Operation Management Assignment: Supply Chain Management Of Myer
Question
Task:
Write a well-researched and well-structured report on operation management assignment critically discussing about the supply chain management of Myer, Australia.
Answer
Introduction
As per the investigation on operation management assignment, supply chain management plays an important role in the development of the company. Supply chain management refers to various business activities starting from raw materials acquisition to the delivery of the products and the movement of the goods inside the organization. This paper is made to discuss the supply chain management of Myer company. This paper is started by providing a brief overview of the company. In addition to that, the paper will also make a parallel linkage to the business operation of the company with the supply chain management theory. This paper will finally conclude by discussing the sustainability approach of the company to make the environment pollution-free.
Overview of the Myer
Myer is an Australia based largest fashion store group with its headquarters in Docklands, Victoria. The company started its journey in 1900 and it was founded by Sidney Myer. Myer is the public retail fashion company. Myer is a mid-market Australian department store chain that trades in all Australian states and it is one of the two self-governing territories in Australia (Maheswari, Yudoko & Adhiutama, 2018). Myer provides top-quality men and womens wear and babywear. Apart from the fashion sector, Myer also retails footwear and cosmetics, fragrances, homeware, furniture, books, baby toys, foods, confectionery and travel goods. The company has a total of 60 stores in various locations in Australia and it also employs more than 14,000 employees to manage the work pressure.The company has been in the business industry for more than a century now and therefore it is one of the leading business company in Australia. It has a net income of $ 33.2 million in the year 2019 excluding the implementation cost. The company has a great significance on the country's economy as the company pays a huge amount of their profit as corporate tax and the company also does some charity which strengthens Australia's situation.
24 Hour Business Operations
Myer is a huge retail company with its 60 offline and many online stores available digitally. The company has a very hectic operational schedule. The business operation of Myer is described through value chain analysis.
Inbound logistics
Inbound logistic describes the key part of the supply chain management that concerns with the purchase and inbound movement of materials from the supplier’s end to the manufacturing company. In the inbound phase, Myer receives raw materials from its trusted suppliers and starts doing the necessary things that are needed to manufacture the products (Bon & Jun, 2016). In the inbound logistic there are various department that comes together and works together to manufacture a quality product. At the first phase, the purchasing department purchases the raw materials from the suppliers and then the raw materials are stored and distributed for the Mail Online production. While storing the raw materials into the inventories, the stocking department keeps track of the raw materials in the warehouse and optimize the transfer of good from suppliers to its 60 outlets.
Outbound logistics
Outbound logistics refers to the delivery of the products to the potential customers. The products are delivered to the customer through various intermediaries that includes the likes of the dealers, the transporters and the retailers (Maheswari, Yudoko & Adhiutama, 2019). However, in the case of Myer, this is different. Since Myer has its own retail stores as well so the customers directly get to buy the products directly from the company. Once the manufacturing is done and the products are tested and verified, the products are sent to the Myer's own retail stores through on-road transportation.
Business Operation
The raw materials are then moved to the manufacturing unit of the company and then the production of the clothing starts. The production engineers and the staff offer their service dedicatedly. In the manufacturing stage, the products are designed in a certain layout and then some designs are printed in the clothing keeping in mind the choices of the customers. After the products are manufactured, the clothes are mechanized for the final term and glossy colors are added (Jaradat, Adams, Abutabenjeh & Keating, 2017). Then the goods are tested for the final time by the quality engineers of the Myer to ensure that there is no error in the products before sending done them to the markets. Once the testing and quality checking is done, the manufactured clothes and other goods are sent for packaging where the products are packed automatically through a machine in the supervision of 3 support staff. This phase determined the success of the company as the profit depends on the quantity and quality of the product.
Post-sale service of Myer
The success of Myer so far is mostly because of its top-quality service that it provides to its customer even after selling the products. The modern customers prefer post-sale services and consider it very important and therefore the company also needs to pay focus to it. To be able to do that the company has a communicating team that instantly respond to customer's call or request (Tung, Chiu & Yu, 2020). The company also has its online website where the customers can share their feedback or register complaints and there are many instances where the feedback team responded to the call and provides a quick solution to the customers.
Link between business and Porter’s theory
The business activities of the Myer management are linked with the Porter’s theory. Porter’s theory mainly implies the supply chain management process and the strategic resources of a company. Business Operations Implies the activities that directly relate to the production system. It is possible to increase operations if the operational planning is followed by the inbound logistics (Tansuchat, Piboonrungroj & Nimsai, 2016). It is suggested that by many business experts that a company should conduct mass productions in its business operations regularly. Myer has planned and designed their business operations in a such a way that they can produce a large number of products at a lesser time by reducing the operation time. A value chain suggest all the activities related to the flow and production of goods from raw materials to the end user. Value chain management is complicated as well as very important too for managing the quality, satisfying the customers and thereby remaining competitive in the market. As per the Porters Value Adding chain management theory suggest that company needs to be flexible and agile enough to move so that the company can change its process if needed and act quickly. Myer as discussed earlier, is engaged in multiple activities in the value chain process starting from the Inbound logistics to post sales services. The porter’s theory states that the company needs to have a strong organizational infrastructure starting from the technical support to the management team to the department of HR and finance to make a smooth and easy going process. The theory emphasizes lot on the organizational structure and technological development as these play a key role behind the success of the company.
The inbound logistic implies the acquisition of raw material from different stakeholders and suppliers which plays a big role in the productivity of the company. The company orders the raw materials in a bulk amount for avoiding any shortage of raw materials. Considering Porter's theory which also suggested that technological development is very critical for the growth of the company not just in the field of R&D but also in the new installation process, the company also started building a warehouse which helps them to stock a pile of raw materials and importing some key machines for the quick production and delivery of the product (Machuve, 2016). As per the Porter’s theory, it emphasizes that the Myer company needs to have a warehouse in their production area to increase the production and at the same time it is also important for increasing the quantity of the finished products. The Porter's theory mainly suggests that the growth of a company largely depends on its marketing and sales. As per the theory, a company can increase their sales by to ways, one through providing quality services and the second one is by marketing their product efficiently. Following the laws of the Porter’s theory, the company has employed a marketing team and they have got satisfactory results after that as their sales increased at a good number (Gandhi & Shankar, 2016).The theory puts lot of significant on the marketing department and states that the company needs to marketing their product to gain more profit and this is where marketing management plays a key role. The company used modern technologies and effective marketing techniques to attract its customers and have been doing it successfully. The theory also emphasizes a lot on the post-sales services and the company has been very keen in offering much better post-sales services to its customers and the company has been trying to improve its post sales services by keeping in touch with the consumers after delivering them the products. After linking the theory with the supply chain management of the Myer company it can be said that the company has been improving their supply chain process continues to develop productions and sales of the company.
Strategic tangible assets of Myer
The theory also puts a lot of significant on the organizational resources. The Porter’s theory discusses the strategic assets that a company has. The strategic tangible assets of the Myer refer to those assets that involved both the financial and physical assets. These assets can be seen and touched as well. These are the strategic assets as these assets play a critical role in the strategy implementation and formulation in the company (Machuve, 2016). These assets include machinery, clothes, land, building. The strategic tangible assets of the Myer are approximately $ 10 million.
Sustainability Prospects of the Company at June 30
Environmental sustainability is not an issue for the Myer company at this point of time. In June 30, 2019, the company in their business operation has maintained an agenda that they do not harm any ecological balance or the environments at any cost. During Myer's 24-hour operational activities starting from receiving the raw materials to the final production, the company maintains a bio effective environment that is completely safe for the environment. The colors that are used also very natural and overall, the company maintains a basic hygiene (Ba?tu?, Arabelen, Vural & Deveci, 2020). The company orders the eco-friendly raw materials from its suppliers and this is why the customers have a great love for this company. During the production stage, the company also maintains hygiene and manages the wastage properly to make sure that it does not harm the environment. The company is so concerned with the environment that it stopped the use of plastic bags for packaging simply because the plastic is dangerous for the environment and it cannot be recycled. The company uses different designing papers for packaging. The company values the environment greatly and keeping the pollution in mind.
In June 30, 2019, Myer company also started using electric cars for transporting the goods to the various retail stores. This reduces the pollution as these cars run on the battery. The company is a great example for those who wish to be sustainable in future. Marketing and sales of the Myer also adds value to its development activities (Maheswari, Yudoko & Adhiutama, 2018). Myer uses modern technologies and attractive information procedures that helped them to boost up the sales and the popularity of the company.
Conclusion
The supply chain management of the Myer company is well diversified and well organized. The analysis of supply chain model of Myer suggest that it is very strong and flexible. The major credit of the success of the company goes to its vital chain management model. The company has been able to capture the global market because of its flexible supply chain management system. This paper discussed the business operations of a leading Australia based fashion company, named Myer and linked the company's operations with the supply chain management theory. The company also discussed the strategic tangible assets of the company and identified the key steps that Myer company has taken over the last few years to maintain sustainability in their organisation.
References
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Machuve, D. (2016). Information Logistics in Value Chain Analysis of Small and Medium Food Processing Enterprises in Tanzania (Doctoral dissertation, The Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology).
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