BUS2113 Operations Management Report: Panasonic Analysis

This report provides an in-depth analysis of Panasonic's operations management, focusing on its manufacturing processes and strategic approaches. The report begins by introducing Panasonic Asia Pacific Pte Ltd in Singapore, detailing its operations, competitive strategies (cost leadership and differentiation), and product focus (televisions). It then examines the concepts of modular and robust design in the context of television manufacturing, highlighting the benefits and applications of each. A significant portion of the report is dedicated to the cost analysis faced by Panasonic, including prevention, appraisal, internal/external failure, and external failure costs. Finally, the report discusses the process strategy employed by Panasonic, including high-volume, low-variety production methods, and provides a detailed overview of the television-making process, from the components to the final product. The report concludes with a list of references used in the analysis.

Running Head: OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
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OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
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Contents
Answer 1: About the manufacturer............................................................................................2
Answer 2: Modular and Robust design.....................................................................................3
Answer 3: Cost faced by the manufacturer................................................................................3
 Prevention costs:.............................................................................................................3
 Appraisal costs:...............................................................................................................3
 Internal External failure costs:........................................................................................3
 External failure costs:......................................................................................................4
Answer 4: Process strategy used by the manufacturer...............................................................4
Making process of a television...................................................................................................5

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Answer 1: About the manufacturer
The manufacturer I am choosing is Panasonic Asia pacific pte ltd Singapore and the product I
am choosing is television:
a) The company is based in Singapore; Panasonic Asia Pacific delivers the whole huge
range of the brand’s solution and products a across the South East Asia and Pacific
(APAC) region. The region has 46 manufacturing sites, which clasp as a key centre
for Panasonic’s global manufacture activities that support the consumer, the company
was founded in 1918, Panasonic believes in providing better living for the
customers, and they also believe in always making "people" central to the activities,
and thus focus on lives of people’s. The company is based on the innovative
electronics technology; the company provides a wide variety of products, systems,
and services, ranging from consumer electronics products to industrial devices,
building products, and housing. In various spaces and areas, such as homes,
communities, businesses, journeys and automobiles, we will continue to work hard to
offer new value for better living, and help realize "A Better Life, A Better World" for
each individual customer.
b) Competitive strategies for Panasonic Singapore
 Cost leadership strategy: this strategy is set of actions which are designed to
deliver and produce the services and good at the lowest cost in comparison to
its competitors along with the features that can be acceptable for the
customers. The cost saving actions include some of the following things,
building efficient sale facilities, tightly controlled cost of production,
minimizing the sales, R&D and service and simplifying the process of
production.

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 Differentiation strategy: this is the set of actions which are designed by the
firm to deliver or produce goods and services at an acceptable cost that the
customers can perceive as being unique and different in ways that are
important to them. This includes activities such as price for the product that
can exceed the what the customers of the firm are willing to pay, no
standardized products and customer value differentiated feature which is more
than the value low cost
Answer 2: Modular and Robust design
Modular design helps in building television with easy and replaceable parts that can
be used in order to standardize the interfaces. There 4 things that comes under the modular
design of a television which are, power supply units, graphic cards, optical drives and etc.
this allows a user to upgrade certain aspects of the Television in an easy manner without
having to buy a new television all together. Similar to the modular design of the television
other tools are developed in order to give leverage to the modular design (Karlsson, 2010)..
The modular construction of TV are considered as building blocks which could be assembled
together to practice a variety of goods. This approach helps in promoting standardization and
the re-use of current modules to grow new products.
.Robust design is when a product is performed properly in a wide range of condition
and also the design of a new system, any activity can be called robust design, if it has the
following characteristics
– To have longer life (higher reliability)
–more consistent from use to use
– To be more consistent from product to product

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– To perform consistently as temperature and other conditions change
And TV is such a thing that lasts for 10 years and it does not need any repair. In other words,
making the creation or process insensitive to variation. TV is such a thing that has much
variation and that is the reason robust design can be applied to it.
Answer 3: Cost faced by the manufacturer
 Prevention costs: This cost to improve the product design and quality and to
prevent the product failures. This company is facing workers training cost currently as
it needs skilled workers in order to manufacture products without any damage
(Poister, 2010).
 Appraisal costs: this cost is related to the activities like inspection during
manufacturing of the product. The current company is facing the issue of quality of
the products as it needs to improve its quality.
 Internal External failure costs: the main thing for which this cost is used for is
to remove the defects from the products and the company is currently facing various
issues due to this as there are various defects occurring during the manufacturing of
the products because of less skilled workforce at Panasonic. The company needs to
hire high skilled workers in order solve this issue
 External failure costs: This cost occurs when the products are shipped to the
customers and then they have to replace the products. The company is facing this
issue because of the not so good handling of the employees and the employees also
neglect and sell the defective products to the customers and the company has to bear
cost for the same, it also effects the goodwill of the company.

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Answer 4: Process strategy used by the manufacturer
This strategy include the things like
 High volume and low variety
 Large quantity and small variety of products
 Special equipment and purpose
 Operators are less but broadly skilled
 Few work order and instructions of job
 Finished goods are made to forecast and then stored

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Making process of a television
The television contains of four principle sets of parts, including the exterior or housing, the
audio reception and speaker system, the picture tube, and a complicated mass of electronics
including cable and antennae input and output devices, a built-in antenna in most sets, a
remote control receiver, computer chips, and access buttons. The remote control or "clicker"
may be considered a fifth set of parts.
The covering of the set is prepared through the injection-moulded plastic, although there are
wood cupboards which are obtainable for some of the models. Plastics and Metals also
include the audio system. The picture tube requires precision-made glass, chemical coatings,
and electronic attachments ubiquitously and at the back of the tube. The tube is supported
inside the covering by supports and props moulded into the housing.
The design of the television needs teamwork and input on the portion of a diversity of design
engineers. Video, Audio, plastics, fibre, Optics, and electronics engineers all contribute in
abstracting a new television design and the technical and sales features that set it apart.

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REFRENCES
Dibrell, C., Craig, J. B., & Neubaum, D. O. (2014). Linking the formal strategic planning
process, planning flexibility, and innovativeness to firm performance. Journal of
Business Research, 67(9), 2000-2007.
Galindo, G., & Batta, R. (2013). Review of recent developments in OR/MS research in
disaster operations management. European Journal of Operational Research, 230(2),
201-211.
Karlsson, C. (2010). Researching operations management. In Researching Operations
Management (pp. 20-55). New York: Routledge.
Klahn, C., Leutenecker, B., & Meboldt, M. (2015). Design strategies for the process of
additive manufacturing. Procedia CIRP, 36, 230-235.
Poister, T. H. (2010). The future of strategic planning in the public sector: Linking strategic
management and performance. Public Administration Review, 70, s246-s254.