Analysis of Operations and Project Management at Axis Electronics

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of operations and project management principles applied within Axis Electronics, a UK-based electronics company. The report explores the implementation of operational strategies, including Six Sigma and Lean principles, to enhance efficiency and quality. Task 1 critically reviews the application of these principles, examining their impact on various aspects of the business. Task 2 focuses on the importance of continuous improvement plans, assessing how Axis Electronics can refine its processes through regular reviews and analyses. Task 3 delves into the product lifecycle (PLC), detailing each stage and providing supporting documentation. The report concludes with an evaluation of the PLC's effectiveness within Axis Electronics, offering insights into the company's strategic approach to product development and management. The report emphasizes the importance of employee needs, good relationships, and the implementation of strategies like Six Sigma and Lean to enhance the company's performance and customer satisfaction. The report also covers other important aspects like the importance of Six Sigma, Lean principle, and the effectiveness of the continuous improvement plan.

Operations and Project
Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1 ...........................................................................................................................................1
P1 Critical review regarding implementation of operations principle in organisation context.. 1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
P2 Continuity in improvement plan based on review and analysis............................................6
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
P3 Apply each stage of the PLC along with providing necessary supporting documentation for
the project....................................................................................................................................8
P4 Effectiveness of the PLC in AXIS electronics.....................................................................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

INTRODUCTION
Operation management is the best administration of the business activities to develop
high level of efficiency within the organisation in a possible manner. It also manages teams with
balance cost and revenue to achieve the highest goals within an organisation. On the other side
project management is the method of managing all plans or activities of project. The aim of this
may cost from new product development to a service launch. Axis Electronics has been chosen
as an organisation, which is an UK based leading international electronics company. It was
founded in 1995 on the basis of independent UK based contract in electronic manufacturing
services provider with the combination of technological capabilities. The main product of Axis
electronics are Fridges and Freezers, electric cars, gas and electric cookers and washing
machines and so on. In the present scenario company is planning to enter in Television sector, so
that they can easily extend their business in a good manner. The present report comprises on
importance of project management and their operations with its principles and their results of
application. In addition to this, significance of regular improvement plan in business, through
finding their serious concerns and their effective solution has been explained in the report (Artto,
Ahola and Vartiainen, 2016).
TASK 1
P1 Critical review regarding implementation of operations principle in organisation context.
operation management is a tool which helps in planning, organising, controlling and
supervising. It also helps in earning more and more profit and improving efficiency. Operation
management collects an information and develop a business plan strategy. It is also helps in axis
electronics for performing a task in an appropriate manner which gives them positive result.
Some principles of operation management are given below:
Principle of Reality: In this principle, operation management focuses on the problem
rather than the tool or techniques, because tool is not a solution for every problem , so that it is
the reality of any product where all strategy or techniques can be applied easily.
Principle of Organisation: In this every organisation from all departments are
interlinked with each other and all elements of operation management are constant and
foreseeable which helps an organisation for achieving their goals and objectives in an
appropriate manner.
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Principle of Fundamental: According to this principle, each and every individual should
be stable on common key which is based upon the all production system, so that it is easiest
source for the Axis electronics for future growth in the marketplace.
Principle of Accountability: In this, an organisation's superiors or managers set their
rules and regulation for their subordinates. They also check their performance time to time for
achieving their specific goals in good way..
Principle of success: According to this, success is very important term for every business
organisation and it will come only when Axis electronics satisfied their customers needs and
demand from their upcoming or new product.
Six Sigma
Six sigma is a quality control methodology which is developed by Motorola, Inc. in
1986. This technique is used for elimination of defects or mistakes in a product, process or
services. Strategies used in six sigma helps in improving quality of output by identification and
dismissal of defects. Six sigma originally was developed as a management of method to work
with few mistakes and work faster (Fleming and Koppelman, 2016). This process is also referred
as DMAIC as it includes in five tools Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control which are
discussed below:
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Define It is the first phase of six sigma process. This is
related to definition of problem, project goals,
customer requirements and selection of
resources for improvement. Primary tools are
trend charts, value stream map, business
metrics and voice of customer. It is critical
phase of six sigma process. At this stage, In
axis electronics, problems are first identified
and changes or new products are made as per
customer requirements .
Measure Measurement is very important throughout life
of project. In this phase, team clarifies
measurement definitions and determines
baseline of process. In regard of this, axis
electronics measure current performance with
standard performance (Gilbert and et. al.,
2015). This helps in company for evaluation of
conditions prevailing in overall improvement
and production process.
Analyse In this stage analysis is process to identify root
causes of poor performance, variation and
defects. Tools used in this phase are
ANNOVA, control charts, affinity diagrams,
and root cause verification. In context with
axis electronics, it finds out solution for
emerging demands of customers and changing
technology.
Improve This phase prioritize vital reasons of variation
and implement actions for improvement . It
also develop relationships between variables of
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output and input. In axis electronics, this phase
provides solutions to various problems in
organisation.
Control In this stage of six sigma a control plan is
formulated to know what is required for
improvement at current level. This is
comparison of actual results with standard
result. Axis electronics monitors process
behaviour and measure outcomes of updated
products or service in negative and positive
aspects.
Lean principle
Lean principle is systematic method for minimization of waste without sacrificing
productivity in manufacturing process. It is the set of tools that help in identification and fixed
elimination of waste. Lean principle assist management in ensuring best quality of product and
minimum waste. According to fast changing global scenario, axis electronics company wants to
diversify its business as per customer needs in Television sector so, they are introducing new
product in market. Therefore, there are many principles which will provide effective and
efficient benefits to company. This includes in five principle as defined value, map value
stream, create flow, and establish pull which are mentioned below (Glukhov and Levina, 2015).
Defined value Value is what customer is willing to pay for a
product or service. This phase is concerned
with what is value of product in minds of
customers. The value is not what is produced.
Information required for defining value is
price, expectations, and delivery time. In
context with, Axis electronics it helps company
to identify value of products in minds of
customer as it helps in knowing variations to
reduce waste and overall cost.
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Map value stream Second lean principle is mapping and
identifying value stream. This includes
information that is required for production
without any wastage. Map value stream helps
managers of axis electronics to evaluate and
monitor all aspects related to allocation of
work to manufacturing by providing suitable
strategies.
Create flow In this stage action is taken to ensure flow of
steps smoothly without any delays. Some
strategies for smooth work includes training
employees, levelling out workload,
reconfiguring production steps and breaking
down steps. It will benefit Axis electronics in
removing hurdles, eliminating wastage and
fulfilling customer needs and demands.
Establish pull Establish pull means that system which allows
Just-in-time delivery and manufacturing
products when need arises to control wastage.
Every company faces problem of inventory and
work in process (WIP). These pull-based
systems are created from needs of customers.
This process helps Axis electronics in
providing customer satisfaction by fulfilling
demands in effective time period (Harrison and
Lock, 2017).
Pursue Perfection The most important phase is to pursue
perfection among all. It is important in making
lean thinking and improvement as part of
organization culture. Every employee should
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endeavour towards perfection while delivery of
products to customers. Operation managers of
axis electronics can adopt innovative
technology to produce products.
TASK 2
P2 Continuity in improvement plan based on review and analysis.
Comparison of basis Approach/ Principle Implementation
Quality To unavailability of the quality in
Axis electronics, so that it should use
TQM to make their quality of product
in more flexible or good way.
In this, Axis electronics should
apply lean manufacturing
approach to improve their
quality of product.
Cost In this, improve the cost some
variances will be used to decide the
cost of TV along with its
improvement in their new product.
Axis electronics should adopt
six sigma strategy to enhance
their level of performance in
the market and helps to cut
cost and get need able
customers.
Delivery Axis electronics should apply six
sigma principle to manage their
delivery and product development
process in a effective manner.
Six sigma includes in measure,
analysis, define and control
which will help to transfer
their goods from the store.
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Safety In this case, organisation faces lot of
challenges of issues related with
safety while launching a new product
in market, than lean production is
suitable for solving their safety issues
of products and also find the damages
fault issues from the TV.
Lean principle will help
company to eliminate an type
of problem like damage and all
factors that create suitability or
effectiveness in an
organisation.
Effectiveness of continuous improvement plan: In this, Axis electronics should
properly understand the price and quality of their product such as TV. The six sigma approach
helps Axis electronics to make their new product effective or attractive, it also helps to reduce
damages or any kind of error from the TV products. This implementation of regular
improvement thoughts is done that is known the reviews of the customers and will enhance trust
among customers towards the Axis electronics. There are some activities of improvement given
below:
Priority to employee's need: Manager of Axis electronics should determined the needs
and wants of their employees and give first priority to them in order to increase efficiency in an
organisation , so that they can easily manage their work and enhance their working speed in a
motivated way. Priority for their employee's is very important because they are only the
approach for company in the form of communication between customers or an organisation.
Good relationship of employees: According to this effective improvement plan
employees plays a vital role in an organisation. In the implementation of any strategy the
relationship between employees or employers should be good, so that they can work easily by
good coordination that influence their employees in good way and encourage them towards the
work in a discipline manner and complete their work in a perfect way (Kerzner and Kerzner,
2017).
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TASK 3
P3 Apply each stage of the PLC along with providing necessary supporting documentation for
the project.
It is essential for any organisation to analyse and evaluate the life cycle of project. In
other words it can be said that it is necessary to estimate the time taken by product to develop
and grow in the marketplace. This can be done by using the product life cycle of the new product
launched by the company. Here in case of Axis electronics, the company has decided to launch a
52 inches TV in the market. Product life cycle is consisting of different components such as raw
material, production, manufacturing, disposal and utilization of product. The different stages of
product life cycle are introduction, growth, maturity and decline. Before launching a TV in
market, Axis electronics has to take initiatives to advertise this product and make effective
impact in front of customers. The product life cycle stages followed by Axis Electronics is
discussed below-
Introduction stage: This stage is the first step of introduction of the product in
marketplace. All other stages depends on this stage as product is launched at this stage and it has
just started to grow. It is necessary to know the demands of customers for effective utilisation of
the TV. In this stage the investment cost is very high and return rate is low. This will take around
1 month for the company to make profits in business (Kundu and et. al., 2015).
Growth: The growth stage signifies the development and growth of product in the
market. At this stage customers are the most essential people to be focused. Customers are
attracted towards the product and it will make profits for the company. The marketing manager
of the Axis electronics ensures that this new 52 inches TV must be advertised properly and it
should make positive impact in front of customers.
Maturity: After the growth stage of product life cycle, the next stage is the maturity
stage. All the potential customers are focused in this stage . When people have purchased the
product the sales of company increases at a high rate but after that the rate suddenly decreases
after a certain period. So, it is advisable for marketing manager to do aggressive marketing of the
product. For increasing the sale of product in market again it is required for organisation to make
new innovations in this product.
Decline: This is known as the last stage of the product life cycle. This is termed as the
negative stage of product development. At this stage of the life cycle, the popularity of the
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product declines. The customers are lost and it leads to decrease in sales of the company. The
customers do not take keen interest in the product as they have used this product and now the
innovations and changes are required to make the product effective. But as the product has
become old it is not able to attract the customers now. So it is the responsibility of marketing
manager to take steps for maintaining the product's image.
Project methodologies: This is defined as the method by which the research is done for
launching the new product. For this project ,to have positive outcomes the framework for project
completion is adaptive. It is important for the company to adjust scope for increasing business
value and image (Lam and Lai, 2015).
Tools: Gantt chart is used in representing the activities involved in accomplishing th e
launch of new 58 inches television. Gantt chart is a representation of horizontal bar which gives
the estimation of completing the activities of the project. By following this, Axis electronics can
measure the time taken to complete the task.
Business case: The given case is depending upon various resources needed by the
company in attaining success in project. These resources include area for production, funds,
suppliers, power, electricity, etc. All such resources are utilised properly for launching the new
52 inches TV in marketplace.
 Executive summary : This case of business is dealing with future opportunities of Axis
electronics in launching new 52 inches TV. Moreover it includes all the problems and
issues related to execution of plan.
 Problem or opportunities : In the given case Axis electronics has the opportunity to enter
into new market segment and be profitable in Television business. The problem is that it
does not have experience in television industry and there are various existing companies
which are leading in television business.
 Possible solution of the opportunity : The company is taking corrective action plan for
manufacturing the product and increasing the productivity and profitability.
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