Operations management functions at nissan

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT 1

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT 12

Operations Management

Angela Fasoli

Southern New Hampshire University

Operations Management

Operation management is very critical, and it helps an organization to be able to deal with different forms of disasters. A company should be able to face any disaster so that it can have a mechanism to protect its operations and also a mechanism which ensures that the smooth flow of operations has been maintained. In the case of Nissan, the tsunami and earthquake disasters affected the operations of the company, and since the company is a multinational corporation, the supply chain was badly affected. It is, therefore, important to consider the various techniques and factors which should have been considered for Nissan to be prepared for the disasters. Disaster management and preparation is very essential, and it is part of operations management. A company should be able to invest in operations management and there various steps which should be taken to ensure that a company is safe and ready to face any disaster and also to ensure that there will be business continuity after a disaster (Bhattacharya, 2014). The discussion below will help Nissan to recover from the massive earthquake and tsunami effects and also to prepare for future disasters. The paper also examines the different ways of achieving business continuity.

Generating value

The use of operation management functions to provide products and also to provide value to Nissan customers

The case study in question is about the Nissan Company. This company can be seen to have used operation management functions to ensure that the customers continued to receive products of the company and also they were able to receive value for their money. The company used an operation management function which is planning. The company planned for the disasters, and it can as be seen to have carried out previous drills and simulations on disaster management. This is planning and preparation on how a disaster can be handled. Planning, therefore, ensures that a company is ready for any disaster and that after the disaster the product provision will continue since the company will be able to recover faster from the disaster.

Another operation management function which was applied by Nissan is staffing and controlling. Nissan Company took the lead and tried to organize its workers from different plants to help with the situation in Japan (Birmingham, McNeill, 2014). The Nissan firm can, therefore, be seen to have taken the necessary steps to ensure that products have been provided. It took only a month for the plants in Japan to fully recover and fully go back to their operations. The company also used operation management like providing the funds which are required to prepare and also to deal with the challenges which are brought by the disaster. This shows that the Nissan Company acted in good faith to ensure that products were provided and also customers were able to get value.

Competitive advantage

The Nissan Company was able to show that it is very competitive even amidst the disaster of the earthquake and tsunami of 2011. The company was able to use operation management to achieve competitive advantage. One of the ways in which the company was able to achieve a competitive advantage is by setting a recovery committee. The company created a recovery committee to deal with the disaster situation. This helped the company to recover in a faster manner. The company was, therefore, to go back to business in a faster manner which makes the company more competitive. The company was also able to help the community members who were affected by the earthquake and the tsunami. This shows that the company is concerned with its customers and this gives the company a good reputation. The positive public image created is, therefore, given the company a competitive advantage.

The company also carries drills and simulations which make the employees and the company ready for disaster. The company also have been able to set a certain amount of money to deal with the crisis. This makes the company concerned, and it also makes the recovery process to be swift and efficient. Another reason why the company gains a competitive advantage is sharing of information. During the disaster, the company invited staff from other regions to come and collect information.

The company was also able to manage its production activities. This means that the company was able to control the production of its plants. This is because the disaster affected the sale and also production of the company’s products. The company was, therefore, able to use its in-transit and in-stock as a way of managing its production. The company is also able to obtain competitive advantage due to its strong financial base. The company has a strong financial background which makes it able to support its operations hence it is easy to gain competitive advantage.

Compare and contrast service operations and manufacturing operations

Both the service operation and manufacturing operations are customer focused which means that they are similar. They are focused at ensuring that the customer has been able to receive value. The two types of operations are also meant to ensure that the customer has been able to get a high level of satisfaction. Therefore service and manufacturing operations are similar. Service operations use different techniques from manufacturing operations. The Nissan Company uses service operations to manage manufacturing operations. A service like funding is very critical for the success of manufacturing operations.

Theories and techniques

Compare and contrast the critical path method (CPM) and the program evaluation and review technique (PERT)

The critical path method and the program evaluation and review technique are two statistical tools which are used in business management of projects. PERT is a tool which is aimed at planning and reducing the time of completing a project. On the other hand, CPM is a statistical tool which is aimed at controlling time and cost of a project. PERT is a technique which is favored by projects which involve events. The projects which involve events do not favor the use of CPM (Hill, Hill, 2011). This is because PERT uses the probalistic model to manage a project while CPM depends on a deterministic model hence not easy to deal with events. For example, for disaster planning and preparation, the Nissan Company should use CPM since it deals with activities. Predictable activities also favor the use of CPM. For example, the fall of sales can be determined through the use of CPM while PERT should be used for unpredictable activities like an earthquake or a tsunami.

Developing a forecasting system

There are various steps which Nissan will have to take when developing a forecasting system. At step one, the Nissan Company will have to define the problem. This is where the reason for developing the forecasting system is defined. The second step is data collection. The Nissan Company will gather information which will be required in the forecasting process. The Nissan Company will, therefore, take step three and sort the necessary data. The fourth step is a preliminary analysis which shows whether the data collected is essential. The Nissan Company will, therefore, move to step five where a forecasting model is selected and then step six is where the forecasting is done. The Nissan Company will also evaluate the effectiveness of the forecasting system as the last step.

Supply chain risk

There are various risks which the supply chain of every company which has a long supply chain faces. One of the risks which the Nissan Company faces is the risk of inadequate supply to meet the high demand (Zsidisin, Ritchie, 2008). This would be caused by low production as a result of a natural disaster. The Nissan Company can mitigate this through engaging different plants in providing products and also through the use of in-stock and in-transit inventory. Another supply chain risk is the disruption of supply operations where the parties involved with the distribution of products have been affected hence the operations are affected. The Nissan Company can be able to mitigate this problem by immediate reinforcement of workers.

The above strategies and functions of operations management will help the Nissan Company to be able to recover from a natural disaster and also to ensure that there is business continuity even after a disaster. It is, therefore, critical to use these techniques for effective operation management in the Nissan Company.