Vice President of Operations Part 3

Vice President of Operations Part 3

Assignment 3: Vice President of Operations, Part 3Due Week 9 and worth 320 pointsUsing the same scenario from Assignment 1, present the following findings to your Chief Executive Officer.Create a presentation in a common format (PowerPoint or a similar program) with a minimum of twenty (20) slides and corresponding speaker notes in which you:Determine which statistical technique you will employ to measure the quality characteristics of your organization. Provide examples to support the rationale.Analyze the current facility location, and then use the three-step procedure to determine a new location.Analyze the key concepts related to capacity planning and facility location for the new location.Examine the current work system design, and determine your organization?s selected feasibility in the job design (i.e., technical, economic, behavioral). Assess key elements of the rationale in the work design competitive advantage.Using the method analysis described in the textbook, defend the new change implementation process and the rationale for the change of method.Develop a diagram showing network planning techniques, in which you use the program evaluation and review technique (PERT) and the critical path method (CPM).Use at least three (3) quality academic resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not quality as academic resources.Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student?s name, the professor?s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length. Include corresponding speaker notes for each slide included in the presentation.The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:Apply descriptive statistics to measure quality characteristics.Analyze the key concepts related to capacity planning and facility location.Examine the key elements of work system design, the project life cycle, and project management.Use technology and information resources to research issues in operations management.Write clearly and concisely about operations management using proper writing mechanics.
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Running Head: Vice President of Operations
1
WEEK 3 ASSIGNMENT 1
Olin Frye
Dr. Phyllis Parise
Operations Management
1/16/18
Vice President of Operations
2
Introduction
General Motors is a car manufacturing company that designs, manufactures and markets
automobiles under various brands such as GMC, Buick, Vauxhall, and Chevrolet among others.
General Motors envisions itself as the global leader in the production of transportation goods and
services and strives to create value for customers through continuous improvement, innovation
and integrity (General Motors Company, 2017). The organization?s operations management
addresses the operations, productivity and overall growth of the company. This paper aims at
examining the operational strategy of the General Motors in light of its operational efficiency
and competitive priorities and formulate an efficient operations strategy and enablers that can
propel the organizations towards the achievement of its long-term strategic plan.
Key Elements of General Motors? Operational Strategy
The operational efficiency of General Motors as it relates to its operational strategy is
made up of several key elements. Effective design of goods as well as services is one such
element that focuses on meeting the design requirements of products as it relates to the
operational strategy of the organization. The design element deals with the production of
innovative and cost-saving products designs that can improve the competitiveness of the
company?s products in the market. The element of workflow automation focuses on utilizing
technology to speed up workflows and operational process for efficiency purposes. Capacity and
process design element deals with the optimization of operational standards and resource
utilization for cost-effective production processes. The variability of capacity design at General
Motors manufacturing plants is based on the models or product types produced at each facility.
For instance, the process and capacity layout of a Vauxhall plant differ from that of a Chevrolet
plant. Functional cost efficiencies is another element of the organization?s operational efficiency
Vice President of Operations
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that deals with adherence to standardized and lean processes to help the company save on the
costs of production. Additionally, the element of scheduling focuses on the optimal scheduling of
tasks to enable flexibility and smooth flow of work processes while management of inventory
deals with the control and efficient utilization of inventory for cost minimization and maximum
output (Khanna, 2015).
The operational strategy of General Motors strives to achieve operational efficiency in its
production process. In essence, the operational efficiency of General Motors entailed designing
and producing products with the best quality at the cheapest rates and fasted delivery time
(Slack, 2015). However, specific tasks within the company?s production processes do not align
with the operational strategy of the organization. They include process and capacity design,
inconsistent design of products, and quality control tasks. Various aspects of these tasks deviate
from the operational efficiency goals of the organization, thus, leading to unfavorable outcomes.
The main weakness evident in the process and capacity design task includes the use of a
manual process that slows the speed of operations thus making the production process lengthy
and inefficient. Poor location of some plant facilities leading to insufficient utilization of
capacity costs the company a lot in terms of capacity utilization, in addition to poor process
layout in some facilities, which limits the flexibility of the whole process flow. With regards to
designing products, the task sometimes does not align with the operational strategy of the
organization due to certain weaknesses such as high costs of process designs that make it
expensive to produce and meet the desired production levels and demand smoothly. Inflexibility
problems especially in scheduling the tasks as well as poor technology impair the task leading to
inefficiencies in the whole production process. For the quality control task, the main drawback is
Vice President of Operations
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a failure to adhere to quality control processes and quality, which leads to defects in products and
services produced by the organization (Khanna, 2015).
A new operations strategy will be crucial to the success of General Motors in the
automobile market. To increase its competitive advantage, General Motors must improve its
processes to ensure that they are in line with the existing competitive priorities. This means that
the organization should adopt a strategy that will enable it to reduce the cost of its operations,
improve the quality of its products and services, speed up the production process and be flexible
enough to change its facilities, schedules, processes, and designs to meet market needs and
customer demands. Therefore, the new operational strategy that should be adopted by General
Motors is the process improvement strategy. A process improvement strategy will help General
Motors to streamline facilities, processes, and design of goods and services in a way that leads to
continuous improvement in its production processes (Slack, 2015).
The structure of the competitive priorities entails the operational decisions related to the
design and layout of the production process. They include the features of the production facilities
used by General Motors, the type of technology used as well as the way in which goods and
service flow through the company?s facility (Hitt, Xu & Carnes, 2016). The production facilities
of General Motors are located in various regions where the company operates, and the
organization uses innovative, learner and more agile automobile technologies to reduce the cost
of its operations and speed up its production processes. Goods and services within the company?s
facilities flow through its process layout and an integrated supply chain network. However, the
flexibility of the process flow and supply chain of General Motors is still inefficient and needs
improvement, to enhance the overall speed and flexibility of the company as it relates to
movement of goods and services (General Motors Company, 2017).
Vice President of Operations
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The infrastructure of the production process denotes the planning and control system of
General Motors? operations such as the skills set of its employees and the quality control
techniques and methodologies used to guide its production processes (Slack, 2015). General
Motors uses universal quality standards to reduce errors and ensure high quality of raw materials
utilized in the production of its automobiles. The company has established some of the most
talented and experienced employees in automobile design and manufacturing and continues to
attract talent and improve the competencies of its existing workforce through appropriate human
resources programs such as the GM?s Technical Education Program (General Motors Company,
2017).
Enablers that are aligned with the long-term plan of General Motors include new process
technology, acquiring talented human resources and sufficient plant capacity. The advantages of
these new enablers are as follows;

1. The new process technology will facilitate full automation of the workflow processes,
   which will speed up the whole production process and flow of goods and services.
   Additionally, technology will increase the competitive advantage of General Motors by
   providing the organization with the opportunity to develop new products, systems, and
   processes that increase its operational efficiency.
2. Talented employees will have the right skills set required to undertake all the tasks within
   the production process, and this will reduce cost, improve quality, efficiency and general
   productivity of the organization.
3. Sufficient plant capacity will enable the organization to maximize its production
   potential, increase production volumes and meet the market demand promptly (Cai &
   Yang, 2014).
   Vice President of Operations
   6
   The cons of the three enablers will be as follows;
4. The introduction of new process technology is a costly investment, but such technologies
   become outdated after a short period thus being of importance for short-term advantages
   only.
5. Acquisition and maintenance of talented human resources may involve high costs, which
   may reduce the profitability of the organization.
6. 3.
   Sufficient plant capacity may lead to excess production space, and underutilization of
   such space in the facilities may render the organization inefficient at the end (Cai &
   Yang, 2014).
   Vice President of Operations
   7
   References
   Cai, S., & Yang, Z. (2014). On the relationship between business environment and competitive
   priorities: The role of performance frontiers. International Journal of Production
   Economics, 151, 131-145.
   General Motors Company. (2017). Form 10-k. Sec.gov. Retrieved 15 January 2018, from
   https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1467858/000146785817000028/gm201610k.ht
   m
   Hitt, M. A., Xu, K., & Carnes, C. M. (2016). Resource based theory in operations management
   research. Journal of Operations Management, 41, 77-94.
   Khanna, R. B. (2015). Production and operations management. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd..
   Slack, N. (2015). Operations strategy. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
   Running Head: GENERAL MOTORS COMPANY ANALYSES
   General Motors Company Analyses
   WEEK 6 ASSIGNMENT 2
   Olin Frye
   Dr. Phyllis Parise
   Operations Management
   2/5/18
   1
   GENERAL MOTORS COMPANY ANALYSES
   2
   General Motors Company Analyses
   Question 1
   Product Lifecycle
   Product lifecycle is an essential concept that represents an essential concept in regards to
   marketing. Towards this end, it provides a description of the different stages that products pass
   through from the conception stage until it arrives in the market. However, it?s limited by
   different challenges largely due to the limited nature in terms of lifespan of a product. General
   Motor?s Product lifecycle is restricted by three major aspects. Firstly, the cycle is unreliable with
   regard to providing a proper indicator of a product?s true lifespan. The company adheres heavily
   to this and this has led it to mistakes that have seen the car maker face immense completion and
   lose significant market share (Stark, 2015). This is particularly so when one looks at the drop
   their sales have taken over the last three years, where the company has prompted the company to
   scale down its advertising efforts too fast, thereby limiting the product growth as well as
   preventing the company?s products growth realizing their true market value.
   Secondly, the company?s lifecycle has led the management to operate under false
   assumptions such assuming that Toyota cannot sell more units in the United States than GM
   (Stark, 2015). In this regard, the company has not been able to respond appropriately to changes
   in the conditions of the market, consumer preferences, and introduction of related products from
   competitors. This has rendered GM?s planning hinged on forecasted lifecycle almost useless. The
   danger here is that the car manufacturers cannot guarantee to consumers when a product will be
   introduced or whether it will go through the lifecycle slowly or rapidly than anticipated. Their
   dream is to plan, build and also sell the world’s best vehicles. The main elements of their policy
   GENERAL MOTORS COMPANY ANALYSES
   3
   to reach this vision are to: Deliver the product collection of the world’s most excellent vehicles,
   hence allowing them to capitalize on sales under any market circumstances.
   Thirdly, GM faces another challenge regarding its product lifecycle-decline. In other
   words, the demand for its products has started to wane due to intense completion and innovation
   by other manufacturers. This has forced the manufacturer to reduce prices as a way of getting rid
   of current products and thereby make way for newer and more innovative ones in line with
   market and customer demands. To address these challenges in an effective manner, it needs to
   understand that success in manufacturing sector depends on proactive management of its
   different products during all stages of the lifecycle. It needs to dedicate sufficient resources as
   well as concrete marketing and sales stratagems at different stages of the cycle to respond
   effectively to the dynamic market forces driving the industry.
   New product design and selection Model
   GENERAL MOTORS COMPANY ANALYSES
   4
   Strategies
   In order to strengthen its operations, General Motors need to consider three critical
   strategies to respond to dynamic market conditions and products from competitors. Firstly, the
   company needs to define its products in a clear and accurate manner with a view to keeping the
   team focused on the company?s overall objectives and avoid drawbacks such as running low of
   resources needed to develop specific products or developing novel products too rapidly
   (O’Sullivan, 2007). Secondly, GM must identify market requirements. Successful product design
   as well as selection requires thorough and extensive knowledge of the target market including its
   wants and needs. A strategic, purposeful and targeted approach will among other aspects ensure
   that its products fit in the market (Stark, 2015). Finally, it is vital for the company to establish
   proper timelines regarding product development. This will avail the company ample time to
   create as well as execute its new products. The company?s objectives in this respect will inform
   the establishment of pragmatic time frames coupled with deadlines regarding implementation.
   Question 2
   The Key Components of Supply Chain Management
   The key components of General Motors supply chain are stout, transparent as well as
   trusted partnerships with different market players (Shah, 2012). These are critical aspects in
   terms of guaranteeing quality, availability in addition to the affordability of products to its
   customers. Similarly, these components of transparency and trustworthiness are crucial in the
   manufacturer’s efforts to improve its competitiveness and reducing associated business risks.
   Major issues affecting the supply chain
   Regarding the structuring, sourcing, purchasing and the supply chain of GM, there are
   three major issues that could affect the same. Firstly, if any number of reasons the company
   GENERAL MOTORS COMPANY ANALYSES
   5
   conducts massive recalls of products from the market, then the associated costs can be high thus
   affecting its performance. Secondly, logistics is another area that can affect the aforementioned
   components of its supply chain. It is thus important for the company to be flexible as well as
   reliable when adapting to demand changes or responding to products from competitors. Finally,
   overstocked inventories can affect GM?s supply chain. The company should thus ensure that its
   stocks are well-stocked as opposed to being overstocked through the use of software capable of
   tracking as well as measuring inventory-related data. This will allow the company to make
   decisions in real-time regarding which items it needs to stock rather than overstock. The
   company must realize that managing its inventory is not as simple as counting and stacking
   boxes but a delicate balancing effort involving retaining just the right amount of inventory to
   meet the different demand as well as expectations of its clientele and the needs of the market
   (Stark, 2015).
   Question 3
   The Total Quality Management (TQM) illustrated below has been designed to help
   General Motors to detect, analyze as well as assess quantitative and qualitative data relevant to
   its business. The tool is tailored to the needs of the company and the dynamic market conditions
   in the automobile sector. Towards this end, the tool will allow the company to identify ideas,
   procedures, and cause, effects and statistics concerns including other relevant issues. Each of this
   can be assessed and applied to augment efficiency, effectiveness, standardization as well as the
   general quality of products, processes and/or the work environment in line with quality standards
   governing the automobile industry (O’Sullivan, 2007).
   The tool encompasses three crucial aspects relating to quality improvement. The TQM
   will help the company enhance its customer focus predicated on the appreciation that the value
   GENERAL MOTORS COMPANY ANALYSES
   of a product in terms of quality is reduced if the company fails to meet the needs of its
   customers. This will in turn increase effectiveness, revenue and customer loyalty. Further, the
   TQM tool incorporates continuous improvement in the company?s processes by reminding the
   management that customer?s expectations regarding its products are dynamic. Finally, the tool
   will enable the company to achieve employee empowerment as they are a critical component of
   any quality improvement process. Employees will thus be empowered to make important
   decisions as their respective contributions to the company are valued (O’Sullivan, 2007).
   6
   GENERAL MOTORS COMPANY ANALYSES
   7
   A key component of this tool is continuous improvement of both processes and products.
   This will in turn shift the company?s focus solely focusing on improving results but also focus on
   augmenting capabilities with a view to generating better results going forward. The tool
   incorporates five crucial aspects regarding continuous improvements, which include supply
   generation, demand generation, operations, people abilities and technology.
   GENERAL MOTORS COMPANY ANALYSES
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   Question 4:
   The just-in-time philosophy has allowed business companies to operate on reduced
   margins of overhead expenses, while it ensures that the parts are available in the course of
   manufacture of the products. Most of the companies like Dell use the principle of just-in-time
   inventory system of management to provide services to the consumers while they also lower
   costs to attract demand (O’Sullivan, 2007). The first advantage of applying the principle of justin-time is that it lowers the inventory costs. Business companies pay for the costs of inventory,
   which increases the carrying costs as well. Companies that employ the model of just-in-time
   have the opportunity to reduce the costs of warehouses, which may lead to the elimination of the
   warehouses altogether.
   Business companies are faced with the cost of space, where they pay for warehousing and
   other charges related to the storage of goods that have not been sold on time. GM motors has
   developed the just-in-time philosophy to reduce the costs of storage of their products. The
   company is also aware that in the course of storage of the motor parts, there are incidences of
   wear and tear, while the time spent at the warehouses may lead to the production of outdated
   automobiles. This has made the company to come up with the just-in-time strategy to ensure that
   the automobiles are not out of date.
   The second advantage of the just-in-time model is that it leads to the better supply chain
   management, which is a quality assurance measure. An efficient chain supply allows for lower
   costs throughout the product lifecycle process, where the lowered costs can be passed to the
   consumers. The lowered costs may also make the company operations affordable, giving room
   for expansion (O’Sullivan, 2007). Consumers would want to save costs incurred on products
   GENERAL MOTORS COMPANY ANALYSES
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   while making purchases. In the course of implementation of the just-in-time philosophy, business
   companies make their products more affordable.
   Even though the philosophy proves to be tedious when it comes to coordination between
   the supplier and the producer, it allows for the faster delivery of goods, where the goods reach
   consumers when they are in their raw conditions. This increases the rates of customer
   satisfaction as they get the value out of the costs t …
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