Comprehensive Operations Management Analysis of Uniqlo

This report provides a detailed analysis of Uniqlo's operations management, beginning with an introduction to the brand and its global presence. The core of the report involves a '4 V's' analysis, exploring the volume, variety, variation, and visibility dimensions of Uniqlo's operations. Following this, the report examines key operational performance objectives, including quality, speed, dependability, flexibility, and cost, and how Uniqlo manages these aspects. A significant portion of the report is dedicated to addressing key issues in Uniqlo's operations management, such as quality management and inventory management, with detailed discussions on their challenges and implications. Furthermore, the report outlines several measures for improving operational performance, including Business Process Reengineering, the Six Sigma approach, Total Quality Management, and Lean principles. The report concludes with a summary of the findings and recommendations for Uniqlo's operations management team, aiming to enhance efficiency, quality, and customer satisfaction.

RUNNING HEAD: Operations management
Operations management
Uniqlo

Operations management 2
Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
4 V's analysis of Uniqlo organization.....................................................................................................2
Volume dimension.............................................................................................................................2
Variety Dimension.............................................................................................................................3
Variation Dimension..........................................................................................................................3
Visibility Dimension...........................................................................................................................4
Operational performance objective......................................................................................................4
Quality...............................................................................................................................................4
Speed.................................................................................................................................................4
Dependability....................................................................................................................................5
Flexibility...........................................................................................................................................5
Cost....................................................................................................................................................6
Key issues in operations management..................................................................................................6
Quality management.........................................................................................................................6
Inventory management.....................................................................................................................8
Measures for improvement in operating performance.........................................................................9
Business Process Reengineering........................................................................................................9
Six Sigma approach..........................................................................................................................10
Total quality management...............................................................................................................10
Lean.................................................................................................................................................11
Conclusion...........................................................................................................................................12
References...........................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
Uniqlo is a clothing brand which originated in Japan in 1949 as a textile
manufacturer. It is an international brand with presence in 1000 and above stores in the
world. With an aspiring objective of keeping up 5 trillion yen in deals by 2020, Uniqlo will
be one of the 21st century's best associations to observe. The company has planned to
develop itself as the principal outline retailer in the United States, with new stores opening
throughout the country with the quick pace in recent coming years. Uniqlo has its own
standing in the market which is recognized as a reliable brand. A continuous awareness of
changes in trend, diverse variety and testing of traditions is benchmark achieved by Uniqlo.
The focus of the report is on operations management of Uniqlo. 4 V analyses is
undertaken to know the various dimensions of a brand. Thereafter 5 key operational
objectives are discussed in order to describe its current structure of operational management.
Uniqlo key issue like inventory and quality is discussed in detail. In last the recommendation
to Uniqlo operations management team is analysed.
4 V's analysis of Uniqlo organization:
The Four V's in the business operations of Uniqlo is described as follows:
Volume dimension: The volume dimension of Uniqlo operations is the key factor to
analyse how their business activities are organized. A good example of Uniqlo brand as they
interact with their customers, know the daily promotions, faster transaction facility at the time
of registration, clothes must be folded quickly1. The essential important thing to be
considered in volume dimension is the repetition of the same process due to a similarity in
1 Sadikoglu, E. and Zehir, C. Investigating the effects of innovation and employee performance on the
relationship between total quality management practices and firm performance: An empirical study of Turkish
firms. International journal of production economics,vol 127, no 1, 2010, pp.13-26.

Operations management 4
process. Efficient staff and effectiveness in routine procedure add an important mark in
volume. Economies of scale are achieved at certain price level and also the experience of
doing the thing over and over increases the competitive advantage to the firm.
Variety Dimension: Uniqlo offered a variety of items available with the selection of
width and variety2. The brand made its products according to the demands and requirements
of the customer. Uniqlo offers an efficient service with a wide variety and flexibility is which
help in increasing the customer base. Recent examples of variety are the availability of 80
colors in polo t shirt available all time in stores of Uniqlo, Uniqlo premium jeans made up of
selvage denim (unique cloth imported from the mill of Hiroshima) and many more practices
shows their variety in products.
Variation Dimension: The variation dimension of Uniqlo identifies styles within the
product categories which do not have the tendency of going out of fashion and finding out
ways to create levels of differentiation in these styles3. If Uniqlo has a high variation in
demand than greater flexibility will be required by the company to achieve the required
capacity level and fulfilling demands. The target will not only be on improving capacity
levels but also changing capacity according to fluctuating demand level without incurring an
extensive cost. More variation leads to low volumes in stores, incurring a high unit cost.
Visibility Dimension: The visibility dimension refers to the consumer ability to watch,
track their experience or request through the operations procedure. A superior visibility
measurement helps Uniqlo to find out the bundle of customers or retail location where the
2 ElMaraghy, et al, Product variety management. CIRP Annals-Manufacturing Technology,vol 62, no 2, 2013,
pp.629-652
3 Stadtler, H, ‘Supply chain management: An overview. In Supply chain management and advanced planning’,.
Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2015, pp. 3-28.

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customer's purchases product over the counter4. Uniqlo has made it convenient for all the
clients through full-scale execution of web based sales.
Operational performance objective
Quality: Quality of a brand is more important than a specification. This objective defines
how well a product in market performs according to its specification. The appealing features
of a product, its reliability, durability and so on is also considered important while evaluating
quality objective5.The quality objective emphasis on the product desirability in the market
amongst customers. This objective helps the company to standardize the quality of a product
which is acceptable to customers.
Speed: It defines the rate at which Uniqlo is generating sales and how often a product is
delivered. Speed reflects how fast a firm gives responses to its customer requirement. Speed
also refers to issues in the time required by Uniqlo to manufacture a product and develop a
new product. Shifting by Uniqlo to digital marketing enables the company to speed up
business cycle, and reduce production issues. This enables Uniqlo to deliver exact product
desired by the customer and in expected delivery time. Speed is important internally as well
in reducing inventory and risks. In addition, the speed with which item can be made and
delivered to business sectors is directly connected with the speed with which items can
produce money flow
Dependability: It is a quality aspect describing reliability, certainty feeling, consistency
related to products and production process. Dependability also leads to developing goodwill
of a company. It adds important value in Uniqlo and has a direct effect on cash flow and
4 Kim, D.Y, Kumar, V and Kumar, U,’Relationship between quality management practices and innovation’.
Journal of operations management, vol 30,no 4, 2012, pp.295-315.
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International journal of production economics, vol 87,no 3, 2004, pp.333-347.

Operations management 6
profitability as well6. Dependability has two effects- internal and external. Internal has effects
cost factor of Uniqlo and external effect is related to customer satisfaction with the brand.
Dependability is easily measurable, unlike quality. It increases delivery speed of a company
like Uniqlo
Flexibility: Volume, variety, process and service/product are four dimensions in flexibility
operation management. It is very crucial objective affecting various dimensions of business.
Flexibility speeds up response time to customer and production department. It also saves the
time of Uniqlo by helping in speeding in response time7. Uniqlo provides flexibility in the
product by making available new and modified product each time. . Flexibility is also the
ability to produce various products and services altogether without incurring a huge
additional cost.
Cost: It is one of the major operation objectives especially for companies where competition
is cut throat. The above objective is achieved by cost advantage in the production process by
cutting the operation cost of the product in order to keep competitive price while receiving
the return on investment as well. If cost is managed properly then high quality, dependability,
flexibility, and speed can not only bring external reward but also improve operation cost.
Key issues in operations management:
Quality management: Various customers will have distinctive demands, so a working
meaning of quality is a customer choice. While considering quality layout, production and
company itself must be given importance. In combinations of all measures, it starts with an
evaluation of what the customers require, then making an elucidation of this information into
6 Luthra, S.,V. et al, ‘Barriers to implement green supply chain management in automobile industry using
interpretive structural modeling technique: An Indian perspective’. Journal of Industrial Engineering and
Management, vol 4, no 2, 2013, pp.231-257.
7 Taticchi, P,Tonelli, F and Cagnazzo, L. Performance measurement and management: a literature review and a
research agenda. Measuring business excellence, vol 14, no 1, 2010, pp.4-18.

Operations management 7
distinguishing conclusions in which products of organizations should adjust8. Some of the
outputs may be lower quality, loss in business, commitment, decreased benefit and increased
costs. Regardless, extraordinary quality has particular expenses, like neutralizing activity,
evaluation, and disillusionment. The most effective way to deal with issues related to defects
is to settle them in one time when they arise. This will surely decrease the cost of good
quality as time moves. Inability to meet quality issue is harming Uniqlo image, reputation or
leads to negative feedback. In the manufacturing field, the nature of crude materials or
equipment is influencing the entire assembling process9. Uniqlo is not removing is defects
and loopholes on time, due to this incurring other potential expenses. The quality issue is
incurring some as Uniqlo outsources its generation to accomplice production lines, quality
control is difficult and a critical factor. Quality provided by Uniqlo is good but is not meeting
the customers' expectations, as the price is very high. Uniqlo has the corporate social
responsibility towards its society which it needs to adhere in order to grow and survive
smoothly. As Uniqlo is not maintaining its quality of products it is facing extreme criticism in
the market. Customer satisfaction must be a prior goal for Uniqlo to retain its customer
market and to attain a competitive advantage over its competitors. Uniqlo business will
decrease if the unsatisfied customer will do negative publicity regarding its product and
services. Generally, a longer dissatisfied customer switches the brand and will not
recommend other to use. The other dimensions of the product include performance, special
quality, durability, reliability and so on. If in Uniqlo brand clothing defects are found in items
sold by the Group, for example, using of dangerous materials or poisons, sub-standard cloth
and many more, then it may require worldwide item recalls, or remuneration for mischief to
8 Tang, O. and Musa, S.N.’ Identifying risk issues and research advancements in supply chain risk
management’. International journal of production economics, vol 133, no 1, 2011 pp.25-34.
9 Subramanian, N. and. Ramanathan,R. A review of applications of Analytic Hierarchy Process in operations
management, International Journal of Production Economics, vol 138, no 2, 2012, pp.215-241.

Operations management 8
the health of consumers, which may negatively affect income, and also harming customers'
trust10.
Uniqlo, high-quality clothing brand products are available at reasonable price and affordable.
Customers' complaint regarding quality of the brand is conveyed to the concerned department
and desired the course of action is taken. But the durability of the product according to the
customer is as not per the desired requirement. Zara is the main competitor of Uniqlo so to
compete in the market quality of clothes should be reconsidered.
Inventory management: Nowadays companies have moved to demand driven rather
than plant level production. The demand is driven focus increases cost for Uniqlo production
process, as trend changes every day and fulfilling all demand at low cost is impossible11. Due
to change in fashion, the inventory management has become a key issue of concern for
operations management team. A failure to deliver an item of operations may harm the image
for the brand in customer mind. For Uniqlo inventory management issue is significant as it
delivers products worldwide and the slowdown in operation process will lead to decrease
popularity amongst people. Change in technology and demand also increases cost as the
additional cost will be incurred by Uniqlo to fulfill recent demand. As for delaying delivery
Uniqlo either will request manufacturing item at higher cost or delay production which will
reduce revenue.
Incompetent Labour and Staff: Inventory operations management is a procedure for arranging
output operation. Each assignment and activity is needed to be done by the Uniqlo staffs
which affect the stock and additionally the transportation lead period and other aspects. In
10 Sodhi, M.S., Son, B.G and Tang, C.S,’ Researchers' perspectives on supply chain risk management.
Production and operations management’, vol 21,no 1, 2012, pp.1-13.
11 Caro, F. and Gallien,J.’Inventory management of a fast-fashion retail network: Operations Research’, vol 58,
no 2, 2010, pp.257-273.

Operations management 9
this way, the information what one ought and effect of staff activities on the shop are affected
by Uniqlo 12. The effect of this activity of Uniqlo will have on the framework and physical
stock ought to be clear to the agent. It is observed that procurement department operations are
continuously evaluated by an auditor. In case of Uniqlo absence of head during these
operations lead to the unsatisfied response from the customer. As the staff and employees are
insufficient to respond to customer inquiries, Uniqlo is losing its valuable customer to
competitors.
Inadequate training: When an inventory management is handed over to another party on a
contract basis then both customers, principal, and other party starts initial processes and
document them in the Standard Operating procedure. When business in future changes
existing, SOP adopted becomes out-dated13. Then new parties by Uniqlo are searched and are
required to learn without giving any SOP training. With this procedure they generally have
less knowledge than require, so more prone to issue in inventory management.
Measures for improvement in operating performance:
Business Process Reengineering: It involves basic redesigning of main business
processes to attain improvements in productivity and quality of the product. For BPR
implementation uniqlo should enhance its quality. They should adopt a typical value system
that gives more importance on customer requirements14. Uniqlo for adopting BPR should
reduce organization inside layers and redesign structure for wasteful activity. They can
reduce their manufacturing cost in order to provide good quality in lesser cost. Their qulity
can be enhanced by using high quality raw material and improved technology.
12 Krajewski, L.J, Ritzman, L.J and. Malhotra. M.K ‘Operations management: processes and supply chains’,
New York, NY: Pearson, vol. 1, 2013, pp 50-100.
13 Trkman, P, The critical success factors of business process management. International journal of information
management, vol 30, no 2, 2010, pp.125-134.
14 Barratt, M., Choi, T.Y and M. Li,. Qualitative case studies in operations management: Trends, research
outcomes, and future research implications. Journal of Operations Management, vol. 29, no 4, 2011, pp.329-
342.

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Six Sigma approach: Uniqlo for successfully implementing this approach should
empower its inventory management to reduce the harm caused due to inventory management.
It helps in achieving targets with increase in quality and without increase in cost. Employee's
problem-solving skills are enhanced as by they can independently alleviate problems related
to inventory. Uniqlo can use six sigma approaches to increase the quality of its products by
applying efficient leadership and reducing waste. By this they can reduce the customer
complaints by significant amount. Customer main complaints are due to defective quality of
product and if Uniqlo improves this it will be beneficial both for organisation and Uniqlo
adopting six sigma approach will help in reducing waste, improved inventory management,
and higher quality of products. Investing in six sigma approaches proves beneficial both for
organization and employees in terms of quality and inventory management.
Total quality management: TQM is basically concerned about continuous changes in
work, from strategic planning to elaborate execution of target. Uniqlo can adopt this practice
to continuously increase output in every part of work as it on regular basis to enhance
capacities of machines, individual, inventory, and quality. The five important territories for
Uniqlo to improve are ability change request era, supply era, innovation, operations and
individual's capacity15. Uniqlo can adopt this approach in order to enhance weaken area like
defective guidelines for product inventory management and quality. The issues in quality can
be increased by improving the quality of raw material required for its product. And inventory
issue can be resolved by reducing inventory levels. Uniqlo can control mistakes in inventory
management from happening and where mistakes reiterate, stopping generation till the point
that the procedure can be remedied, to keep the product out of defects.
15 K. Baird, k. Jia Hu and R. Reeve. ‘The relationships between organizational culture: total quality management
practices and operational performance’. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol.
31, no.7, 2011 pp.789-814.

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Lean: Lean is a methodical strategy for squandering minimization inside an assembling
framework without sacrificing profitability. Uniqlo can consider reconsideration by reducing
overburden and waste in inventory management. Working from the viewpoint of the
customer, Uniqlo should consider an item or management, selling is an activity or process
that a client pays for. So Uniqlo should adopt Lean to manage quality and control over it.
For managing inventory: Lean should be practice to control production. Uniqlo should
produce products by removing all the defects in production system like hiring competent
staff, providing enough training to handle errors in machinery and many more. Other
practices like planned production according to market trend should be practiced in order to
reduce waste and resources of Uniqlo.

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Conclusion
From above analysis, it can be concluded that an operation manager should consider various
factors while producing a product. They should take a decision regarding production when
they researched about demand for a product in a market. Uniqlo should keep in mind the four
main operational dimensions: variety, volume, variation, and variety. Uniqlo should evaluate
its decision on basis of cost and quality of the product as well. Strategies adopted by the
company should be unique and innovative in order to remain competitive in the market. The
main objective for Uniqlo should be speed, quality, dependability, flexibility, and cost.
Uniqlo also faces operational issue mainly inventory management and quality management.
An operational manager of Uniqlo should take some major measures like BPR, TQM, 6
sigma approaches and much more to resolve all the issues concerned. Uniqlo as clothing
brand is very famous in Japan so to become more famous importance to operation
management should be given.