Studied by 1 person
Business Operations
the day to day operations needed for a businesses function
Supply chain
the group of firms that are involved in the process of making a finished product
Factors affecting choice of supplier
Price
speed of delivery and quality have an effect on prices
Quality
its easy for customers to shop elsewhere so quality is important
Reliability
if a supplier lets a firm down it may have a knock on effect on the firm
Procurement
finding and buying things that a firm needs from external suppliers
Logistics
getting goods or services from one part of the supply chain to another
effect of efficient procurement and logistics
having efficient procurement and logistics systems improve the efficiency of a business as the make sure the business will have the supplies it needs when it needs them
Positives of managing a supply chain effectively
Good relationship with suppliers
Get best value for money
Reduce waste and unnecessary costs
Job Production
unique/specialised products
high quality
high levels of customisation
more expensive
require highly skilled labour
e.g ships, bridges, tailored clothing
Flow Production
identical products
only require low skill labour
often lower quality
e.g mobile phones
Lean Production
a strategy businesses can use to make production more efficient in an effort to waste as few resources as possible
JIT Production
a form of lean production
only begin production when an order comes through
requires very reliable suppliers
JIT Stock control
reduces cost of storage
lose out on purchasing economies of scale
requires very reliable suppliers
JIC Stock control
extra stocks of items held at every stage
if there is a problem with suppliers production can go on
expensive to store
Benefits of setting high quality standards
Customers prepared to pay more for product
higher chance of repeat purchases
better reputation
How to measure quality
does the final product meet the specifications (e.g weight color height etc…)
how manu products get returned and for what reason
carry out customer surveys
Total Quality Management
TQM aims to make quality the responsibilty of every employee
emphasis on quality of after sales service as well as production
takes a long time to introduce and can lead to demotivation of workers
Ways to provide a good sales process
know lots about the product
engage well with the customer
Offer post sales service
Websites and E-Commerce (Customer service)
24 Hour ordering
Provide FAQs and or live chat features
online accounts to access services on the web
Social Media (Customer service)
can communicate with customers about things like opening times
easy for customers to contact buiness if they have a query
Benefts of good customer service
High levels of customer satisfaction
higher chance of gaining loyal customers who make repeat purchases and spend more
Dangers of poor customer service
dissatisfied customers
bad reputation
