Assignment on the Competitive Manufacturing

Introduction of Competitive Manufacturing

The aim of this report is to provide brief information about the airline industry and how its operations are being affected by COVID 19 pandemic. The report has discussed the issues which the airline companies are currently facing. With issues, the report has provided the strategies through which airline companies can improve their business.

Some of the operations issues airlines are now facing

There are many operation issues which the airline corporations are now facing. One of the key issues which the airline corporations are facing nowadays is the grounding of airplanes. Due to COVID 19 pandemic, the air traffic has declined up to a lot of extents. The governments have created rules and regulations for social distancing which applies to airline travel as well. The airplanes no longer travel to full capacity. Most of the airplanes that travel contain less than 20% of passengers. Due to a very low amount of passengers the profitability of the airline companies has declined significantly (McCartney, 2020).

There are many planes that are flying due to operational management reasons. Sometimes the passengers or medical staff have to move from one city to another. Sometimes the crew of the flights has to go to another city for their routine tasks. These are some of the operational management issues for which airlines are still operating without passengers. The airline companies cannot ground all the airplanes because grounding airplanes have their own cost. It can be said that there are many issues that airlines companies are currently facing. However, with innovative strategies and lean manufacturing techniques, airline companies can successfully manage their operations (McCartney, 2020).

What percent of your class is willing to fly in the next 4 weeks?

Due to COVID 19 pandemic, governments around the world are encouraging their citizens to stay at home. It won’t be a wise decision to travel in a situation like this. Therefore the percentage of class who is willing to fly in the next 4 weeks is quite low. Only those individuals are willing to fly in the upcoming weeks who have important work in other cities. Those who do not have any important tasks in other places have preferred to stay home. It is a wise decision to consider traveling only when it is important. Through this, not only the persons will stay safe from COVID 9 but also the spread of the virus can be controlled.

The low number of passengers is causing problems for the airline companies. In the current situation, airline companies cannot take a large number of passengers because of social distancing. In a situation like this, it would be best that the corporations should start cutting their expenses so that the companies can remain to save from huge financial loss. there are many ways through which corporations can perform cost-cutting for instance if the companies can reduce their inventory etc. with cost-cutting the financial loss of the company can be mitigated up to a lot of extents (Campbel, Edgar, & Stonehouse, 2011).

Can Boeing and AirBus Survive?

In the current situation, it is evident that Boeing and Airbus are suffering from various issues. However, both the corporation have a chance to survive in this kind of situation. The lean approach can help the corporation to reduce its costs and increase efficiency. The lean approach allows corporations to reduce waste and reduce their expenses up to a significant level. In the current situation, cost-cutting will be the best strategy so that financial loss can be reduced. Through a lean approach, the airline corporation can standardize their processes and can drive out excess capacity (Campbel, Edgar, & Stonehouse, 2011).

The organization can reduce their time on the ground to avoid expenses associated with the grounding of airplanes. The corporations can involve the passenger into the strategy as well. If the passengers can pick up their trash by themselves than the cleaning expenses can be reduced up to a lot of extents. The corporations should implement inventory management so that the inventory related costs can be reduced. If the corporation does not manage its inventory effectively than the cost of inventory increases up to a lot of extents. Inventory management software or tools can be used for inventory management. Such software is not only less expensive but also helps the company to reduce its expenses effectively (Marmol, 2020).

Is this the end of Low-Cost Airlines such as AirAsia and Ryanair?

In current or post-COVID 19 situations, airline corporations like Ryanair and AirAsia might unable to provide low-cost travel to its passengers. However, this would be temporary or for the time period in which the corporations were recovering from their financial losses. After recovery, the corporations again can provide low-cost travel to their passengers. It can be said that for a short time period the companies might increase their travel fare so that the financial loss can be covered. It would be incorrect to stay that this will be the end of low-cost airlines (Spender, 2014).

There are many ways through which corporations can reduce their expenses can maintain their operations. The lean approach as discussed earlier can help the corporations to not only increase their efficiency and expenses but can also reduce their expenses up to a significant level. If the corporations been able to reduce their expenses in this period of time than they can recover after the pandemic effectively. The thing that organizations should understand is that they have to create strategies that will allow them to achieve their goals in the future (Campbel, Edgar, & Stonehouse, 2011).

Three (3) industry sectors that badly hit by the pandemic and propose how the companies could improve their business

There are many sectors that are badly hit by the pandemic. One of the major sectors that hit by pandemic includes the services sector, financial sector, and the industrial goods sector. Due to COVID 19, pandemic many services companies have to shut down their operations. The entertainment companies such as Disney closed their amusement parks due to the virus. In different countries, various industrial goods manufacturing industries closed for mitigating the spread of the virus. The travel companies also stop their operations because in different countries lockdown was imposed. Therefore due to shut down of different corporations, the corporations suffered from huge financial losses. The companies can improve their businesses by performing cost-cutting measures and by implementing different techniques such as lean approach and continuous improvement (Marmol, 2020).

Conclusion of Competitive Manufacturing

It is concluded that the lean approach can help the corporation to reduce its costs and increase efficiency. The lean approach allows corporations to reduce waste and reduce their expenses up to a significant level. In the current situation, cost-cutting will be the best strategy so that financial loss can be reduced. Through the lean approach, the airline corporation can standardize their processes and can drive out excess capacity. The organization can reduce their time on the ground to avoid expenses associated with the grounding of airplanes. The corporations can involve the passenger into the strategy as well

References of Competitive Manufacturing

Campbel, D., Edgar, D., & Stonehouse, G. (2011). Business Strategy: An Introduction. Macmillan International Higher Education.

Marmol, L. D. (2020). 4 Ways Lean Airline Companies Can Improve Their Services. Retrieved from https://leansixsigmabelgium.com/blog/ways-lean-airline-companies-improve-their-services/

McCartney, S. (2020). Why Empty Planes Keep Flying Through the Pandemic. Retrieved from https://www.wsj.com/articles/why-empty-planes-keep-flying-through-the-pandemic-11588771233

Spender, J.-C. (2014). Business Strategy: Managing Uncertainty, Opportunity, and Enterprise. OUP Oxford.