Secret Sales Ltd Operations and Project Management Analysis Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of operations and project management principles, using Secret Sales Ltd and Sunshine Drinks as case studies. Part 1 critically reviews the implementation of operations management principles within Secret Sales Ltd, evaluating organization, accountability, change, and variance. It assesses how effectively the company meets its operational requirements and proposes a continuous improvement plan based on the PDCA cycle to enhance quality, cost-effectiveness, and delivery. Part 2 focuses on the Project Life Cycle (PLC) applied to the development of a new product, Sunshine Energy, by Sunshine Drinks, exploring the PLC's effectiveness and comparing methodologies for large and small-scale projects. The report concludes with recommendations for improving the operations function, emphasizing Just-In-Time inventory management and the adoption of advanced technologies like automation and Artificial Intelligence.

Operations & Project
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
PART 1............................................................................................................................................1
1) Introduction to your chosen organization...............................................................................1
2) Operation vs operations management.....................................................................................1
3) Review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles................1
4) Operations management of the organization meets the requirements of organization...........2
5) Continuous improvement as a philosophy and describe the Lean principles.........................3
6) Continuous improvement plan based on your review and critique of operations
management principles................................................................................................................3
7) Recommendations which could improve the operations function..........................................4
PART 2............................................................................................................................................5
A) Project Life Cycle (PLC) to the project of developing a new product.................................5
B) Effectiveness of the PLC in application to this project........................................................10
C) Different Uses of Methodologies for Large and Small Scale Project..................................11
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Operation management refers to an administration of the business practices to develop
high efficiency level possible within company. It is related with concerting the labor and
materials into services and products for enhance profit of company. Project management is
related to practice of planning, initiating, implementing, controlling and closing work of team for
attain particular aims and meet with success criteria within particular time period (Binder, 2016).
This report is based on the Secret Sales Ltd. and Sunshine Drinks company. Part one of this
report review and also critique effectiveness of the principles of operation management. Part two
covers project life cycle in detailed and developing new project. There will be discussion about
effectiveness of PLC in application to project using proper theories.
PART 1
1) Introduction to your chosen organization
Secret Sales Ltd. was founded in year 2006 and it is fast track to become the leading
designer outlet in United Kingdom. It provide the high velocity and high clearance service for
the designer brands. This company provides the incredibly desirable brand at the discounted
costs (Burke, 2013).
2) Operation vs operations management
Operation refers to action of functioning or fact of being in effect or active. It is related to
processes and activities which are conducted through company for attain organizational goals.
Operation management refers to administration of the business practices to develop high level of
the efficiency that possible within company. It includes use of resource from staff, equipment,
technology and materials.
3) Review and critique of the implementation of operations management principles
Operation management pertains to procedure under which the planning, organizing and
supervising are included. These processes assure for much the high profit level as well as make
improvement in efficiency within manufacturing operation. There are different principles of
operations management which are required to reviews critically in context to understand and
apply same in organizational context (Eadie and et. al., 2013). In case of Secret Sales Ltd.,
supply chain and logistics are important operations and company pays proper attention to assure
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that it turns effectively. Execution of operation management principles within Secret Sales Ltd.
Mention below:
Organization- Within production facility, everything within operation is interconnected.
Process included in manufacturing are interconnected. For enhance profitability, the operations
should be organized in to coherent whole. For managing the logistics and supply chain, Secret
Sales Ltd. is applying many methods like using dual- fuelled vehicles, hybrid trucks and many
others, which could not be organized easily due to handle to various operations with similar
efficiency (Fleming and Koppelman, 2016). The positive aspect of organized is ascertain from
the point that it help to completion of all the activities in organized form where existing
resources are utilized optimally. The negative aspect of the point that it does not provide
flexibility in the process as they have to follow the fix process.
Accountability- Being accountable is main key of running manufacturing operations. The
managers of Secret Sales Ltd. Are excerpted to able to set the metrics and rules while checking
on frequent basis if objectives are get met in an effective manner. The main positive aspect
ascertained from the point that it help in completion of the work with full efficiency. But the
negative point of the aspect is ascertained from the aspect that if some loop hole is determined in
following the aspect then this will have negative impact over working and situations.
Change- It is a main operation management principle and essential to assure better
supply chain management and logistics. New theories and solutions can help in assuring the
better and also timely delivery of the services and products to consumers. For Secret Sales Ltd.,
firm has standard process of sharing the capacity with the other retailers to minimize GHG
emissions (Garel, 2013). In addition to this, there is a need to use standard techniques for
delivery and enhancing the overall cost. Change is the necessary aspect which has positive
impact over the overall quality. The negative point is about the resistance from the employee
side.
Variance- This principle is inherent in each process that adopted through organization.
For minimize cost, this kind of principle is necessary to controlled and measured. With supply
chain management, many measures like cost minimization activities should be undertaken to
assure this principle is followed in an effective manner. The positive impact of the point is about
that it help in effective establishment of the operations where no deviations exist in the process.
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The negative aspect that can be seen over the process is about it slowed down the speed of
working.
4) Operations management of the organization meets the requirements of organization
It is necessary for Secret Sales Ltd. To measure execution of the operations management
principles within company for ascertain an extent up to which they met with needs of firm.
Analysis of Principles of Operations Management meets the Requirements mention below:
 The main requirement of Secret Sales Ltd. Is to minimize cost of operations. For variance
variance principle, company is applying similar principle for increasing variety of goods
such as clothing (Gosling and et. al., 2015). It is not help company to minimize cost and
not applied to minimize operations cost bit enhance variety. So, it does not meet with
needs of firm.
 Other need to firm is consistency in the operations. Firm perform many activities in
context to supply chain management and logistics which causes complexities for firm to
execute this principle (Heldman, 2018). It owns fact that each activities has its won needs
which can cause hindrances in attaining principles of firm.
 Firm need to assure that better methods and techniques are mainly used to manage supply
chain. So, firm adopts change principle as it requires the new techniques for logistics.
There is a need to company to apply this principles in a proper manner related to supply
chain management as there are some ongoing development in markets.
5) Continuous improvement as a philosophy and describe the Lean principles
It is necessary for Secret Sales Ltd. To execute the continuous improvement plan in
context to assure consistent improvement in all processes which are related with supply chain.
Continuous improvement plan is explained as detailed outlay of all tasks and activities which are
mainly designed to attain maximum output. This is most necessary method for company to
assure that effective improvement is to be attained. Lean principle is related with performing the
operations in such a manner that minimized waste activities to increasing productivity (Kaviani
and et. al., 2014). It includes five principles such as pull and perfection, value, flow, value
stream and these all are related with reduction of waste as well as enhance productivity.
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6) Continuous improvement plan based on your review and critique of operations management
principles
PDCA cycle
It is an iterative four- step management method that is mainly used in business for control
as well as continuous improvement for products and processes. The continuous improvement is
ongoing effort in order to make improvement in services, processes and products. Different steps
included in PDCA Cycle mention below:
Plan- Under this step, there is a need to company to determine the issues, gather and
effective approach for solving issues. In context to this, developing and processes and objectives
needed to get better outcomes.
Do- It is second stage and in this management of Secret Sales Ltd. Develop as well as
execute solution. Small changes are tested and data is collected to check the effectiveness of
change.
Check- At the time of check phrase, data and outcomes are collected from do phrase are
analysed. Data is to be compared to expected outcomes for the purpose to see any kind of
differences and similarities. On the other hand, there is a need to compare outcomes by before
and after the data comparison.
Act- It is last step and in this document outcomes, inform others regarding process
changes and then make some recommendations for future PDCA cycles. If solution was
successful them execute it and in case if not then repeat PDCA cycle again.
It is essential for Secret Sales Ltd. to create an effective continuous improvement plan in
context to increase business productivity of its supply chain management and logistics. The
continuous improvement plan mention below:
BASIS CURRENT
METHODOLOGIES
PROPOSED
METHODOLOGIES
QUALITY Principle of company is not
executed effectively and the
methods such as dual-fuelled
used for assuring the quality in
supply chain management and
logistics (Kerzner and
For assure quality, it is
necessary for Secret Sales Ltd.
to organise operation related to
supply chain management. In
addition to this, instead of
using various techniques, Just-
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Kerzner, 2017). In-Time method can be use
through an organisation to
assure about high quality
within logistics.
COST
Execution of variance
principle is on diversity of
different range products than
costs and also manage directly
business operations of Secret
Sales Ltd.
Variance should be applied in
company to reduce cost and
Automation as method should
be use for manage logistics
which which will minimize the
labour cost (Leach, 2014).
DELIVERY
Change as operation
management principle was not
executed properly and the
capacity was shared through
the other retailers in order to
assure the better delivery.
Company should execute any
change within company and
instead of sharing the capacity
with some other retailers.
Various transportation modes
such as train, ship cargo and
air can be used through
company for delivery of
products.
7) Recommendations which could improve the operations function
On the basis of assessment related to operation management principles in Secret Sales
Ltd. and Continuous Improvement Plan, there are different recommendations which could be
used through company to assure make improvement in the functions of business operations.
Some recommendations are mention below:
 Just-In-Time could aid company to conducting business operations in an effective
manner. In this, inventory would net be kept for above 4 days of order. It would help in
reducing cost which improve the supply chain management and logistics.
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 With better technology advancements, Secret Sales Ltd. Should use advanced methods
such as Automation and Artificial Intelligence to assure quality structure and cost
effective within firm.
PART 2
A) Project Life Cycle (PLC) to the project of developing a new product
Sunshine Drinks firm is planning to combine its diverse range of the drinks with natural
spring water that already sold through them in an effective manner by consisting new variety of
energy drinks for consumers. The new range will be termed as Sunshine Energy. This kind of
project undertaken through firm that need to work in an effective manner by each phrase of the
Project Life Cycle (Li and Li, 2017). It consists all stages with are related with timeline of
project initiation to closure. Business Case and Project Life Cycle for new product development
through Sunshine Drinks firm mention below:
Business Case:
BASIS DESCRIPTION
Importance
Sunshine Energy is developed through combination of fruit flavour
drinks and spring water drink from natural filtered sources that
help in provide the many health related advantages such as enhance
brain functions. Hence, with natural sweetness by fruits, it can
minimize health concerns.
Target Market
Target market for new drinks would be people of United Kingdom.
The age of target people will be among 15-50 and those people
which are more health conscious and habitual for consuming the
energy drinks.
Cost Benefit Analysis:
Particulars Situation 1 Situation 2
Costs 100000 120000
Benefit 0 20000
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(BEP point)
C os ts B en efit
0
2 0 0 0 0
4 0 0 0 0
6 0 0 0 0
8 0 0 0 0
1 0 0 0 0 0
1 2 0 0 0 0
1 4 0 0 0 0
C h a rt T itle
C olu m n C
Project Initiation: It is a first stage of Project life cycle and in this there is a requirement
to Sunshine Drinks firm to identify objectives of project with assessment of threats and
opportunities which are related with project. Firm is required to measure the overall project on
the basis of their feasibility as well as its value (Luo and et. al., 2016). In this, brainstorming is
necessary for organisation to meet requirements and developing factors which contribute for
evaluate opportunity.
Objectives
 With new product, Sunshine Drinks firm is planning to
increase its market position at least 5% within 3 months after
product distribution.
 This company is planning to enhance its consumer base
through 12% after one year of manufacturing as well as and
distribution of new drinks.
Strategies
 To attain same, this firm would be developing high quality
of energy drinks with robust promotion as well as marketing
by using social media. Sunshine Drinks will be use pricing
penetration strategy to sell its drinks (Lutsenko, 2015).
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There is a need to submit report to higher management for approval. Sunshine Drinks
could use such as Microsoft Project 2019 Professional. Six Sigma Methodology could be applied
at this stage because it will help company for perform effective feasibility analysis.
Project Planning: This next stage of project life cycle is concerned with overall planning
of development of the new product for Sunshine Drinks. After taking confirmation from top
management, project manager and its project team needed to develop detailed plan. It would
need them to examine resource gap to determine what resources required to be employed from
project (Muller, 2017). Hence, project process and plan would be developed at this stage with
proper budget estimation and planning of funds. Project Plan related to Sunshine Energy mention
below:
Cost
It needs cost that incurred for the resources, technology and process
used in development of the Sunshine Energy. Overall cost of
development of new drinks will be £60,000 to £1,00,000.
Communication
Sunshine Drinks would be undertaking external, internal, linear and
vertical communication in developing the Sunshine Energy in order to
assure consistent as well as exchange of information properly.
Quality
For assure the quality, company would adopting the new technologies
like Automation for assure high growth with better quality of new
product development.
Scope
Scope of overall project is wider as firm is hiring the talented
candidates and purchasing new equipments to assure to quality as well
as sustainability of new product.
At this stage, firm can use the Lean Principles because it helps in reducing wastage which
is essential in planning project and contribute towards development of new product through
company. In context to leadership, Sunshine Drinks can use the Autocratic Leadership style and
in this leader allot responsibilities as well as tasks to team members for assure the more efficient
in implementation (Strande and Brdjanovic, 2014).
Gantt Chart:
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Work Breakdown Structure:
Illustration 1: Work Breakdown Structure
Project Execution: It is most necessary stage in Project Life Cycle as all ideas are
implemented in this phase. Project Manager of Sunshine Drinks will organise workflows that
help in allot activities to the respective teams. For an example, focus of one team on acquisition
of raw material, and other team will be dedicated to develop product through mixing the
flavours with natural spring water (Lee and et. al., 2014). This stage requires to monitor overall
project in context of budget, time and also quality to identify any kind of changes as well as
deviations in project. Sunshine Drinks could use the different tools such as Zoho Projects as it
will aids in guide firm in process of implementation. This software allows users to monitor and
control the implementation and deviation reports which are required for successful
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implementation. Under this, Democratic leadership style is selected through firm as enhance
participation of team members in execution of project in an effective manner. Total Quality
Management can be selected as better methodology as it it will aids company in managing
quality of the Sunshine Energy products. With the help of this, process of production will be
monitored continuously to assure that standards concerned with cost, health, quality and safety
are attained in its development.
 Project Closure: It is a last stage of project life cycle and in this Sunshine Drinks firm
examine performance of overall project. There is a need to company to analyses
performance level of team members in an effective manner. In this, Communication plays
a necessary role under this process as firm would informing all stakeholders related to
successful process completion (Kerzner and Kerzner, 2017). Basecamp is an effective
tool that company can be used in identifying quality of project. It will aids firm in
reviewing the overall standards which attained through project and stage at which the
Sunshine Energy developed its drink on the basis of given standards. In this, Strategic
leadership can be used because it is necessary as well as beneficial for make some
changes in plan on the basis of tactical decisions which will be needed to alter project to
attain set objectives with in given period of time without any deviations.
B) Effectiveness of the PLC in application to this project
Preparing and executing the Project Life Cycle is better as well as useful practice for
company as it provides framework and structured guide to manage and also monitor project
effectively. It is necessary for Sunshine Drinks to critique and review product life cycle to assure
that better methods, process and techniques are used for same. For attain effectively, company
can use Waterfall Model as approach to examine Project Life Cycle (Garel, 2013). Its is
explained below:
Requirement: This stage of model requires firm to examine resources needs for starting
of project. In initiation phase, Project Life Cycle helped firm in identifying important needs for
project. In this, Firm applied Six Sigma Methodology to explain the deliverables. Principles
which adopted through this methodology are inflexible which can minimize scope of changes in
other stages.
Design: This phase of model is related with development of sustainable and flexible
design for overall project. It reflects planning stage of PLC, where Sunshine Drinks used Lean
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Principles in order to reduce the wastage (Gosling and et. al., 2015). In this stage, autocratic
leadership is used that completely eliminate employees participation while planning
development of new product. It will be threat for firm as leadership might lead to minimum
subordinated contribution.
Development: It reflects overall development and implementation of process. At the time
of implementation, Sunshine Drinks firm used the Total Quality Management and democratic
leadership style. This leadership style assure better participation and enhance productivity. The
main focus on Total Quality Management is on quality and not cost. Sunshine Drinks could have
used many cost techniques for save the cost. Other technique is inventory management that allow
company to assure Just-In-Time practice. It helps in save cost as acquisition of the raw materials
that will based on orders received from customers.
Testing and Maintenance: It is last step in waterfall model and it is related to testing as
and maintenance of overall plan. It could be used for evaluate stage of project closure stage. It is
related with examining effectiveness for overall plan for which firm used the strategic leadership
(Li and Li, 2017). It is necessary decision that will aid project manager to deal strategically with
assessment in systematic manner.
Ineffectiveness of Project Life Cycle
Product life cycle is too clean picture. Most of the times, sales of product might never be
rise beyond introduction stage or it may be enter in to decline before going to subsequent rise. It
can be cause the managers to rigid in their strategies as they expect sales volumes of products to
follow script written in stone. The main ineffectiveness of the Project Life Cycle is that there is
lack of the feedback process at each stage which do not provide option of determining issues in
advances.
C) Different Uses of Methodologies for Large and Small Scale Project
METHODOLOGIES SMALL-SCALE PROJECTS LARGE-SCALE PROJECTS
Lean Principles In small projects such as
labelling products, lean principles
can be used in minimizing the
unnecessary business operations
relating same like labelling
For development of new product,
this principle could used in
planning procedure where all
unnecessary as well as cost-
ineffective activities were finished
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different variants of clothings. with the help of using principles.
Six Sigma
For small-scale projects like
products packaging, Six Sigma
can be used in easy manner.
Sustainable development can be
attained through reviewing
packaging process mane
improvement in it.
As for offering, principles of Six
Sigma and its methodologies
would be applied on project . It
consists explaining the standards,
examining resources, design as
and verify whole new process
with effective management.
CONCLUSION
It has been concluded from above mention report that project and operation management
are necessary activities for firm to assure the quality and consistency in operations. Principles of
operation management could aids in attaining improvement in the operations. The continuous
improvement plan is helpful in assure the consistency within business operations. For project
management, it is necessary to execute the project life cycle as it would provide the proper
guidance for project of company. There has been comparison uses the proper methodologies in
small and the large scale projects for identify intensity of similar in various projects.
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Online
What are the Principles of Operations Management? 2019. [Online]. Available through:
<https://www.planettogether.com/blog/what-are-the-principles-of-operations-
management>.
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