Operations Management Practices At Impressive Burger Essay Example
Operations Management Practices At Impressive Burger Essay Example

Operations Management Practices At Impressive Burger Essay Example

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  • Pages: 12 (3272 words)
  • Published: October 8, 2017
  • Type: Research Paper
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For every organization, having effective leadership and a successful business strategy is essential for managing operations, capabilities, and overall effectiveness. To achieve this, employees must embrace change within the organization and maintain a strong organizational culture. This ensures smooth operations, leading to increased productivity and profitability. Ultimately, the growth and success of the organization can be attributed to the commitment and dedication of its employees who contribute their skills, knowledge, and time towards their work to ensure continuous and uninterrupted operations.

Operations management focuses on ensuring that operations are efficient and effective in achieving an organization's strategic goals. This includes designing and managing systems to facilitate the smooth production of goods and services, both in the service sector.

Different definitions of operations management highlight ongoing activities involving the design, review, and utilization of operating systems to achieve desired outcomes for customers. Another definitio

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n emphasizes the management of transition processes that convert inputs into outputs.

An operations manager aims for both efficiency and effectiveness by utilizing techniques such as production planning, budgeting, data analysis, inventory control, and scheduling.

Productivity is a key metric used to measure efficiency in operations management. It involves comparing inputs with outputs by calculating a certain value. This value is obtained by dividing the total value of produced goods/services by the input of natural resources, labor rewards/resources, or operating expenses used during production.

Operations managers have various functions including purchase management, management control and organizing, productions management for goods and services, quality management, inventory management, logistics and transport management, facilities management, configuration management to keep organization systems up-to-date, dispatch and distribution.The collaboration of these operations functions aims to establish an efficient operations management system in the organization.

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Smooth operations are prioritized as a competitive priority in operations management. This involves focusing on quality, cost-effectiveness, timely product delivery, and flexibility in merchandise and service options. Three types of production schemes also exist.

All three schemes are discussed below:

  • Make to Stock: By utilizing this production scheme, the house brings forth a big volume of standard merchandise to meet the demand of a particular product based on their sales forecast.
  • Assemble to Order: By utilizing this scheme, houses produce a product as per the order of the client. Raw material is readily available but just needs to be assembled as per the order's specifications. For example, when a bike is purchased, the seller assembles the purchased bike at the place of purchase.
  • Make to Order: Using this scheme, houses produce a product based on the client's order and according to the customization specifications given by the client. For example, jewelry makers manufacture jewelry based on specifications given by clients, and some restaurants, especially fast food restaurants, make meals as per the customer's specifications.

Introduction to Company
Impressive Burgers was established 10 years ago with the goal of providing fast take-away food quickly and of higher quality compared to their competitors. Each restaurant offered a simple menu structure with a choice of six set meal options.

  1. Burger, Chips, and Soft Drink
  2. Cheeseburger, Chips, and Soft Drink
  3. Chicken Burger, Chips, and Soft Drink
  4. Vegetarian Burger, Chips, and Soft Drink

Customers had the option to choose the size of their soft drink among three options: Regular, Medium, or Large.

The size of the fries and drinks parts varied, while the Burger

size remained constant. This format allowed the company to efficiently deliver each customer's order within 4 minutes, from placing the order to having it ready for takeaway. The company has expanded its restaurant operations and made several changes to the format about a year ago, aiming to boost each restaurant's performance. Additionally, they added three more menu options:

  1. Chicken Nuggets, Chips, and a Soft Drink
  2. Chicken Salad, Garlic Bread, and a Soft Drink
  3. Hot Dog, Chips, and a Soft Drink

Furthermore, customers now have the choice to switch the fries option on the set meals with either a Side Salad or Potato Wedges.

The eating houses have made changes to their menu but have not made any changes to their staff or machinery.

An Overview of the Issue

Despite the menu alterations, there has been a noticeable increase in turnover and customer visits at each restaurant. However, overall profit has significantly decreased in the past year. Additionally, serving times have considerably lengthened with customers now waiting an average of 9 minutes for their orders. Moreover, there has been a surge in customer complaints which mainly involve impolite and irritated staff members, as well as incorrect or incomplete orders. The total value of stock held at each restaurant has increased by an average of 20%, but waste has also shown a significant rise.

Critical Evaluation of Impressive Burgers’ Approach

Initially, Impressive Burgers provided four takeout options to customers: a burger, chips, and a soft drink; cheeseburger, chips, and a soft drink; chicken burger, chips, and a soft drink; and vegetarian burger, chips, and

a soft drink.

  1. Burger, Chips, and a Soft Drink
  2. Cheeseburger, Chips,and a Soft Drink
  3. Chicken Burger ,Chips,and a Soft Drink
  4. Vegetarian Burger ,Chips,and a Soft Drink

In addition to these options, they offered three meal sizes - small,m edium,and large- which only affected the size of the fries and drink while keeping the burger size constant. According to their menu offerings,Impressive Burgers succeeded in delivering takeout meals within just four minutes of placing an order.

This success led Impressive Burgers to expand their business by opening new takeouts,resulting in increased overall sales.

Impressive Burger's overall sales have significantly increased due to expanded operations in multiple market countries. Previously, the company operated in only one market country and sold 1000 meals per day. However, with the addition of two new takeouts, each contributing an additional 200 meals per day, the overall sales have increased to 1400 meals per day.

In addition to the increase in sales, Impressive Burger has also seen a significant increase in turnover. It is important to note that while overall sales are increasing, the average sales of each takeout have decreased. This could be because customers from other market countries may now be placing orders at the first takeout.

After opening new takeouts in other countries, clients may choose to order takeaways in their own market country. This will definitely decrease the sales of the first takeout as well. Additionally, Impressive Burger has introduced some new meals in order to attract customers, and they have added three more meals to their menu. These new meals are:

  1. Chicken Nuggets, Chips ; A Soft Drink
  • Chicken Salad, Garlic Bread, ; A Soft Drink
  • Hot Dog, Chips ; A Soft Drink
  • The addition of these meal options will also increase the workload of taking orders, requiring more human resources to manage it or resulting in longer delivery times if the number of staff remains the same. Furthermore, Impressive Burger also offers the option of replacing regular french fries with either a Side Salad or Potato Wedges in the set meals.

    The Impressive Burger has made significant changes to their meal options and now offer customization to their clients. However, these menu changes have resulted in increased workload and serving time for delivering meals. Despite these challenges, they have not made any adjustments to their staff or restaurant equipment. This decision is aimed at maintaining smooth operations, but it has led to complaints about the staff's rude behavior as they struggle with the higher workload due to limited resources.

    The Impressive Burger is facing multiple challenges. Firstly, the staff is having difficulty identifying customers and keeping track of requested changes for meals, leading to confusion and mix-ups in orders. Secondly, the restaurant has experienced a decline in profits over the past year, along with significantly increased service times (averaging 9 minutes per customer). Furthermore, there has been a surge in complaints from customers regarding rude staff members, tense interactions, and incorrect or incomplete orders. Additionally, each restaurant's inventory value has risen by approximately 20%, resulting in increased waste. These issues primarily stem from inadequate human resources and insufficient equipment for efficient meal preparation.

    As the number of meal options has increased from 4 to

    7, there is a need for more staff and equipment. However, no adjustments have been made to either the staff or the restaurant's equipment. Consequently, this has resulted in longer serving times and disorganized operations, leading to an increase in customer complaints.

    The reason for the wastage of stuff is clear. Customers are complaining about incorrect orders, resulting in wasted food for the restaurant. Additionally, mishandling during chaotic operations also contributes to an increase in wastage.

    The average increase of 20% in the value of stock held at each eating house is attributed to incorrect expectations from the manager. To establish an order for supplies, we need to consider the average sales of each takeout separately.

    Suggestions for Addressing the Issues


    Managing Capacity

    Capacity refers to the maximum output (products or services) that can be produced using available resources and environment. Managing capacity is crucial for achieving desired results by maximizing output from available resources. Organizations align their resources with desired capacity and sales forecasts.

    The capacity of a system should not be too high or too low to avoid wasting resources or causing resource shortages. In the case of Impressive Burger, there was a scarcity of resources compared to the workload, leading to a decrease in the quality of processing and order fulfillment.

    Capacity Measurement

    Capacity is measured in terms of the total output that can be produced using the available resources. For example, Impressive Burger had the capacity to prepare four different meals with minor size variations within four minutes.

    Subsequently, there was an increase in the picks for clients and customization, which required more resources to keep the

    procedures smooth. However, there was no change in the amount of resources available.

    Capacity Use

    The production manager must observe how efficiently the given resources are being utilized. It is important to determine if there is a need for more resources to keep procedures smooth or if our current resources are not being utilized. Measuring capacity is a critical tool to reduce costs by eliminating idle resources and can also improve operations by adding more resources if a deficit is identified.

    To measure capacity, the formula is as follows:

    • Capacity Utilization = Average Output X 100
    • Entire Capacity


    Managing Inventories

    A plan to meet sales volume and customer's needs consists of capacity, workforce, and inventories. Therefore, managing inventories is also essential to eliminate problems that may arise during processing. The inventory management cycle includes five steps starting with the acquisition of raw materials, storage, conversion into semi-finished and finished goods, storage again, and finally the distribution of products to the customer. Demand and Sales Forecast: It is very important to predict the demand or requirement of inventories in the next period. This depends on the analysis of past sales patterns. Seasonal excess sales are also taken into consideration when placing an order for inventory.

    Accurately measuring inventory is essential for monitoring stock levels during treatment. This ensures the ability to determine available inventory quantity and enables timely supply orders to meet market demands while maintaining a minimum balance. Transportation costs for inventory involve expenses like insurance, taxes, and maintenance costs for items such as refrigerators and

    cleaning supplies. It is important to acknowledge that the longer inventory stays in the warehouse, the greater the associated costs.

    This is the instance with Impressive Burger. Their stock value increased by 20% which is finally costing them. FIFO/LIFO: LIFO suggests that stock list that comes last must go out first, while FIFO suggests that stock list that comes first must go out first. FIFO technique is suitable for restaurant business because as long as food items remain in stock, their quality and taste will diminish.

    Acquisition of Raw Material:

    Recognition of demand by the production section.

    Assessment and approval of procurement by the management. The purchasing department finds and selects the suppliers (based on their ability to provide quality products at a reasonable price and with agreed upon delivery schedule and payment terms). Placing the order. Tracking the order. Receiving the order. Evaluating the desired quality and characteristics as agreed upon with the supplier.

    Inventory Management Systems: There are three common systems for inventory management. Lead System: According to this system, companies maintain slightly more inventory than their projected demand for a certain period of time. This allows them to sell excess inventory if demand increases unexpectedly due to regular sales growth, seasonal effects, or other reasons. For example, if takeout sales increase, companies still have additional inventory to fulfill more orders than originally estimated. Lag System: According to this system, companies maintain inventory exactly as projected based on previous sales patterns. If there is a noticeable sales growth in any given period, the restaurant will run out of stock, which is a major disadvantage of this system and can result in losing

    customers. Tracking System: According to this system, companies monitor available inventory and sales patterns. Whenever they feel the need for new supplies, they place an order for them.The implementation of this can only happen if the provider is prepared to offer supplies immediately. However, in our situation, supplies are only delivered once every two weeks, so this solution is not feasible. Typically, companies maintain stock lists that are sufficient to meet demand and accommodate slightly higher sales during peak seasons in order to fulfill any extraordinary demand.

    Excess stock lists can hinder business investing and lead to decreased profits or extended losses. Process management plays a crucial role in managing operations and procedures in an organization. The productivity and efficiency of an organization depend on the processes involved in manufacturing and offering services. This includes selecting the best inputs, operations, workflow, and techniques to convert input materials into a final product or service.

    When are Process Management Decisions necessary?
    Decisions regarding procedure management are necessary in the following situations:

    • The new business or product is launched.
    • The quality of the product appears to be inadequate.
    • Rivals have threatened by introducing new technology.
    • The demand for the product is declining.
    • Significant changes or improvements in the product seem necessary.
    • The cost or availability of input has changed.

    Major Decisions in Process Management
    Three major decisions need to be made in procedure management:

    1. Process Management: This can be further divided into four choices,
    2. Job Shop: This is a type of processing where firms produce small quantities of products in a wide range.
    3. Batch Processing: In this type of processing, firms produce products based on certain standard methods or procedures but in relatively large quantities compared to Job Shop.
    4. Line /

    Repetitive Processing: Companies use this processing type to produce a large quantity of products.

  • Continuous Production: These types of companies produce a high volume of products in bulk quantities compared to other processing types.
  • Resource Flexibility: Here organizations determine the capacity of human resources they require and the skills needed for processing.Moreover, the determination is made concerning the production unit, whether it requires a general purpose unit or a specific purpose unit. A general purpose treating unit is capable of generating products in large quantities, while a specific purpose processing unit can produce two or three specific types of products. Customer engagement is also a crucial consideration for organizations. They must decide how they will serve their clients, whether through offering customer services or self-services like fast food restaurants commonly do. They must also determine whether they will customize their products and where the products will be delivered, such as to the customer's door. Workforce plays a critical role in ensuring smooth operations and procedures. It is one of the key elements for enhancing the operations of any organization, but it is not an easy task to accomplish.

    However, you cannot ignore it. If your employees are willing to perform their tasks efficiently and effectively, your operations will remain smooth. But if your employees lack commitment to work, it can produce unfavorable outcomes for your organization.

    Training and Development

    Training ensures that employees stay on track to achieve desired results. Training is essentially a deliberate effort to facilitate the acquisition of job-related knowledge, skills, and behavior by employees. Training can be conducted in any of the following three ways.

  • On occupation preparation

  • Distance acquisition or E-Learning
  • Classroom and traditional workshop
  • The goal of preparation is to improve performance in a work environment using given resources and established skills. Training is provided by senior directors or external professional trainers, who teach essential skills necessary for performing the job correctly. Impressive Burger offers on-the-job training to their employees in order to increase efficiency and reduce delivery time. This type of training helps develop fundamental skills in the workforce.

    The development process involves preparing workers to further improve and refine their skills. In the context of Impressive Burger, there are various techniques that can be employed to expand the scope of jobs and enhance performance. Job design, which includes job analysis and job specification, specifies the tasks and responsibilities of a job and outlines the skills needed to perform it effectively. Job specialization involves assigning specialized tasks to employees to increase efficiency and quality. For example, an employee working on boulder clay can focus on this task for a longer period of time to improve efficiency and accuracy. Job enlargement, on the other hand, involves increasing the responsibilities of employees to address staffing shortages.

    For example, if an employee is working at a supply station in a restaurant, they may also be responsible for packing meals and delivering them to customers at the takeout booth.

    Job Rotation allows workers to occasionally switch roles with permission from supervisors. This increases their skill level and reduces boredom. However, workers

    should be able to perform the new role with similar efficiency. This technique enhances the skills of employees in organizations and allows them to cover for each other during absences to maintain smooth operations.

    For example, if an employee can efficiently work in one area, such as the kitchen for meal preparation or at the supply station for packaging and serving meals to customers, they may also need to travel to other stations.

    Job Enrichment

    This management technique allows workers to have more control and responsibility over the entire system, rather than just one specific task, by reducing the number of supervisors. It is also known as employee empowerment or self-managing teams. Job enrichment also enhances employees' skill level and reduces boredom. For instance, in a restaurant, the chef and his team assist each other in completing daily tasks such as purchasing ingredients, food preparation, cleaning, maintenance, and serving meals.

    Work Standards and Method of Work Measurement
    A work standard is a measure of work efficiency or a performance goal, in which a worker performs a task in a predetermined manner within a set time and regular effort. The techniques of work measurement involve analyzing the performance of each task by a sample group of trained workers and recording the start and finish time using a stopwatch. This helps in developing a general standard of time and effort for an average trained worker to complete a specific process, such as preparing pizza in a fast food restaurant in two minutes. By employing such techniques, Impressive Burger can establish performance standards for employees at each work station, such as till, supply, and kitchen. This enables them to easily calculate the

    number of employees needed to customize meals according to orders, ensuring meal delivery within just four minutes, which is crucial for fast food restaurants. In fact, the reduced time is a significant factor contributing to the success of fast food restaurants.

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