Smitheford Pharmaceuticals: Operations Management and Strategy Report

This report provides an analysis of Smitheford Pharmaceuticals, examining its history, operational strategies, and challenges. The company, founded by General Robert Smitheford, initially benefited from management incentives and the adoption of total quality management philosophies, though implementation in the manufacturing sector has been problematic. The report highlights the advantages of the company's manufacturing operations before NAFTA, including access to skilled labor and lower production costs. It identifies objectives related to improving operations management, including the use of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software for tracking materials, improving transparency, and facilitating real-time commodity release. The report also discusses system design, capacity planning, and the importance of effective management systems for competitive advantage. References to academic sources support the analysis of the company's strategies and challenges.

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SMITHEFORD PHARMACEUTICALS
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Introduction
General Robert Smitheford was a former officer in the civil war who founded the
Smitheford pharmaceutical in the year 1878. This company expanded rapidly because the
founder used management incentives and also followed Taylor on his ways of improving the
company and satisfaction of employees (Ungar & Tobias, 2012). Despite the company
adopting the total quality management philosophies, it has failed in implementing these
philosophies in the manufacturing sector.
Executive Summary
Smitheford company benefited from owning manufacturing companies before
NAFTA. First, the company was able to get educated and skilled employees at a lower cost.
Canada has the best education system, and therefore it equips learners with the necessary
skills and expertise in handling problems. Secondly, it is a lower cost of manufacturing bases.
Canada offers low cost for pharmaceutical manufacturers who would want to open up
research and development centers (Mohamed, 2018).
Objectives
The pharmaceutical industry has become more competitive in recent years. There have been
strict quality regulations concerning counterfeit drugs. The shortage of medicines and
improper medical inventory management negatively affects the supply chain of the
pharmaceutical farm (Bozarth & Handfield, 2019). The ultimate objective of operations
management is to ensure that proper marketing procedures, from the production process,
quality control to logistics according to business models. The use of Enterprise Resource
planning software helps to track and identify raw materials from the receipt by processing,
packaging, and shipping to the customer's location. This system will link all departments in

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the pharmaceutical industry, hence providing more transparency and efficiency. Continuous
manufacturing and processing system in the pharmaceutical industry have helped companies
to achieve real-time release of commodities and sustained improvements in performance.
Through the use of ERP software’s in the pharmaceutical company can make quality
and sound decisions. Decisions play an essential role in the management and operation of the
company. The company uses new technology in tracking their commodities during shipping.
Many of the customers are located globally; therefore, there is a need to ship the products to
the customer's location. Safety is guaranteed; thus, the products are monitored using tracking
devices. System design is the process of creating a system to satisfy its consumer's needs.
Some features in the pharmaceutical industry are unique, therefore requiring a unique system
(Prajogo, et al., 2018). For the industry to design high-value drugs, it should have a unique
system. Due to the high demand for the medicines, Smitheford company has developed a
long-term plan to ensure its customer's needs are fully satisfied. Capacity planning is mainly
focused on the uncertainties that can happen in the future. The company uses the thesis model
to ensure the performance of capacity planning at a strategic level. Management of systems
helps a company to be competitive and also make the right decisions that would positively
affect the performance of the employees and the company.

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References
Bozarth, C. C., & Handfield, R. B. (2019). Operations and Supply Chain Management.
Hall, D., & Weghmann, V. (2019). Public ownership, benefits, and compensation III: the
potential risk of legal action under BITs or ECT over compensation for the
nationalization of water and energy grid companies.
Mohamed, F. A. (2018). NAFTA-The The Politics Behind Drug Production.
Prajogo, D., Toy, J., Bhattacharya, A., Oke, A., & Cheng, T. C. E. (2018). The relationships
between information management, process management, and operational
performance: Internal and external contexts. International Journal of Production
Economics, 199, 95-103.
Villareal, M., & Fergusson, I. F. (2017). The North American Free Trade Agreement
(NAFTA).