Sainsbury's Operational Efficiency: Supply Chain and Technology

This report delves into Sainsbury's operations and service management, highlighting the company's effective stock control, delivery, and supply chain management practices achieved through comprehensive employee training. It critically analyzes the positive impact of supply chain management on cost reduction, demand forecasting, and resource utilization, linking it to the resource-based theory and just-in-time approaches. The report further evaluates the crucial role of technology, including artificial intelligence and warehouse management systems, in streamlining processes, reducing labor costs, and enhancing customer satisfaction. Finally, it identifies key supporting functions like human resources that contribute to the success of Sainsbury's operational strategies. Desklib offers similar resources for students seeking academic support.

Operations and service
management

Contents
Contents......................................................................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..............................................................................................................................................3
Identifying one operation management practice in Sainsbury.................................................................3
Critically analyzing how supply chain management impacts the organization.......................................4
Evaluating how technology is embedded in this process.........................................................................6
Identifying supporting functions that are linked to training operation management practice...................7
CONCLUSION...........................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES..........................................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Operation management practice is of prime importance both for the present and future
working of business and helps in knowing various areas of improvement so that maximum
efficiency is assured. Furthermore, the present report is based on Sainsbury that is well known
in UK for selling variety of products and further the study will explain one best operation
management practice that has helped in firm in sustaining the market and attracting more
customers towards the business. Moreover, study will critically analyse the impact of this
operation management practice in success of firm. Also, the report will provide detailed analysis
and role of technology in operation management practice and will explain how it is been used
within the Sainsbury. Lastly, study will explain significance of various support function in
ensuring best operation practice within the workplace in detail.
MAIN BODY
Identifying one operation management practice in Sainsbury
Sainsbury is operating on large scale in various parts of the world and hence it is very
important for the company to have the best employees that are not only qualified in performing
certain job roles within the workplace but are also very well efficient in carrying out certain task
at the workplace through use of specific skills and competencies (Wilson, 2018). Moreover, the
best operation practice that is been followed by the cited firm is ensuing Stock control,
delivery and supply chain management through providing efficient training to all the
employees on timely and on systematic basis. Also, operations of the business are carried out in
smooth manner only because of the reason that employees are motivated enough to take
challenging roles and have high morale that certain task would be completed on time and in right
manner.
Furthermore, the supply chain management is done on regular basis and especially taken
care when Sainsbury is planning to bring any new change within the organization or is doing
strategic planning to expand into newer regions in the market (Chen and et.al., 2022). Moreover,
the operation managers within Sainsbury are only aiming in devising the methods through which
the wastage might be reduced and greater productivity and efficiency might be achieved. For

this purpose the operation managers ensures that equipment’s are upgraded so that work is
carried out smoothly and faster so that large market share might be covered.
Moreover, by opting best supply chain as operational practice on constant base Sainsbury
operational manager ensures that employees remain satisfied with the company and also the
business is able run for longer time period in the markets without many problems. Also, efficient
supply chain within workplace is ensured through use of best technologies and designing of
various training programs for employees according to the current market requirements and
resources that company is having so that working is effective and also chances of errors are
minimum (Tan and et.al., 2022). Moreover, Sainsbury provided training in small groups of
employees and according to the job roles so that changes under that department might be
understood in well-defined manner and later all the training efforts are combined altogether to
achieve overall organizational goals and objectives.
Furthermore, better stock control and timely delivery of various items to customers,
Sainsbury operational manager supervision have also been reduced and thus departmental
managers are able to focus on the other important activities that are required to be carry out.
Also, the organizational structure of Sainsbury is also become best in the form of the flexibility
and there is seen more uniformity in work processes. Moreover, through ensuring transparency
in working Sainsbury employees and customers are well informed about new company product’s
and motive of the company that have further help them to establish clear communication with all
the targeted customers (Mišić and Perakis, 2020). Thus, it has enhanced the Sainsbury customer
loyalty and made stronger brand image in various parts of world. Also, it can be said that best
supply chain management have not only allowed Sainsbury to ensure faster deliveries to
customers living in various parts of the world but has assured that there is no compromise in the
quality of products that are been offered. Moreover, through better stock control methods and the
inventory management the company is able to make sure that there is optimum utilization of
resources.
Critically analyzing how supply chain management impacts the organization
Supply chain management is very important for ensuring that full efficiency is achieved
while carrying out business activities. Also, this process helps Sainsbury to minimize various
costs and ensures earning of maximum profits in limited time frame. Moreover, through supply
chain Sainsbury is able to bring newer technologies within the workplace so that better

monitoring might be done on the products that are manufactured and sold on large scale in
different parts of world (Choi, Wallace and Wang, 2018). Also, current supply chain has allowed
Sainsbury to forecast accurate demand and sales in taste market and also helped in improving the
inventory management so that there are very less cases of the underproduction within the
organization. Moreover, the current system of the Sainsbury regarding the supply chain
management might be linked to the resource based theory that states that the supply chain
process within any organization is based on the resources that are available with the company.
Thus, based on that accordingly that whole working process are carried and strategic decisions
are been made.
Moreover, supply chain management in cited firm has positively impacted the working
operations as t has allowed in reducing the wastage and also help the firm to stand in the market
for longer time against some of the top competitors. Also, Sainsbury follows just in time
approach where the goods are made available at the right place and time without causing any
kind of delay and dissatisfaction among the targeted customers (Nguyet and et.al., 2020).
Moreover, this practice in supply chain is followed through estimating the total budget that is
required to make resources available within the organization and total time needed in delivering
the finished outputs to targeted customers. It also further keeps in mind the risk associated with
inventory management and the lines of suppliers that will make faster delivery. Thus, through
keeping in mind all these factors the Sainsbury is able to ensure maximum efficiency from it
supply chain and deliver quality products to the customers at the right time.
Moreover, through supply chain Sainsbury is able to adopt multi sourcing strategy and
build strong relationship with its entire supplier’s that are helping to make the business success
over the years. Furthermore, now all the supply chain activities within the firm are undertaken
digitally that had made the working easier and also proper check might be kept in the activities
that are causing extra cost to the business so that proper action might be taken for improvements
(de Sousa Jabbour and et.al., 2019). Sainsbury efficiency in such operation practice is also been
due to the proper warehouse management systems and use of updated technologies that helps in
giving real time updates of all the stores that are located in various regions of the country thus
ensuring greater efficiency. Moreover, through best return management system Sainsbury is also
been able to integrate various activities of the business to achieve certain long term objectives in
well-defined manner. However, it is not only the supply chain that only results in success of

Sainsbury but other factors such as the availability of labor, infrastructure, brand loyalty,
marketing etc. that helps in contributing to growth of the firm over the year’s. Moreover, in
Sainsbury supply chain manager is responsible for keeping check and handling all the supply
shortages so that final products might be delivered on time.
Evaluating how technology is embedded in this process
Technology plays very impotent role in supply chain management process as unlike
earlier times when lot of labor used to keep records in the workbook and oversees all the
production lines but in the current scenario supply chain activities are been carried out through
the use of various efficient technologies and software’s that supply the information in quickest
manner. Furthermore, technologies allow in managing and storing large amount of data and
helps in analyzing the areas where the problems are occurring so that it might be rectified as
soon as possible. Also, in Sainsbury it can be said that it is using high level of artificial
intelligence to ensure maximum benefit from existing supply chain and streamline various
processes. Moreover, the firm has selected luminate end to end sully chain platform and
transformation. Thus, through using such type of technology partners it has been able to develop
complete supply chain visibility and more automated business decisions in least stressed manner.
Furthermore, Sainsbury is operating in more than 2000 stores and it has various partners to deal
with (Sainsbury’s smartens and streamlines supply chain strategy, 2022). Hence through using
bests technology methods and processes it has ensured that warehouse system are well advance
to generate quick reports even while working remotely in times like pandemic. These system not
only ensure efficient manufacturing of products but these also help in the analyzing weak points
through which than top management plan better decisions for the future.
Moreover, through using such technology Sainsbury had been able to reduce the overall
labor cost and times thus improving the overall productivity of various departments and different
level of workers. Furthermore, with decreasing cost of production demand of the customers for
certain products had also been rise in the recent year’s thus generating more revenues to the firm.
Also, the overall operational performance is the enhanced and company is able to make
compliance with certain policies and rules (Grover, Kar and Dwivedi, 2020). Also, it has been
able to build strong customer relationships that will help the firm for greater expansion
opportunities and market share in the future. In the current times people are attracted towards
consuming more products that are unique and have different attributes from the products that are

available in the market. Hence through using best technologies Sainsbury is able to boost the
sales through generating new ideas for existing products in the market. Furthermore, through use
of robot’s in inventory management and reduced the labor work and provided the opportunity to
Sainsbury to carry out certain warehouse for longer duration which was not possible otherwise
with human resources (Demir, 2019). Hence, with higher levels of services and saved cost the
firm is able to the set up new warehouse centers that will save delivery time and the
transportation cots leading to greater efficiency and the growth of the business in long run. Also,
for ensuring greater customer satisfaction it is essential that the firm is continuously reviewing
and monitoring the existing ethnologies so that if any update required than it might be taken on
time to avoid any kind of the wastage of resources and the time of the business. Moreover,
employees need to be made well aware of business goals so that they are able to handle all the
warehouse and inventory on the basis of the customer needs and demands. Thus, technology has
brought change in entire working of the organization system and now Sainsbury is much focused
on delivering the best customer experiences rather than looking only at the primary activities of
operations within the workplace.
Identifying supporting functions that are linked to training operation management practice
There are various support functions that helps in working of the supply chain in bets
manner. Furthermore, these support functions altogether work in coordinated manner so that
certain long and short term objectives might be fulfilled in timely manner. Also, role of some of
these function in Sainsbury are been described as follows:
Human resource: This is the most asset of any organization as it helps in making certain
goals of the firm fulfilled in best possible manner (The 5 Functions of Supply Chain
Management, 2022). Furthermore, HR department within Sainsbury is responsible for hiring and
selecting those individuals that are not only qualified but also have the required skills to carry out
certain roles and handle the technologies within the workplace. Moreover, this department is
very crucial as supply chain management process would be only carried out smoothly through
these employees that look at certain activities in best manner and present reports for the same to
top management.
Production and Operations department: Operations is one of support function where the
Sainsbury does the demand planning and forecasting about the product’s to be sold in the target
market so that based on that production levels might be identified. On the other hand Production

function is one where the groups of employees look at the production levels within the firm and
suggest goods quantities through analyzing the external business environment so that supply
chain activities might be optimized and also cost of the Sainsbury might be saved to large level.
For example: In Sainsbury this department suggest certain levels that need to be kept in the
warehouse based on the estimated sales so that inventory management is proper for the
organization. Also, through analyzing minimum and maximum production levels better strategic
decisions are taken by the cited firm for all future operations.
Marketing: This is function that is responsible for the making people aware about the
company product and services so that greater sales might be assured in future. Also, through this
function Sainsbury is able to create brand awareness and make customers aware about the
company and its services (Marin-Garcia and et.al., 2020). Moreover, through collecting review
from customers and communicating same to top management firm would be able to make
changes in supply chain processes and ensure greater productivity among the employees in the
future. Moreover, through marketing function the Sainsbury is also able to get overview of the
target market and there needs so based on that certain stock is kept and raw materials are
processed in finished goods in the future.
Thus, there are various other functions that are responsible for success and all these
functions are performed under the individual managerial head that keeps in mind the firms
objective and ensure maximum productivity of each employees at the workplace. Also, through
efficient communication channels and greater level of understanding among the managers and
employees Sainsbury is able to implement any change within the organization in smooth manner
without having much level of resistance.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that having the best supply chain management
practice had allowed Sainsbury to remain competitive in target market and have ensured greater
revenues for the country in the current era. Also, the report had discussed in detail about
influence of supply chain management practice in increasing the number of customers and
gaining more knowledge about external business environment. Moreover, detailed about the
current technology in Sainsbury and is impact on enhancing efficiency in business operations
had also been presented. Lastly, significance of various support functions such as human

resources, operations, marketing etc. in making the business success had also been discussed in
detail under this report.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals.
Chen, X. and et.al., 2022. Mind the gap between research and practice in operations
management. IISE Transactions. pp.1-11.
Choi, T. M., Wallace, S. W. and Wang, Y., 2018. Big data analytics in operations
management. Production and Operations Management. 27(10). pp.1868-1883.
de Sousa Jabbour, A. B. L. and et.al., 2019. Circular economy business models and operations
management. Journal of cleaner production. 235. pp.1525-1539.
Demir, A., 2019. THE IMPACT OF STRATEGIC OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
DECISIONS ON SHOPPERS'WELLBEING. Asian Academy of Management Journal. 24(1).
Grover, P., Kar, A. K. and Dwivedi, Y. K., 2020. Understanding artificial intelligence adoption
in operations management: insights from the review of academic literature and social media
discussions. Annals of Operations Research. pp.1-37.
Marin-Garcia, J. A. and et.al., 2020. Operations Management at the service of health care
management: Example of a proposal for action research to plan and schedule health resources
in scenarios derived from the COVID-19 outbreak. Journal of Industrial Engineering and
Management. 13(2). pp.213-227.
Mišić, V. V. and Perakis, G., 2020. Data analytics in operations management: A
review. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management. 22(1). pp.158-169.
Nguyet, B. T. M. and et.al., 2020. Operations management and performance: a mediating role of
green supply chain management practices in MNCs. Polish journal of management
studies. 22.
Tan, D. and et.al., 2022. Influence of Quality Management Practice on Quality Performance in
Construction Enterprises. Manufacturing and Service Operations Management. 3(1). pp.9-16.
Wilson, J. M., 2018. Deconstructing the reinvention of operations management. Journal of
Management History. 24(2). pp.128-155.
Online
Sainsbury’s smartens and streamlines supply chain strategy. 2022. [Online]. Available
through:https://chainstoreage.com/sainsburys-smartens-and-streamlines-supply-chain-
strategy#:~:text=Britain's%20second%2Dlargest%20supermarket%20retailer,its%20planned
%20supply%20chain%20transformation.
The 5 Functions of Supply Chain Management. 2022. [Online]. Available through :<
https://www.planettogether.com/blog/the-five-functions-of-supply-chain-management>.