Lean, flexible and agile in manufacturing and public sector
Lean, flexible and agile --- in manufacturing and public sector --- by Raymond As we all know, the world constantly changes, and thus, the business environment does also. As technology changes and people's thinking changes, so must the business organisation. If a company does not keep up with its competitors who do find ways to improve their processes, it may not last too long. Lean, flexible and agile are newly developed concepts to help the organisation succeed in such a competitive environment. Lean, flexible and agile in manufacturing Lean Production, also as the Toyota Production System, is initially promoted by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The driving force behind this adoption is to provide value to its customers in the form of high quality, low cost, and on-time delivery. Primarily, lean production integrates product design, supply, distribution, manufacturing, accounting, marketing, and management under an umbrella of concurrency. Other related topics are identified as political, legal, and social concerns. Key areas of lean production are improving quality and eliminating waste, which including five principles: a) Build products that meet customer requirements at the exact rate of customer orders; b) Practice just-in-time techniques for obtaining, using, and distributing resources; c) Think of workers and machines as separate and don't tie one
Foreign Trade in Latvia
Riga International School of Economics and Business Administration Course paper in macroeconomics Foreign Trade in Latvia st Year Student EBS Program Supervisor : Andrejs Cirjevskis Riga, 2006 Contents Introduction........................................................................3 . Balance of payments....................................................4 2. Latvian foreign trade policy ............................................5 3. WTO (World Trade Organization) ...................................6 3.1. Principles of the trading system................................6 4. Exports and imports in Latvia..........................................8 Exports by commodity group................................10 Imports by commodity group................................10 5. Statistics for January - March 2006..................................12 Trade in non-agricultural goods...............................14 Trade in services................................................15 Trade in agricultural goods.....................................15 Trade facilitation.................................................15 6. Main partners of Latvia's foreign trade..............................16 Conclusions....................................................................18 Used Sources.................................................................19
Brief report on BMW
Contents page Title page Acknowledgements 2 Terms of reference 3 Task 1A-Added value 4 Task 1B-Changes in production 10 Brief report on BMW 12 Task 1C-Improving production processes 15 Acknowledgements I would like to acknowledge the following for providing me with the information I needed to complete this assignment: BTEC GNVQ Advanced Business Heinemann, Ealing Ref. Library, Acton local library, NWLC Learning Resource Centre, MSN Internet search, BMW AG (GB), Matthew Packman (BMW AG (GB). I would also like to thank my tutor Malcolm Donaldson for providing me with the guidance and support which was very much appreciated in order to be able to complete this unit assignment. Terms of reference In this assignment, 5.1, I had decided to complete the tasks in order to successfully pass my unit assignment. In this assignment, I investigated the concept of adding value and ways in which organisations add value to their products through their production methods. I had focused on why and how organisations change and improve their production methods and the impact of such changes. By completing the tasks I have produced the following: * Notes explaining how organisations add value to their goods or services. * Notes explaining how and why one organisation adds value to its product. * A brief report describing how the production methods of one organisation
Walmart, Monopoly.
The size of Wal-Mart is astounding. It is not only the largest company in the world, but in the history of the world. It is also the largest retailer in the United States, Mexico, and Canada. Because of its sheer size and impressive market power, Wal-Mart has been the envy of competitors, the bane of suppliers, and a godsend to consumers. Their efficiency gains and economies of scale enable them to charge lower prices than many of their competitors. Because of this market power, Wal-Mart is able to induce concessions from suppliers that want in on a piece of the action. On the tail end, customers may have mixed feelings about Wal-Mart, but they do know that Wal-Mart is able to give them the goods they want at the cheapest price. Wal-Mart's ability to persuade its suppliers to furnish them with the lowest possible prices is a concern to some. Antitrust law is the legal tool that the public and government have to combat anticompetitive business practices'. It is my intent to support the argument that Wal-Mart should indeed raise some legal eyebrows, but whether or not they are guilty of antitrust violations remains to be seen. To better understand the possible harms antitrust attempts to protect consumers from, an explanation of relevant economic theory is warranted. In order to make a distinction between harm and benefit, it is imperative to understand the theory of monopoly,
Does Marks & Spencer have a future?
INSTITUTE OF MANAGEMENT TECHNOLOGY, NAGPUR Does Marks & Spencer have a future ? Managerial Economics Group Assignment - 1 Submitted by : Aishwarya Iyer 08FN007 Anjan Sethi 08FT012 Anchal Sharma 08HR010 Date of Submission : 01-09-08 Section A ABSTRACT This report analyses the impact of external and internal influences on the business strategies of Marks and Spencer (M&S) between 1996 and 2002, and evaluates the factors affecting them. The report basically identifies the main factors affecting the demand for M&S products by analyzing the weaknesses and threats faced by the company. It furthers the discussion by pointing out the changes, which the company tried to bring about in its marketing mix elements, branding strategy and value chain to enhance its market share and profitability. The major finding is that M&S had successful business strategies and marketing plans. However, the company could not maintain these advantages continuously, and faced a slowdown during the period 1998-2001. The main factors that contributed to the slowdown were the insularity shown by the company, which made it less responsive to the changing market conditions. TABLE OF CONTENTS . Introduction.......................................................................................4 2. Factors affecting the demand for M&S
Factors that Influence Consumer Behaviour Patterns, when Purchasing Fashion Items.
Factors that Influence Consumer Behaviour Patterns, when Purchasing Fashion Items .0 Introduction Consumer behaviour is a complicated and diverse area of study. Since marketing is based on identifying, anticipating and providing customer needs it is important to understand them. There are two predominant types of buying: consumer buying, which consists of buying products for personal use, and organisational buying, which involves buying for organisational purposes. For marketers to satisfy consumer needs more fully than competitors it is important to recognise the elements that influence buying. This report will identify the main factors influencing consumer behaviour patterns, particularly when purchasing fashion items. It will examine how buyer characteristics influence buyer behaviour and also how retailers react to such characteristics. In particular this report will look at the cultural factors, demographic factors and psychological factors that influence consumer buying. Contents .0 Introduction 1 2.0 Methodology 2 3.0 Cultural Factors 3 3.1 Reference groups 4 3.2 Sub-culture 5 3.3 Social class 6 4.0 Demographical Factors 7 4.1 The Life Cycle Stage 8 5.0 Psychological Factors 9 5.1 Lifestyle Variables 10 5.2 Perception and Motivation 11 5.3 Personality 12 6.0 Market Segmentation, Target
"Mass production is the curse of management thinking and workers' lives"
"Mass production is the curse of management thinking and workers' lives" Introduction: The aim of this report is to critically examine the factors that have lead to the belief that mass production has had an adverse effect both on workers and on management thinking. This objective will be attained through the use of insights from the perspectives of reputable management theorists such as Fayol, Maslow, McGregor and Barnard and from the point of view of the workers. However, before exploring these perspectives it is first necessary to define the key characteristics of mass production and its origins. Mass production is the name given to the method of producing goods in large quantities at low cost per unit. This system consists of three elements: accuracy, continuity and speed. These three elements can be realised by the use of: mechanisation and automation, division of labour, specialisation of labour, interchangeability of parts and assembly lines. Although the ideas of mass production are over 400 years old, dating back to the first use of the printing press, it was Ford who in 1913 put theory into practice with the production of his famous "Model T". This new development in management meant that ten years later Ford would hold 50% of the world's total output and sell 1.7 million cars every year. Thus, mass production had made Ford's company a unique commercial
The Goal, by Eliyahu Goldratt, is a story about a young executive named Alex Rogo.
Part One Introduction, Assumptions about Manufacturing, Balanced Capacity, Dependent Events and Statistical Fluctuations The Goal, by Eliyahu Goldratt, is a story about a young executive named Alex Rogo who personifies the profile of a large number of individuals involved in business administration. He possesses an undergraduate degree and an MBA. He is married and has two school age children. Alex began his career at UniCo fifteen years ago as a project engineer under the supervision of Bill Peach. Peach has ascended the corporate hierarchy and attained the position of division manager, a vice-presidential level. Alex now works under Peach as a plant manager of a manufacturing factory in Bearington which is also his home town. He has a competent and well trained staff, each of whom is a subject matter expert in their respective functions. UniCo is led by highly experienced managers, who have all been exposed to increasingly broadened responsibilities for different UniCo functions. UniCo's customers want quality products delivered on time and at a reasonable price. In order to control prices, UniCo's management has become increasingly efficient at reducing costs in several operational areas. Financial performance reporting is provided at every level of production so that functional cost budgets can be produced and managed with great precision. Automation has been
Supply Chain Management.
Supply Chain Management Introduction Many researchers have pointed out the importance of Supply Chain ( SC ) and Supply Chain Management ( SCM ) in competitive environment. In this report, we will discuss about ( i ) Toyota Mortor Manufacturing North America ( TMMNA ) which is located in Erlanger, Kentucky, current supply chain position and one of its suppliers, TAC manufacturing, located in Jackson, Michigan, supplies steering wheels and air bags for TMMNA, current supply position by drawing supply chain diagram, ( ii ) the possible operational and supply chain strategies which could be used to enhance TMMNA's future performance to take competitive advantage over other firms and ( iii ) the technical and human resource ( HR ) changes that need to be made to support the implementation of these strategies. The reason why TMMNA is chosen is it is one of the leading automotive manufacturers in the world. Before we discuss it, we need to know what it SC and SCM. Supply Chain " Supply Chain is all the activities involved in delivering a product from raw materials through to the customer including sourcing raw materials and parts, manufacturing and assembly, warehousing and inventory tracking, order entry and order management, distribution across all channels, delivery to the customer and the information systems necessary to monitor all of the activities " ( Lummus and Vokurka,
Operation management
Introduction Asmara Brewery factory is the brewery plant in Eritrea. At present, even though expansion plan is under way, the factory is working under capacity as a result it could not be able to satisfy its customers needs, tastes and preferences. The factory has two main production lines, i.e. the brewery unit and the liquor unit. Under the brewery unit there are different sections such as Brew house, Fermentation section, Filter room and Bottling lines. Under the liquor unit, there are the following sections. Distillery section, Liquor house, Fermentation section, Filling line. Beside the main production line, the factory has different utilities section, i.e. the Boiler, Refrigeration section, Generator, Carton section and Crown cap production. The factory's raw materials are malt, hop and sugar, and are imported from European countries for beer production. Molasses as raw material for alcohol production is imported from Sudan. The Asmara brewery occupies a total area of 111,505 square meters a tract of land that permits for a great deal of further expansion. Current land use at the factory is only 55,452 square meters. Even though, the bottling section is located far apart from other sections, the factory has a good plant layout. On the average, the factory has 74,085,582 bottles of 350cc production of beer, a worth of 143,829,441.00 Eritrean Nakfa (ERN) sales per