Operations and Supply Chain Management Quiz

Operations and Supply Chain Management at Prêt a Manger

• Prêt a Manger is a high-end sandwich and snack retailer which emphasizes wholesome ingredients.
• Each shop prepares fresh sandwiches daily, receiving ingredients early each morning.
• A focus on work-life balance, a casual atmosphere, and approachability characterizes their staff culture.

Core Functions at Prêt a Manger

• Product/Service Development: Designing and developing the nutritional, mechanical, and aesthetic aspects of food and snacks.
• Marketing: Promotional activities, market research, and customer engagement strategies.
• Operations: Store design, process management, and logistics for maintaining high-quality service.

Operations Management

• Defined as the efficient management of resources for producing and delivering products or services.
• Key components are inputs, processes, and outputs.
  • Inputs: Ingredients, packaging, equipment, and staff.
  • Processes: Transformation into fresh products (maintaining quality and speed).
  • Outputs: Satisfied customers.

Performance Objectives of Operations

• Quality: Consistency in product excellence.
• Speed: Fast service for customer satisfaction.
• Dependability: Timely delivery of promises.

Key Traits of Great Operations Managers

• Focused on action and results.
• Strong customer understanding.
• Effective communication and motivation skills.
• Lifelong learning and innovation-driven.
• Analytical, resilient, and capable under pressure.

Strategy

• Broad Objectives: Guiding the enterprise toward overall goals.
• General Path Planning: Focusing on overarching paths to achieve objectives.
• Long-Term Focus: Emphasizing enduring goals over short-term gains.
• Holistic Perspective: Addressing the organization as a whole.
• Detached Approach: Remaining above daily operational distractions.

Operations vs. Operational

• Operations: Resources creating products/services.
• Operational: Detailed, short-term, and daily aspects.

Operations Strategy vs. Operations Management

• Timeframe: Management (1–12 months), Strategy (1–10 years).
• Scope: Management focuses on micro-processes; Strategy on the macro view of total operations.

Four-Stage Model of Operations Contribution

• Internally Neutral: Correcting worst problems.
• Externally Neutral: Adopting best practices.
• Internally Supportive: Linking strategy to operations.
• Externally Supportive: Redefining industry expectations.

Four Perspectives on Operations Strategy

• Top-Down: Driven by business goals.
• Bottom-Up: Emerges from operational experience.
• Market Requirements: Based on competitive needs.
• Operations Resources: Leveraging internal capabilities.

Strategy Hierarchy

• Corporate Strategy: Determines overall business scope and resource allocation.
• Business Strategy: Defines mission, strategic objectives, and approach.
• Functional Strategy: Aligns assets and skills for achieving objectives.

Competitive Factors and Performance Objectives

• Key competitive factors: Low price, high quality, fast delivery, innovation, and flexibility.

Matching Performance Objectives

• Cost, quality, speed, dependability, and flexibility.

Strategic Reconciliation

• Aligning operations capabilities with market requirements to achieve strategic needs.

Effective Operations Strategy

• Appropriate, comprehensive, coherent, and consistent over time.

Key Questions Addressed

• Product and service design/innovation
• Importance of product/service and process design interaction
• Stages of product/service design/innovation.
• How product/service and process design interact

Design and Innovation Process

• Concept Generation: Sources include customers, competitors, staff, and R&D.
• Concept Screening: Evaluating feasibility, acceptability, and vulnerabilities.
• Preliminary Design: Defining initial structure and functionality.
• Evaluation and Improvement: Final adjustments and specifications.

Process Design - Resources

• Transforming ideas into tangible systems for product/service delivery.
• Meeting customer requirements while considering available resources and environmental factors.

Objectives of Process Design

• Quality: Error-free processing and meeting product/service specifications.
• Speed: Minimizing throughput time to match demand.
• Dependability: Reliable and consistent output timing and volume.
• Flexibility: Adapting processes to changing product, service, or volume needs.
• Cost: Eliminating process waste through efficiency.

Process Flow Performance Metrics

• Throughput Rate: Units processed per time unit.
• Cycle Time: Time between consecutive items emerging from the process.
• Throughput Time: Total time for inputs to become outputs.
• Work-in-Progress (WIP): Average number of items in the process.
• Utilization: Percentage of available time resources actively performing useful work.

Process Mapping

• Visual representation of process flows using standardized symbols to show activities and interrelationships.
• Helps identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and opportunities for improvement.

Little's Law

• Formula: Throughput Time = Work-in-Progress × Cycle Time.
• Applications include calculating efficiency, resource needs, and optimizing throughput.

Long-Thin vs. Short-Fat Processes

• Long-Thin: Greater control over flow, simplified handling, lower capital requirements.
• Short-Fat: Greater flexibility, higher efficiency, and space utilization.

Bottlenecks and Precedence

• Bottleneck: The most overloaded stage, limiting overall capacity.
• Precedence Diagram: Arranging tasks to optimize flow and allocate workloads efficiently.

Inventory Management

• Definition: Stock maintained to bridge the supply-demand gap.
• Reasons for Holding Inventory: Buffer against random demand, allow bulk buying, secure production, and manage unexpected fluctuations.
• Disadvantages: Storage costs, potential obsolescence, overstocking risks.
• Inventory Management and Control: Strategies for managing stock levels, order fulfillment, and inventory systems.
• Determining How Much Inventory to Hold: Classification as Class A (high-value), Class B (medium-value), and Class C (low-value), using the quantity needed per each.
• Replenishment Timing: Methods include continuous and periodic review, factors such as reorder levels, safety stock, and lead times and their impacts.

Inventory Management Costs

• Ordering Cost: Administrative, invoicing, ordering costs.
• Holding Cost: Storage, handling, obsolescence, and financial costs.
• Economic Order Quantity (EOQ): Minimizing total costs by balancing ordering and holding costs.

Replenishment Approaches

• Continuous Review: Monitor stock levels continuously, ordering when reaching the reorder level.
• Periodic Review: Reviewing inventory at fixed intervals and adjusting order quantity to a desired maximum.

Test your knowledge on the operations and supply chain management practices at Prêt a Manger. This quiz covers aspects of product development, marketing strategies, and efficient resource management. Dive into the core functions that drive the success of this high-end sandwich retailer.