Operation Process at VBA

Operation process at VBA

INTRODUCTION

¡§The Design, setting up, operation, and continuous evaluation of internal and external systems that deliver a product or a service to the customer is called Operations Management.¡¨(Alan Carroll, 2003)

According to Slack et al, All Operations processes takes in a set of input resources which are then used to transform something, or are transformed themselves, into outputs of goods and services which satisfy customer needs. This is described by transformation process model.

All operations manager are designers. Design in Operations management refers to the conceptual process by which customers' needs are satisfied through the use of a product or system, which derives from the physical translation of the concept. (Slack et al, third edition)

Good Design is very important for an organisation. A good functional design enhances profitability and can provide a competitive edge. It starts with the customer and ends with a customer. A good design is feasible, acceptable and flexible. (Russell / Taylor, operations management, second edition)

This report discusses the central issues to design activity in an unusual operation of a flower auction in Aalsmeer, Holland called, VBA. It is the largest flower auction operation in the world. It contains different aspects of the design activity in operations management.

Answer to Question 1

There are basically 5 operations objectives that apply to all types of operation .

The design of VBA process is very complex. It is designed to handle around 19 million flowers and plant everyday. The operation objectives that are most important to build in to the design of VBA¡¦s processes are;

SPEED- According to slack, ¡§Speed is concerned with how long customers have to wait to receive their products.¡¨ In the VBA operation speed is the most critical objective because flowers are extremely perishable. And it cannot afford inventories since the product declines to zero within 10 to 12 days of harvesting. Flowers reach the operation in the evening and overnight and subsequently distributed in to lots and refrigerated. Flowers reach the auctioning process following morning itself. The bidding process is done within few seconds through the clock system and then the flowers are packed and dispatched. The whole process is designed in such a way that flowers move through each...

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...andard and the quality is measured. All activity is directed towards achieving the objective of the operation. The Automation of operation leads to quality. However it needs to be transformed in to an Agile operation if it has to become full world class operation. It should be more flexible regarding future unpredictability. There should be a system to measure buyer satisfaction.

A ¡¥Zero Defects¡¦ system is where inspection is from point of origin. There are 100% audit checks. It is a system that detects mistakes itself. VBA should aim for that. One of the drawbacks at VBA is that there is no sale through Internet. Buyer has to be present at the time of auction whereas some of the competitive auction processes in Spain and other African countries. Secondly there is huge service cost to the buyer for every transaction so buyers buy small lots instead of large. And a system should be made where buyers can compare the prices with the competitive auctions for fair-trading.

In the end we can say that VBA process needs to be more flexible towards facing future challenges and it could become a zero dfect operation if it implements various actions and should favour buyer as well.