Report: Operations Improvement Strategy for Watson Engineering Tooling

This report focuses on developing a company-wide operations improvement strategy for Watson Engineering Tooling, a company facing challenges due to increased competition and a decline in engineering in the North East of England. The report analyzes the company's situation, highlighting the need to improve its operational strategies to ensure long-term survival and growth. It introduces various tools and techniques, including optimizing the supply chain, managing inventory, adopting cloud-based software, and implementing continuous improvement processes. Furthermore, the report delves into specific operational strategies such as Total Quality Management (TQM) and lean manufacturing, explaining how Watson Engineering Tooling can implement these to improve product quality, reduce waste, and enhance overall efficiency. The report also emphasizes the importance of building strong customer and supplier relationships to sustain a competitive advantage.

Introduction to operations
and services

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Introduce a company-wide Operations improvement strategy in the Watson Engineering
Tooling Company in line with the stipulations...........................................................................3
Tools and techniques for improving Operational Strategies.......................................................6
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Operations may be defined as one of the major functions of an organisation along a
supply chain, finance, marketing and human resource. Operations functions requires
management for both strategic and day today productions of goods and services (Bedogni and
et.al., 2016). Operations management is the important part of an organisation, it is the area of
organisation's management which is mainly concerned with the designing and controlling the
process of productions and business operations. It is the field of a business if successfully
managed can result in success of a business in terms of growth and profits. This report is based
up on a case study of Watson Engineering Tooling which is a company manufactures tools and
equipment. Due to decline in engineering in the North East of England and increase in
competition Watson Engineering wants to improve its operational strategies in order to ensure
survival and growth of a business for a long term. For this purpose company wants improve its
operations in order to expand its business across the nation by projecting a business to customers,
suppliers and investors itself. Also company wants to evolve the business based on engineering
entity wants to able meet the requirements of its customers, suppliers, etc with quality cost and
delivery. In 2016 an approach was made by European Hospital management Board to Watson
Engineering tooling company for designing and manufacture hand held precisions and board has
signed a 2 year contract with the company for manufacturing of cutting edge products on a larger
scale which has provided an opportunity for the company to expand their market base and
improve the company image. The aim and vision of a company can be achieved only by proper
management in its operations department with the help of which Watson Engineering Tooling
company can improve their business operations. This report discusses about the tools and
techniques of operations management which can help the company in achieving its aims and
objectives and how it can it implement tool and techniques with in its operations and productions
department.
MAIN BODY
Introduce a company-wide Operations improvement strategy in the Watson Engineering Tooling
Company in line with the stipulations
Watson Engineering Tooling company deals in the manufacturing of engineering
calipers, scribes, engineers rules and has expanded its product line which includes the
micrometers and limited range of specialists items which requires the high quality skills and high

quality materials in order to produce accurate and long lasting items.Watson engineering tooling
company is based on the production to manufacture the different type of product such as tubular metal
fabrication, full service sheet etc. It is providing the metal prototype and production parts to the other
industries. It is the core competencies in the manufacturing metal fabrication solutions that help for
maintaining their quality of products in proper manner. This organisation is mainly used the
improvement strategies that help for increasing the efficiency and performance of business process.
There are different type of operation improvement strategies application in the enterprises process.
But due to increase in competition and globalization has resulted in the decline in the business,
which made Watson Engineering tooling company realise that a strategy needs to be developed
by an organisation in to survive in the business for the long term (Freiling and et.al., 2016). But
the market has been expanding from last two years which has provided an opportunity for the
company to expand their business in the market by making improvement in their operations
strategies which can help the organisation in achieving their goals and objectives. Watson
Engineering tooling company can introduce a company wide operation's improvement strategy in
their business by making changes in their operations management strategies. Operational strategy
forms the integral part of a business which helps in managing the entire operations of the
company related to its manufacturing and expansion of business. There various operations which
exits inside the organisation such as manufacturing, financial operations, marketing, human
resource, etc which is responsible for the success of a business. Operational strategies refers to
methods which Watson Engineering tooling company can use in order to achieve its aims and
objectives. By developing operational strategies Watson Engineering tooling company can
examine its business situation and can implement efficient and effective systems within the
organisation with better use of resources, work process and employees. A company has to form
an action plan which can be implemented within the entire organisation which would be capable
for describing how an organisation can make use of employees, resources in the production of
goods and services. With the help of proper operational strategy, company can support its
corporate strategy, thus it is considered as an important element for the business of an
organisation (Redjem and Marcon, 2016). Operations management can be divided in the three
levels such as strategic, tactical and operations level. Operations level mainly refers to the daily
control of productions which includes scheduling, monitoring and adjusting which can help in
bringing the operational efficiency for Watson Engineering tooling company.

Operations Improvement strategies
This is the most important thing for Watson firm that must do to remain competitive and also
develop new products and services. Following are the improvements which Watson Engineering
tooling company can make in their operation level such as:
Optimising the supply chain: Watson Engineering tooling company should optimise it's supply
chain by establishing the supply chain council which can help in placing the supply chain of the
company in place and there will be a good chance that company's supply chain strategy would
align with the company's over all strategy (Barry, 2019). A Watson Engineering tooling
company have realised that business must project to suppliers, customers and investors. So,
organisation should establish a thoughtful and appropriate staffed supply chain structure within
the company. If supply chain is staffed effectively it can maximise the effectiveness as well as
the efficiency of business and can also bring benefits to the company (Young, 2016). It should
also maintain healthy supplier relationships which is an indicator for the success in this industry
i.e. healthy relationship with supplier as Watson Engineering tooling company has limited
supplier in place a therefore it is important for the company to maintain the healthy relationship
with the suppliers.
Managing Inventory: Inventory management is the process of managing the inventory or stock
within the company. It includes the aspects like controlling, storage of inventory and overseeing
the ordering inventory. It is important for the company to stock the right amount of inventory
within the company and it is considered as a crucial part if the company orders too little of stock
Watson Engineering tooling company's customers will start looking for the products elsewhere
(Gluck, Peterson and Todd, 2016). If the company orders too much then there is a chance excess
stock in the company which will occupy extra space in the manufacturing department and there
will also a risk of getting obsolete so, it is important for the company in manage the stock
effectively.
Cloud and subscription software models: Cloud based systems can help the company in
increasing the flexibility and can enable Watson Engineering tooling company to fit into overall
plans to improve its productivity, track its inventory and can manage its staff members. This will
also allow the company to eliminate IT operational responsibility and can give a company a far
more opportunities to replace its current system.

Adopt continuous improvement process: Watson Engineering tooling company should adopt
continuous process of improvements within the organisation as it will increase the productivity
of the company and also will prove cost saving for the company. It has to adopt the continuous
improvement process not only in the operations and productions departments but also have to
implement in the other functional departments of the company like human resource, the financial
department, marketing department, etc (Mahadevan, 2015). By continuously reviewing and
setting the objectives for the system improvement can increase the capacity of the staff also
results in the improved work flow and cost reduction for the company which can help in gaining
the competitive advantage for Watson Engineering tooling company in present competitive
world.
Tools and techniques for improving Operational Strategies
There are various tools and techniques with the help them Watson Engineering tooling
company can improve their operational strategy which can be explained as below:
Total Quality Management (TQM): Total quality management is a structured approach to
overall organisational management which focuses on the process of improving the quality of
organisation's products and services (Kopardekar, 2017). It may be defined as a set of principles
and practices which ensures that a company is consistent in meeting the customer requirements
as puts major focus on the process measurement and controls as a means of continuous
improvement. TQM can explain how Watson Engineering tooling company can improve the
quality of its products and services. By applying the TQM in the organisation Watson
Engineering tooling company can manage the quality of its products at each level of production
which ensures higher productivity within the company. With the help of TQM, Watson
Engineering tooling company will be able to change or emerge the marketing conditions in
which the organisation operates which can help in strengthening the competitive position of the
company. With the help of TQM company will be able to eliminate defects during
manufacturing the equipment, thus TQM will help in reduction of the wastes within the company
(Patil, Fukasawa and Ricardez-Sandoval, 2015). As TQM focuses on the customer requirements
and needs, TQM is the continuous process of improvement related to the policies, programs,
procedures and controls established by the management which can help Watson Engineering
tooling company in meeting the requirements of their customers for the future. As Watson
Engineering tooling company is facing a tough competition in the market which has resulted in

decline in the sales of the company in North East of England so it is very important for the
company to supply the products to its customers with zero defects which can be achieved by
adopting TQM within the company. Company has to focus on the customer requirements which
has become very important for the company in order to survive for the long-term which can b
done by supplying quality products to the customers which can help in building a strong
relationship with the customers.
Lean Manufacturing: Lean production mainly focuses on the reducing wastes while managing
the quality of the products. This approach can be applied by Watson Engineering tooling
company from designing of a product through production till the distribution of the company's
products. It is the systematic way of eliminating wastes during manufacturing of the products in
a company (Lean Manufacturing Tools. 2019). By applying the lean manufacturing Watson
Engineering tooling company can eliminate the waste within its manufacturing system. Lean
manufacturing mainly focuses on Kaizen or continuous improvement which can be applied by
Watson Engineering tooling company in its manufacturing department, Kaizen is a strategy
which can be implemented within the company where employees can work together proactively
in order to achieve regular and incremental improvements in their manufacturing process. Kaizen
collects talents of a company with a purpose to create an engine for continuously eliminating the
waste from the company's manufacturing process (Gagne and et.al.,2016.). By adopting Kaizen
production strategy Watson Engineering tooling company can improve the levels of the
employees participation within the manufacturing process. Kaizen also creates the continuous
culture of improvements within the company. Kaizen is about organising various events by
focusing on improving specific area within the company, these events involves teams of all
levels by specially emphasising on employees involved in manufacturing floor. It will help the
company building a culture where employees get engaged in suggestions and implementing
improvements in the company. By implementing Kaizen principle company can improve the
levels of satisfaction and also can increase customer satisfaction. It will also give rise to
organised work place which can result in better productivity and will yield better results
forWatson Engineering tooling company which will help the company to improve its
manufacturing and business process.
Six sigma: Watson Engineering tooling company can also apply Six Sigma approach within the
company which can help improve its operation strategy as six sigma is a systematic tools and

techniques which is mainly focused on eliminating the defects and reducing a process variability
(Du Preez, 2018.). By adopting Six sigma, company seeks to improve it's quality by measuring
how many defects exits in their entire management system or in a process and should
systematically eliminate these defects until it reaches to zero. With the help of six sigma
Watson Engineering tooling company can strategise its plan of actions and can increase its
revenue, reduce costs and can make improvements in all parts of the organisations which
ultimately improves company's operational strategy. By establishing a team of six sigma in
company will define the faulty process and will decide through an analysis of company goals
and requirements.
Illustration 1: Six Sigma
(Source: Six Sigma, 2019)
With the help of six sigma, Watson Engineering tooling company can define its business
by identifying the project goals for the new project and all the customers deliverable which can
help in meeting the needs of the customers by making improvement on its business process. It
should understand its current business performance, how a company is performing what are its

strengths and weakness in its business process (Victorino and et.al., 2018. ). With the help of six
sigma, company can analyse its business process and identify its root causes of any defects if it
occurs within the company and help to make improvements by establishing various ways to
eliminate defects and can correct its current process. Also, with the help of six sigma it can
control its business performance by managing future performance.
So these are the strategies, tools and techniques which can help Watson Engineering
tooling company to improve its operation strategies for its business and these tools and strategies
can help the company to tackle the competition and survive for the long term.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
It can be concluded that operations and service is very important part for the company, if
Watson Engineering tooling company uses proper tools and techniques within the company it
can improve its operations strategy. It can also be concluded that there are various ways by
which Watson Engineering tooling company can improve its business process but it has to apply
suitable strategy within the organisation in order to gain a competitive advantage and can
improve its business operations. It can adopt the tools and techniques such as Six Sigma, Lean
Manufacturing, Total quality Management with in the organisation which can help the company
to improve it the quality of its operations and services. It can also be concluded that operational
strategy is important for an organisation, by applying the proper operation's strategy it can
improve company's performance which can make the company to meet its evolving business.
Present report also concludes that Watson Engineering tooling company can improve its operations
strategy by various ways like optimising the supply chain with its customers, suppliers and investors
by building a strong relationship which results in the smooth functioning of a business. It can also be
concluded that a company has to focus on its continuous improvement plant which is the best strategy
for a company to face the challenges in future and also Watson Engineering tooling company have to
properly manage its inventory within the company which can prove important factor the company,
which can add its company image.
Recommendations
As every organisation is not perfect in applying strategies but here are certain
recommendations by which company can improve its strategies are as follows:

 Watson Engineering tooling company can also use Just in Time technique which can help the
company in reducing response time for its new project and it will also help the company to
reduce the time in its production systems.
 It should implement the strategies within the organisation in such a way that it should be
communicated to each departments of the company.
 It can also improve the performance of the company by using KPI technique which is
effective for exposing and quantifying the waste within the organisation.
 Watson Engineering tooling company should focus on how a business have evolved and what
are the challenges faced by the organisation and should according apply the strategies within
the company.
 It should also make revisions during the continuous improvement process and track what are
the improvement which have been done by the company.
 A company should also keep the employees motivated in order to make the employees to
follow the new strategies within the company as the Watson Engineering tooling company has
evolved its business.
 It should effective plan how these strategies should be implemented in entire organisation so
that company can improve the performance of the organisation.

REFERENCES
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