Screwfix Company: Analysis of Operations Management Decisions

This case study provides an overview of Screwfix Company's business operations, focusing on its operations management decisions. It begins with a brief description of Screwfix, highlighting its history, product offerings, and market presence. The study then explains the main functions of business operations, including finance, strategy, product design, marketing, quality control, and supply chain management. Furthermore, it evaluates Screwfix's operations management decisions in areas such as production, human resources and job design, supply chain management, scheduling, and layout design. The analysis emphasizes how these decisions contribute to the company's efficiency, productivity, and customer satisfaction. The report concludes that effective business operations and management are crucial for Screwfix's success, ensuring smooth functioning, improved productivity, and enhanced customer goodwill.

Case Study
Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
A brief description of chosen organization..................................................................................1
An explanation of main function of business operations.............................................................2
An evaluation of the company’s operations management decisions...........................................3
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Business operations can be defined as a term which refer to the day to day activities for running
the business and making profit and revenue out of that business.it is basically the process of
harvesting the worth from the assets which is owned by a business. Business operations within
the organization are the daily activities engaged in the business for increasing the value of
business and can also gain profit margin (Veltri, and et.al, 2018) .the report will describe the
main functions of business operations in Screw Fix Company and will also discuss the
operations management functions of the organization like supply chain management, logistics,
location and many more.
MAIN BODY
A brief description of chosen organization
Screw Fix is one of the largest multi-channel retailer of trade tools, accessories and all the
hardware products. The company was founded by Jon Goddard-watts in 1979 and the
headquarter of the company is in Yeovil, Somerset, England in United Kingdom. The company
has its listings on London Stock exchange and the total number of location in which company
has expand its services is 790 across the United Kingdom and Ireland. The products offer by the
company are screws, power tools, hand tools, safety and work wear, kitchen and bathrooms ,
outdoor and gardening and many other hardware tools(Direct, and Reynolds, 2020). There are
total nine thousand seven hundred and eighty eight number of employees in the company and as
per the records the revenue earned by the company in 2019 was $1671 million.
Screwfix is a parent company of kingfisher Plc. Which is the global home
improvement organization having 1400 stores and supported by the team of 80000 employees in
almost ten nations in Europe and Turkey.Screwfix Company is offering its products and services
with a suitable, honest and reasonable priced and helping the business customers to get the work
done at tight time. In 2017 screw fix was rewarded as the retail week award for customer
experience. The values of the Screw Fix Company is based on three factors and which are
growth, opportunity and success (Reynolds, 2018). The company have double its value from the
last ten years and did not show a single sign of slowing down in the target market.
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An explanation of main function of business operations
Business function can be defined as various activities in which the employees of the
organization are engaged with for providing better growth and productivity. The main aim of the
business operations is to earn a competitive advantage in the target market. The business
functions deals with the daily operational activities within the organization which are done by
the employees for meeting the goals and objectives of the organization. The business operations
within the organization helps in running the business smoothly. The operations of the business
are performed by various departments of the organization and each organization perform some
basic roles and responsibilities for performing the business functions. All the various
departments are inter dependent and interrelated with each other so it is very important for the
team members to perform the business functions more accurately in order to get the better
output. Some of the main functions of business operations are as follows:
Finance- Finance department is one of the most important department as well as a strong
function of business operations. For the manufacturing work every organization need a very
strong finance operations and it is considered to be one of the most important function for
running any business. This functions helps the organization is setting the budgets for various
departments of the organization like human resource department, production department,
operations department and many more (Dincer, Hacioglu, and Yüksel, 2018). For stock purpose
also the company require a very stable and effective finance department which can help in
returning best return and interest.
Strategy – strategy is also one of the most important function of the business operations as it
helps in planning, analysing, monitoring, controlling and assessing various factors in the
organization. The term strategy has been used by the organizations in order to get a good output
and also for making some good decision making process.stratagies has been used by the
organization for getting more effective and significant result in terms of growth and
development. While performing any operational work it is essential to have some good strategy
for doing the work in a more significant manner.
Product design-In the production department the product design is considered to be one of the
most important function. The product designers are considered to be the most innovative
members of the organization. For making and designing any product it is very essential for the
team to understand the needs and requirements of the customers. Because of the advancement in
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the technological factor the process of selling the products and services becomes very easier and
simple. But in the production team there are some barriers and threats which the companies have
to face and this can be done by using the marketing mix strategy.
Marketing function-Marketing is the process of selling the products and services to the
customers according to their needs and requirements.is the process of providing products and
services to the customers by providing them a point of satisfaction as per their needs and
desires(Meredith, 2020).). The function of marketing helps in making a relationship between the
producers and consumers and exchange an ownership between them.in the business operations
the marketing functions plays a vital role as this is the way by which the sales and revenue of the
organization can increase. For this marketing managers, business analyst are there for
performing the certain functions of marketing.
Quality control-Making good quality products are very important as nowadays customer’s
focus more on quality rather on quantity.it is very essential for the organization to make good
quality products and which are more durable.The quality control function include some tasks
like performing risk analysis for identifying the potential issues, creating tests for controlling the
quality of the product, reviewing the products for making sure that the quality of the products
are meeting the standards.
Supply Chain Management-supply chain management is one of the essential step in the
business operations as it helps in the movement of raw material from one place to another. This
process involves some steps which starts from the production of the product to the last step in
which the product get deliver to the customer end. The supply chain management function
differs from the environment of the trade as well as the scope of trade. The mutual component
which comprised in the supply chain management are consumers, portfolio, manufacture and
most importantly conveyance (Luthra, and Mangla, 2018).
An evaluation of the company’s operations management decisions
Operations management is the process of managing the operational activities in the organization
and helps in transforming the input into desirable goods and products. The Screw Fix operations
management comprises of various management teams and goals. Some of the decision areas of
operations management of Screw Fix Company are as follows:
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Production-Screw Fix Company is focusing in the production of the products and services they
are offering to the customers.in the production department there are dedicated and skilled
employees following the guidelines of proper hygiene and social isolation (Subramanian, and
Ramanathan, 2019). For maintaining the production department many strategic implementations
was taken by screw fix like maintaining the culture of the company and this builds a strong
connect between the employees of the organization. The main aim of the employees is to focus
on the quality of the product in order to make increase the sales and revenue of the company.
Human Resource and Job Design- the human resource department of the Screw Fix focus on
the smartness and excellence in employees. They motivate the employees for performing better
by providing training session and induction programs to the employees. The company always
support smart employees irrespective of their experience (Partovi, Burton, and Banerjee, 2018).
Similarly for retaining the employees the company provide good compensation and benefits as
well as some extra benefits like providing facility of cab, free meals for lunch, some shopping
vouchers and many other benefits. The human resource policies and program which are designed
in a best manner which give respect to all the worker and employees of the Screw fix.
Supply chain management-supply chain management is one of the most important factor when
talking about the operations management. It is process of sending the products to the customers
end. The Screw Fix Company uses the system of information system for managing the supply
chain. For this factor the company uses the process of analyzing the inventory records for
predicting the demand of the products and then inform the dealers and the original equipment
manufacturers about this. The company also uses the concept off lean manufacturer for the
supply chain management and this means increasing the productivity and decreasing the waste.
Scheduling- In scheduling the screw Fix Company uses the process of automation in which the
company automates certain process like checking and monitoring of the level of productivity .for
this function of operations management the company also uses scheduling by applying flexible
approaches in considering the variations in the availability of the team members (Schroeder,
Goldstein, and Rungtusanatham, 2020).
Layout design and strategy-it is one of the very important function of the operations
management for increasing the effectiveness and productivity of the company. Screw Fix
company uses innovative designs for layouts and strategies for performing the daily business
operations within the organization. This factor involves two factors which are efficiency and
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creativity. Similarly various decisions has been made for the dealership of the company layout
design and these decisions have been taken by the dealer and supplier according to the needs and
requirements of the customers.
Similarly all these are the decisions of operations management of Screw Fix Company and this
helps in increasing the managing the process effectively, controlling and supervising the goods
and providing effective services to the customer.it involves planning , organizing and monitoring
all the resources that are required for producing the goods and services of the company. The
operations management in the Screw Fix Company helps in achieving the objectives and goals
and improving the productivity as well. This will also enhance the goodwill and presence of the
organization and ensures that the quality of the product is satisfying the customers and making
them feel happy.one of the best advantage of using operations management more effectively is it
provides optimum utilization of resources by making proper strategies and keep on checking the
resources and ensuring that they are providing good result or not. The last factor of operation
management is that they motivate the employees towards their role and responsibilities.
Employees are also remunerated and awarded by some price as per their level of performance in
the organization (Demir, 2019). This increases the confidence level of the employees and boost
their will power for doing better in terms of business.
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CONCLUSION
From the report it has been understood that the business operations are one of the important
aspect of the organization as these helps in running the business more smoothly and effectively.
Business operations are the daily activities which are done by the employees in order to improve
the efficiency and productivity of the organization.Bussiness operations varies from industry to
industry and it has been concluded that there are various functions of the business operations
like supply chain management, quality control and many more. The overview of the Screw Fix
Company has been illustrated in the report and the decision areas of the operation management
of the company are also elaborated in the report as well.
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REFERENCES
Books and references
Veltri, A., and et.al, 2018. Understanding safety in the context of business operations: An
exploratory study using case studies. Safety science, 55, pp.119-134.
Direct, S. and Reynolds, J., 2020. Everything for the trade–next day: Screwfix Direct. Retail
Strategy: The View from the Bridge, p.196.
Reynolds, J., 2018. Charting the multi‐channel future: retail choices and
constraints. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management.
Dincer, H., Hacioglu, Ü. and Yüksel, S., 2018. Strategic design and innovative thinking in
business operations. Series: Contributions to Management Science. Publisher: Springer
International Publishing.
Luthra, S. and Mangla, S.K., 2018. When strategies matter: Adoption of sustainable supply
chain management practices in an emerging economy’s context. Resources,
Conservation and Recycling. 138. pp.194-206.
Meredith, J.R., 2020. Hopes for the future of operations management. Journal of Operations
Management, 19(4), pp.397-402.
Subramanian, N. and Ramanathan, R., 2019. A review of applications of Analytic Hierarchy
Process in operations management. International Journal of Production
Economics, 138(2), pp.215-241.
Partovi, F.Y., Burton, J. and Banerjee, A., 2018. Application of analytical hierarchy process in
operations management. International Journal of Operations & Production
Management.
Schroeder, R.G., Goldstein, S.M. and Rungtusanatham, M.J., 2020. Operations management.
New York: McGraw-Hill.
Demir, A., 2019. THE IMPACT OF STRATEGIC OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
DECISIONS ON SHOPPERS'WELLBEING. Asian Academy of Management
Journal, 24(1).
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