Comprehensive Analysis of VOLVO Group's Business Operations Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the VOLVO Group's business operations, examining its functional areas such as design, research and development, purchasing, manufacturing, sales and marketing, and customer service. It delves into the company's operational processes, including a detailed process chart, and highlights the role of the operations manager in driving customer service and managing teams. The report also explores customer service strategies, process analysis, and improvement techniques, emphasizing the importance of inventory management and adapting to market trends. The analysis covers VOLVO's commitment to safety, its innovative technologies, and its approach to maintaining high standards in the automobile industry. Furthermore, it discusses the company's quality and environmental management systems and its efforts to enhance customer satisfaction through various strategies.

Business
operations
VOLVO
Group
System

BUSINESS OPERATIONS - VOLVO
Introduction
VOLVO group is automobile industry based in Gothenburg. Volvo group is the second largest
manufacturer of trucks across the world. VOLVO is the Swedish multinational company, and its
main business operations include productions, distribution and sales of Cars, Trucks and Buses
and also other construction equipment (Vahlne, 2011). The company also supplies industrial and
marine drive system and other financial services. Volvo sold to ford motor company in the year
1999 but maintained independency but profited from the shared research and development. The
company has branches in 120 countries across the globe and provides jobs to 100000 employees
internationally (Statistics, 2018). Volvo covered wide network area across the world The
Company’s main mission is to provide more safety feature as safety has major role in automobile
industry. Safety is the priority as customer’s point of view of VOLVO group. The company has
sold around 14 million cars until now and this data shows the success of the company. The
company is well known for its innovations in Car industry and made large profit to Ford motors.
VOVLO has much business functional area in but the essential functions is customer service and
research and development as today’s world Technology is advancing therefore research and
development area has to be stay ahead for. This will help VOLVO to make advance its vehicle’s
design. To adopt market trend it is necessary for all the functions to work together (H. Netland,
2014).
This report will analyze the current operations functions of VOLVO and also the role of the
operation manager in the company. It will also evaluate how company should manage its
business process in order to achieve operational excellence.

BUSINESS OPERATIONS - VOLVO
I. Part 1
Functional Area
Volvo is the leading brand in the automobile industry. It is founded in 1927. The functional area
of the company supports the product’s service (Svensson, 2003). Customer service and research
and development are major functions are of the company. It is important that the research and
development and customer service work together to meet the customer’s requirement. Research
and development’s aim is to provide safety features. Challenging opportunities involves product
planning, program management, propulsion, and partnership strategy (Lee, 2015).
There are many functional areas in the organization such as design, research and development,
Purchasing, manufacturing, corporate communication, sales and marketing, Quality and
customer service, Information technology, Finance, human resource, and several others
(Zikmund, 2013).
Design: Design is a critical part of its operations. The design of the cars depends on its
Scandinavian origins, elegance new functions, and purity of line. The companies design team
divided into 2 teams one is creative and other is an operational team. These new team works
together with one motive to create the most exciting vehicle with good safety features (Ericsson,
2018).
Research and development: The Company’s research and development part help to provide
better technology to and other new features. VOLVO is the key contributor to the next
generation of exciting new Volvo cars. The team of research and development creates innovative
material and technology which helps to create better features and makes life less complex and
more enjoyable for its customers (Volvo, 2018).

BUSINESS OPERATIONS - VOLVO
Purchasing and supplier management: Purchasing part makes sure the supply of material and
service are having the right cost, quality of the products and technological level which is an
important aspect of the success of the company. This team has the mission to develop and
maintain better supplier base also cooperating with the other people who involved in the
company whether internal or external ways across the globe. The company has around 51000
suppliers in many countries across the world (Volvo Group, 2018).
Manufacturing: Manufacturing team ensures that vehicle that they build or design should meet
the expectations of the customer and business objectives. In the company, all the operation works
with lean, flexible and clean environment and production technology (Volvo group, 2018).
Corporate communications: To be a part of the global, communication team the company
builds a better relationship it the journalist, online influencers and lawmakers. The company is
responsible for internal communication with the staff globally.
Sale and Marketing: Our mission The Company’s mission is to ensure that all customer touch
points reflects its brand essence of “Designed Around You” and also that all services and
products deliver a better experience. Become some portion of the worldwide group that
supervises every single business action for Volvo Cars around the globe, including promoting
correspondences, client association, deals, and administration.
Quality and customer service: With quality and customer satisfaction the team recognizes that
what are the market trends and what are the expectations and market situation and meet all those
expectations. To deliver these services, the company serves all parts such as tools, methods,
targets, processes relating to customer satisfaction and quality (Volvo group, 2018).

BUSINESS OPERATIONS - VOLVO
Finance: Organization's Finance group drives business execution to accomplish the goals set out
in the Volvo group's' Corporate Strategy. In participation with partners in different specialty
units around the world, the group gives budgetary ability, announcing, arranging and direction.
Human resource: The group at Human Resources handles the most valuable asset.
Organization's central goal is to draw in, enroll, create and hold the general population that will
enable us to expand on our prosperity. Become some portion of a worldwide group and help the
organization make Volvo items the business of decision (Volvo , 2018).
These are the functional area of the Volvo group the company follow all the automobile industry
and maintain safety features to meet the standards. Company’s quality and environment
management system includes all the policies. Organization's Quality and Environmental
Management Systems spread all exercises, items, and administrations, and Volvo holds ISO
9001 (Quality) and 14001 (Environment) endorsements for our major worldwide tasks. It works
with outer partners to guarantee that they satisfy inward and industry-normal models, and
consistently endeavor to accomplish more (Volvo group, 2018).
The company provides many systems to maintain high safety standards such as City safety,
Active and connected safety system, safety cage, runoff. Its vehicle contains safety equipment.
This high level of standard safety helps the company to achieve its safety vision of decreasing
safety conflicts in all the vehicles.
Company’s city safety systems support to protect people inside and outside the vehicle by
spotting potential danger and helps to avoid it. The company’s products are the first to provide
this kind of system. City safety utilized radar and camera technology to identify other vehicles.
Organization's way to deal with wellbeing is one of a kind. The organization is examining

BUSINESS OPERATIONS - VOLVO
vehicle crashes in extraordinary detail since the 1970s and has built up a scope of highlights that
help to relieve crashes, improve driver sharpness, impart speed constraints and even convey
straightforwardly to different autos when there is a peril out and about ahead with our Slippery
Road and Hazard Light Alert highlights (Volvo group, 2018).
Role of the manager
The Operations Manager is in charge of driving the activities group in the conveyance of world-
class client Service. Supporting the methodology and putting the client first, guaranteeing the
conveyance and advancement of the organization administrations to outside clients, sellers, and
market organizations. To convey all KPI focuses on the nearby market in accordance with VFS
Targets. The job is a significant interface into the business group and relationship's crosswise
over VFS UKIE Teams. The Role is in charge of over a billion worth of advantages and the
administration gave to those customers’. The Role will oversee three groups of around 20
individuals in all-out offering Customer Service and organization administrations overseeing
extensive installments and contract to stack. Additionally supporting the administration of vast
client connections and being a key individual from the operational supervisory group of VFS
UKIE. This is an evaluation 9 position.
Here are some key responsibilities of operational manager of VOLVO group:
1. The operational manager of VOLVO group manage 3 teams and circa 20 people on a daily
basis by utilizing the given systems and procedures.
2. Synchronize and execute all the associated process and activities to make sure that all
operations are done as per the expectations of the company and as per the given procedures or
not.

BUSINESS OPERATIONS - VOLVO
3. The manager handles and decides non-standard situations.
4. Measure examines and controls all the process and associated KPI.
5. Responsible to maintain compliance with rules and ethics and guidelines in the team.
6. The manager is also responsible to sustain a good relationship with an internal and external
relationship with the company’s stakeholders.
7. Assess and guarantee the competency of the immediate reports and strengthen responsibility
through Management by Objectives and screen target accomplishment.
8. Identify and assess the dangers and territories for development and plan arrangements
(Broström, 2016).

BUSINESS OPERATIONS - VOLVO
II. Part
Process chart of Volvo
(Source by author)
Mechanical
design
Safety and
quality
Pm run off Operating
instruction
ShipmentLaunch
Enquiry Quote Order Build
instruction
Electrical
design
Design
approval
Production
Release
Manufacturing
Customer
satisfaction
Customer
runoff

BUSINESS OPERATIONS - VOLVO
The company provides customer satisfaction to its customer. The company conducts a survey
between customer to know the market trend and customer demand. The company achieved the
Award of car brand title in 2018 (Automotive world, 2018). Volvo has exceptional achievement
in safety features. Also, Jon Wakefield said that “we generally put individuals and wellbeing
first: our vision is that no one ought to be slaughtered or genuinely harmed in another Volvo
vehicle from 2020. Our most recent models utilize a scope of progressively propelled driver-help
and impact moderation frameworks went for securing the vehicle's inhabitants, just as people on
foot, cyclists and even expansive creatures” (Forbes, 2018).
Operation management
Process analysis and improvement: VOLVO group has to constantly evaluate its processes and
activities and also always research and conduct a survey to know how it needs to improved
according to marketing trend. In today’s generation Technology has a huge impact on the
business operations and making them absolute and easy to utilize. There are some steps to
process analyses:
Business process identification or scope demand: Distinguish which forms are in the degree,
and in what request they should be broken down. Characterize what each procedure implies in its
business setting, and own a short reason expression (what the procedure is anticipated to do).
Clear up each procedure, in a succession, by authoritative dimension, office, and capacity. Dole
out the hierarchical positions that are associated with the procedure (key individuals' names).
Perceive any basic IT frameworks all the while. Exertion estimation, approach, and cost to break
down each procedure.

BUSINESS OPERATIONS - VOLVO
Business process analysis : To effectuate the basic decision making about the business forms
changes and picture what sway or included esteem will occur, it is fundamental for the
organization to completely comprehend the business forms as they are presently (instead of how
they will move toward becoming), through a quantifiable and simple to secure format.
Metrics capture: The Company has to determine the link between each functional and operation
that they should analyze.
 Time lapsed in every stage of the process.
 The amount of input.
 Function costs
Customer service strategies: The more exertion clients needed to use to get what they needed,
the more disappointed they progressed toward becoming. Promising clients remarkable
administration has shockingly little effect on consumer loyalty, specialists noted; clients were
progressively worried about whether a buy would touch base on time than with uncommon
measures.
There are some steps for VOLVO group to make their customer service more effective and
better. Provide training and information to staff in customer empathy. Build infrastructure. Solve
customer query and conduct survey. Enable employee to make the customer happy. Deliver the
promise.
Inventory management: To make better inventory management and also ensure that inventory
control over all location there are some points to focus for VOLVO, such as establish an
operations function for service furnishers, create inventory visibility at every location Through
MIS reports, month to month reviews and file check ought to be actualized at all areas as a

BUSINESS OPERATIONS - VOLVO
general rule and demand 100% adherence, focal chronicle group to be in charge of guaranteeing
audit everything being equal and controlling inventories at all areas.
Scheduling operations: The way toward assembling in VOLVO requires broad arranging,
planning and controls. This example procedure stream centers around vehicle generation,
arranging and booking, concentrating on steps, for example, accommodating real generation with
the business conjecture, creating and evaluating Marco plan dependent on the business estimate,
looking at month to month generation plans, building up a business blend dependent on arranged
creation data, and making a creation succession. With the five year plan the group has to
consolidate supply chain information system, and should adopt cloud computing model.
Purchasing and supplier management: However VOLVO group has to change the operation
scheduling and supplier and purchasing management in every five years. Suppliers have their
figures on the pulse of innovation and market trends. They can be the real assets in today’s
business environment. There for VOLVO has to understand how to manage their suppliers and
make good relationship with them. There are some points to manage supplier for VOLVO group.
The group has to consider quality supplier to work with that will bring them best profit. The
company has to ensure that the team having detailed and accurate supplier information which
helps to manage relationship with partners. Late company has to ensure the supply risk
management and supplier performance management.

BUSINESS OPERATIONS - VOLVO
Conclusion
It is concluded that every organizations has to manage their operations as it has a significant
impact on what is expected from operations management. There are many functions which all
are important, but automobile industry there are three core functions for the business which are
Research and development, Quality and safety and customer relationship. It is important for a
business to manage operations effectively. Hence an operation manager should requirements to
consider numerous components while delivering an item. They should settle on a choice to adjust
the expense and nature of their item or administration when choosing whether to redistribute, be
creative with innovation or have stock VOLVO group manage its functions efficiently. However
the group can make better operation management to upgrade supply chain information system or
replace it with cloud computing model. This would help the company to achieve more growth.