Operations Plan
Key Aspects of Operation
As a soft drink company, we would need to use equipment such as automated filling machinery, the conveyor belts and pulleys, bottle blowers and bottle washers. We will also need Mixing tanks and ammonia-based refrigeration systems. Considering that purchasing this equipment will cost around $20 million, and afterward costs only $25 million in annual maintenance, it would be wise to buy rather than to rent. This will help in realizing our projected production capacity of 1.1 billion fills annually, about 10 million hectolitres. In maintenance, we will need to adopt strategies as operator training, and developing a maintenance and repair schedule. For quality control, we will need to document all operational works, and utilizing the ‘Lean Six Sigma' quality assurance methodology (Lindsay & Evans, 2010).
Cost and Time Efficiencies.
To save on production costs, we will adopt a Radio Frequency Identification (FRID) Inventory Systems for the Just-In-Time production method to save on the expenses incurred by ensuring that units are produced following orders (Weis, Sarma, Rivest & Engels, 2004). This will be effective since the advanced and highly automated process ensures reduces the turnaround time to two weeks after order. For the supplies, the company will work with the local community by purchasing goods and services from the minority groups, thus offering support while at the same the proximity minimizes on time.
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Problems Addressed and Overcome.
Though the company is starting small on soft drink production, we plan to go big into the beverage industry and incorporate the output of other beverage drinks like iced tea and setting up coffee vending machines. This will be not only an expansion but also an approach to the new developments in beverage consumption where most consumers are shifting to tea and coffee as opposed to soft drinks.
This approach has been decided upon after a thorough study of the market and the dynamic demands of the consumer. The activities therein entailed conducting surveys to get direct feedback, from the consumers, themselves on the type of products they would want in the market. This will come in handy in helping the company develop tailor-made products thus remaining relevant in the market (Storey, Forshee, & Anderson, 2006).
Technology Plan
Software Needs.
The business will need software applications or apps to run its operations. Some of these applications that will be adopted include the Microsoft Office package that consists of a word processing app, a spreadsheet program, and a slide show presentation program. Another crucial program is the accounting software. For cloud communication, the use of electronic mails will be vital in linking the producer to the consumers.
Hardware Needs.
Some of the basic hardware for the company include computers, whether desktops or laptops, through which close monitoring of the production processes take place. Another essential device would be telephones. These can either be landline or mobile phones. They facilitate conversations between departments, and also with the clients. Since the advanced production will heavily rely on technology, network servers also come in handy.
Telecommunication Needs.
Since reliable and timely communication within and without the company form the essential part of the production, we will need to adopt a robust communication system. This setup will constitute, apart from the traditional voice calls, computers, video conferencing equipment, video calling, teleconference software, and internet-based communication platforms.
Personnel Needs.
The business in the current world heavily relies on technology for its operations. Therefore, it is essential to have a department in charge of all the technological communications within the organization. We will need to set up an information technology department, to maintain our database. The IT department while managing communications will be in charge of inventory management, data management, and Management Information Systems. Most importantly, it will be tasked with Customer Relationship Management.
Management Plan
Key Management and Employees.
The top management will include the President or Chief Executive Officer who has ultimate responsibility for the company's activities. The president will be helped by the Chief Operating Officer who will be in charge of managing the company's daily operations. The top employees include the general manager, general director, department managers and directors. The general manager will be tasked with forecasting, planning, and controlling orders. He also approves of sourcing and ordering supplies and raw materials. The general director, on the other hand, is tasked with the responsibility of managing production costs, and most importantly controlling inventory.
Board Members and Advisors.
A board of directors shall run the company. The role of the board will be to act on behalf of the company and its best interest, serve with loyalty to the company and its shareholders, participate in regular board meetings, and approve specific corporate activities and transactions, including contracts and agreements. There are also tasked with amending the corporation's bylaws or articles of incorporation. The board members will include seasoned entrepreneurs with years of experience in the production field and will act as overseers and advisors, though the company will also employ the services of corporate attorneys to give legal advice, and present the company in contracts.
Management Structure and Style
The company will adopt the Functional Organizational type of management structure. This is because the company is divided into departments based on their specialized functions. These departments include IT, finance, marketing, and production. This will ensure an arrangement where a worker has different managers for different areas of the organizational operation. This style is adopted by the fact that once the company expands, the areas of operation will grow as well, and as such may be tedious and ineffective being managed by a single manager, hence the devolved management (Miles, Snow, Meyer, & Coleman, 1978).
References
Lindsay, W. M., & Evans, J. R. (2010). The management and control of quality . South- Western Cengage Learning.
Miles, R. E., Snow, C. C., Meyer, A. D., & Coleman Jr, H. J. (1978). Organizational strategy, structure, and process. Academy of management review , 3 (3), 546-562.
Storey, M. L., Forshee, R. A., & Anderson, P. A. (2006). Beverage consumption in the US population. Journal of the American Dietetic Association , 106 (12), 1992-2000.
Weis, S. A., Sarma, S. E., Rivest, R. L., & Engels, D. W. (2004). Security and privacy aspects of low-cost radio frequency identification systems. In Security in pervasive computing (pp. 201-212). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
