Bus 2141m Operations Management Assignment Sample

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Introduction

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The warehouse management system includes managing, organizing, and all the process that happen in the warehouse. This report is focused on the challenges faced by Unilever UK in managing the warehouse. To respond to this challenge digital technology such as Warehouse Management System (WMS) has been introduced in the operational activities. In the first section, there is a discussion on the benefits of the solution (WMS) provided in the proper management of the warehouse. In the next section, the use of the Warehouse Management System in the operation has been discussed along with there is a discussion on if there is an ethical and environmental issue and how to manage the issue. Finally, there is a personal reflection using the Gibbs Framework has been discussed along with the role of social media in operations management have been outlined.

Directing the operation

Warehouse management solution supporting strategic aims

The Warehouse Management System is a software solution that provides transparency in the overall inventory and also manages the supply chain operations and fulfillment starting from the distribution center to the shelf of the store (Kolinski and Sliwczynski, 2015). The Warehouse Management Solutions helps in increasing the space and labor utilization and investment related to the equipment by optimizing and coordinating material flows and resource usage. To be specific, this solution helps in supporting the requirement of the entire supply chain consisting of manufacturing, distribution, and service businesses (Lee, 2018). 

The consumer in the recent times of Omnichannel, dynamic and fulfillment economy wants to buy the product from anywhere, return anywhere, and fulfill anywhere. Hence, to respond to the changing demand of the consumers, the Unilever company needs to adopt the Warehouse Management Solution that can help in the optimization of fulfillment capabilities (Pohludka et al., 2018). Therefore, using cloud-based Warehouse management solutions prepares the company for future supply chain requirements. It helps the company in aligning its supply chain with the inventory systems which further helps in visibility into the entire inventory system which is easily available through a browser and smartphones when connected to the internet.

For Unilever UK, the warehouse management system helps in achieving the five performance objectives. The first is the quality, where the warehouse management solution helps in keeping the track of the packed and unpacked items, and also the packing is done through an automated process, there are lesser chances of any mispacks as there is no human involvement. In terms of Speed, Warehouse management solutions help in reducing the time between the products ordered and the delivery of the products which helps the company to achieve the speed objectives (Žuni? et al., 2018).

As stated by Wo?niakowskiet al., (2018) the warehouse management system helps in keeping the product freshness intact by keeping track of its freshness, especially perishable products. This in turn enables the customers to rely on the product produced by the company which reduces the chances of dependability on other products. Also, the warehouse management systems help in maintaining flexibility as it provides flexible storage systems which can adjust to the business situations and demand for the season.

Finally, the Warehouse management solution helps in reducing costs as it enables the company to recycle and reuse along with managing the labor force (Lee, 2018). Also, it reduces loss of inventory by providing visibility along with theft identification and prevention which help in reducing the damage of the products thereby reducing the cost.

Designing and Delivering Operations

Use of Warehouse Management Solution

The warehouse management solution is highly useful in managing the warehouse operations of the Unilever company. The Warehouse Management Solution helps in the fulfillment process as this solution comes ready to combine with multiple systems which support the multichannel fulfillment process. Secondly, this solution comes in handy to integrate with the multiple software which further connects to all the logistic processes (Tjahaja et al., 2021). Moreover, it provides flexibility and scalability to the supply chain by improving the speed of product procurement and delivery.

The warehouse management solutions also support adding the efficiency of the operations and thereby improving the performance of the operations. There is increased efficiency in the operations as the solutions manage the fulfillment process through cloud services enabling more visibility of the supply chain in the operations and in the inventory which meet the demand of the customer purchasing (Popovi? et al., 2021). Also, since there is no fear of paying the maintenance charge and upgrade charge in the cloud-based warehouse management solutions. Hence there is a total lower cost of ownership. Finally, as stated above, there are faster fulfilments which means improved customer service and customer experience. Also, with the help of the warehouse management solution, customer can order anytime, anywhere, and get the product anytime and anywhere which help in creating customer satisfaction and enhancing the performance of the overall operations (Tjahaja et al., 2021). It also helps in meeting the market demands which creates a better competitive advantage for the company. Hence, with all these features, the warehouse management solutions help significantly in enhancing the overall operating performance of Unilever UK.

Ethical and Environmental issues in Warehouse management when using the warehouse management solutions

The warehouse management operations contribute significantly to increasing the carbon footprint when there is an installation process of the Warehouse management solutions which is one of the significant contributors to environmental pollution. This can be reduced by reducing the travel time and making the best use of the routes for the installation (Tarigan et al., 2021). Also, there is a use of PEX pipework which has toxins that can affect the environment and can only be degraded by using a molecular cross-linking process. To reduce this harmful effect on the environment, the business can use other products which can be recycled.

One of the ethical issues that can arise with the misuse and unauthorized use of data. There can be instances where the data is shared with a third party without following the confidentiality protocol. This can result in misuse of data and can hamper the overall business operations. This can be reduced by allowing only authorized personnel to handle the data with secured login credentials (Ogbuke et al., 2022).

Gibbs Reflective framework

Step 1 – Description of the challenges

There are various challenges that I have to face as an operational manager in an organization such as I have to be on top of the market trends, especially in this era of globalization, and challenges such as sustainability which has to be taken care of during my career as an operational Manager (Kremers, 2021). One of the most important challenges includes the ethical conduct which I have to follow while delegating my responsibilities as an operation manager.

Step 2 – Feelings

I feel that is up to date with the global trends in the industry and the market is an important factor for any manager as it inculcates innovation and personal development of the managers. While meeting the challenges such as globalization, sustainability, and ethical conduct, I feel that I will be able to deliver my responsibilities efficiently.

Step 3 – Evaluation

As a student, I am not enough aware of the global trends of the market as well as the sustainability practices and ethical conduct (Ndu, 2021). However, being able to experience as an Operations Manager will help me to face these challenges and bring positivity to them.

Step 4 – Analysis

While reflecting on the challenges related to operations management, I have realized that developing skills that will help to overcome challenges will prove to be beneficial for me my overall development as an operation manager.

Step 5 - Conclusion

Learning about the group challenge such as challenges related to operation management have been a very informative experience. I would take this learning to my future workplace by working on these challenges and developing skills that will help me to counter these challenges.

Social media engagement

My recent experience of using social media for engagement has been a learning experience. Also, it provided me the confidence to interact with people and helped me in enhancing my communication skills to a greater extent. Also, it has helped me to build my network which will eventually be fruitful for my future career prospects (Barnes et al., 2019). Building networking through this project of social media engagement has allowed me to market my projects more easily.

I believe, the use of social media is much beneficial for the operation management as there are reviews and comments posted on social media by the customers after the use of the product. Extracting and gathering those data from social media can help the company to know the customer views and p