Productivity and Process Improvement - Green Valley Bakers - Research Paper Example

?Green Valley Bakers Introduction and Company Background This discussion concerns a local bakery, Green Valley Bakers. This bakery deals with the baking of breads and various types of cakes. The company has only two departments: production department and service department. It has only five permanent employees and twenty five casuals, giving a total of thirty employees. The mission of this bakery is to provide its customers with fresh, tasty and high quality bread and cakes. Its vision is to grow and serve bread to all residents of California, as it now only serves its immediate neighbors. Bread is an essential meal for breakfast because of its convenience, relative durability and adaptability, potentially low cost and nutritive value. People who live around green Valley Bakery like bread to an extent that they have changed the man must eat slogan into if man has to eat, he must eat bread. Therefore, the demand for bread is quit high. Unfortunately, this local bakery normally fails to meet this demand leading to bread importation from other towns. However, local people prefer bread from Green Valley because it is always fresh and tasty. The bakery management claims that it is normally unable to meet demand because of low productivity that results from low supply of basic ingredients especially flour, high cost of labor and lack of modern cooking equipments. Therefore, they produce very little while demand is almost twice of what they produce. This shortage is normally worse during weekends, when it is hard to locate fresh bread. Therefore, if Green Valley Bakers can improve their productivity and processes, they are more likely to reap great profits that can even help it open chain bakeries. Productivity Measures In order to achieve its vision, the company has to take into account productivity measures that will help it improve its production and production processes. First, to deal with the problem of supply of ingredients, the company can choose to merge with a wheat flour miller or large scale wheat supplier. The company can then choose to sign contracts with such companies in order to ensure a steady supply. Such a measure will ensure that it is able to get sufficient flour and other ingredients on time as Laraia, (1999) observes. With enough supply of raw materials, the bakery will be in a position to produce enough bread for its loyal customers. The other issue that the company faces in its activities is poor and traditional equipments. These equipments are slow and can only accommodate few pieces of bread at a time. To deal with this problem, the company must employ modern baking equipments like dough molders, dough mixers, and dividers. Though they are expensive in the short run, they produce significant results in the long run that will help the company achieve its goals (Torres, and Feld, 2010). Modern baking equipments like electric ovens have a large capacity that can accommodate many pieces of bread at a time. On the other hand, they are very fast and the bakery can manage to cook very many pieces of bread and cakes. With such improvements, the bakery will meet the high demand for bread to its local residents as well as other towns in California. The bakery also faces problem of high cost of labor that increases the cost of production. With high cost of labor and low production units, the bakery will definitely incur losses and will never achieve its vision and goals. To deal with the situation, the management can choose to employ cheap labor, even if it means importing workers from other areas with high labor supply. On the other hand, it can choose to increase the productivity per worker so that counter the high cost of labor. The bakery should ensure that it is able to produce at the breakeven point, that is, where productivity is able to meet the cost of production. Key Processes The key processes that are involved in the manufacturing process of bread include preparing the dough by mixing all the required ingredients like flour, yeast, oil, salt, and sugar. The dough is then cut into the required weights of bread and placed in the ovens for baking. When the bread is baked, it is cut into desired slices and then packed. It is then transported into various destinations like retail shops where consumers can easily access it. The key processes interact because they form a chain where the chains depend on each other. That is, the processes must be followed in that order. At end of the process, profitability is measured by subtracting the total cost incurred in the production from the total sales. It is also important that all employees are trained on their areas of specialization (Dinero, 2005). Process Improvement Improving these processes will consequently improve the productivity of the bakery as stated in the Hand Book for Basic Process Improvement (1996). In the production department, the key to productivity is to bake high quality bread at low cost, but without affecting the quality. Another goal is to generate as much profit as possible from per product unit sold. The process is usually as follows: ingredients are ordered from supplier, it is delivered into stores, the chef orders from the store what he requires by filling an order form, the dough is prepared and breads are then baked. After every week, data is collected so as to determine productivity. In this case, productivity ratios are determined by calculating the total amount of breads and cakes are counted and recorded. Then the amounts of ingredients ordered are also counted and their cost determined. To improve this process, it has to be studied in detail. How can the units of production be increased without affecting their quality? The chief baker and all those involved in the production process should be careful too ensure that no single unit of bread burns or no ingredients as well dough goes into waste in any way. In case such losses occur, those involved should be made accountable, by paying same amount of money, just like the product sells in the market. Looking at the service department, the major processes are packaging, transportation and marketing. These are also key process because they determine how much is demanded. To improve the packaging process, the bread should be packed in well decorated packaging bags. The problem of shortage of these bags as well as late delivery is a great problem that the company can deal with by ensuring enough stock as well as timely ordering and delivery. The pictures should convince the customers on the quality and taste of the bread. It should also clearly indicate both manufactured and expiry date, so as to win consumer confidence. Transportation of the bread should also be made on time to ensure that there is steady supply of bread for the customers. Marketing is a crucial aspect in any productive process (Kumar, 2008). However, it is not an issue in this case since the bread is supplied to retailers who then sell it to consumers. Problems of Changing the Processes Changing the processes in the two departments may make the bakery encounter various problems. For example, all the processes require maximum cooperation from the key players (Emiliani, 2007). First, making those who increase the cost of production by letting breads or cakes burn pay a similar amount as they would have sold in the market is an idea that such people can hardly welcome. Therefore, the management would have to have to explain to them on the effects of such losses in the company’s wellbeing. Though they may not like it, it has to be implemented so that the players become more careful. The problem with the service department is mainly on packaging and transportation. Packaging bags normally face stock shortages and even though the company may want to ensure that their supply is sufficient, the problem might be with manufacturers, who supply limited amounts, something that is hard for the company to cope with. For transportation, the vehicles might breakdown without notice a\making deliveries late. Other factors that can affect transportation that are beyond the company’s efforts are weather, like floods that might make transportation difficult, are also another problem. Conclusion Green Valley Bakers is a local bakery that has many potential customers but encounters many problems in its activities that consequently affect its productivity. However, production and process improvements in the company can help it achieve its desired goals, as well as meet all the demands of their customers. Improving production and service processes are significant measures. Improving production and process will ensure that the cost of production is lower than the sales, thus ensuring high productivity. Issues of high cost of labor, low supply of basic ingredients, poor transportation and poor traditional equipments are central in its productivity. However, changing production and process through improvements will make these issues things of the past. References Dinero, D. (2005). Training within Industry: The Foundation of Productivity Improvement. Productivity Press.  Emiliani, B. D. (2007). Better Thinking, Better Results: Case Study and Analysis of an Enterprise-Wide Lean Transformation (2e. ed.). Kensington, CT, US: The CLBM, LLC. Hand Book for Basic Process Improvement, (1996). Balanced Scorecard Organization. Retrieved on 18th August, 2011 from http://www.Balancedscorecard.org/portals/0/PDF/bpihndbk.pdf. Kumar, S.A. (2008). Production and Operations Management. New Age International. Retrieved on 18th August, 2011 from http://site.ebrary.com/lib/tourou/edf.action?p00=operations%20productivity&docID=10323373. Laraia, A. C. (1999). Accelerating Breakthroughs in Productivity and Performance. John Wiley and Sons. p. 26. Torres, C. and Feld, A. (2010). Campbell’s Quest for Productivity, Business Week. New York: Nov 29, 2010. P.1. retrieved on 18th August, 2011 from http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/10 49/b4206015275454.htm. Read More