventory department does not have the
required inventory, then the inventory places the requirement of funds to procure the inventory
with the apex management. The accounts department releases funds after the apex management
approves the requisition placed by the inventory management department. The inventory upon
being received by the inventory department is channelized into the manufacturing of the bakery
items at Greggs.

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Management of Greggs
Plc approves requirements
and approves funds to
acquire inventory
Customers visit the bakery chain outlets and
ordering online
Selling staff interacts with customers
directly on their requirements and
expectations
Customers give feedback on
Facebook, Istsagram etc
Marketing department collates customer
information
Marketing department communicates customer
information to inventory department
Does the inventory dept. have the
inventory to manufacture goods as per
customer requirements?N
Y
N
Production of goods as per
customer expectations
Inventory presents
requirements before
management
Accounts dept releases
funds
Inventory orders placed
Inventory received