Managing Work Activities - Assignment Example

? Managing Work Activities al Affiliation This document covers the operations and management practices in an engineering business. It identifies the functionalities in engineering businesses, which are classified into commercial and engineering aspects. The importance, effects on business operations and the relationship between the functions in an organisational structure are explained. It uses the example of Tata Motors to explain the functionality of its several departments. Quality control in an engineering company, JIT and SPC impacts on specifications and quality standards are addressed. It also discusses the importance of planning in business, relationship between departments, and the exchange of information in an engineering company. The paper distinguishes between the single use plan designed to be used only once for a specific purpose, and the standing plans which are made to be used repetitively. The engineering departments are linked to one another by the roles they act, which enable all to contribute to the success of the business. Necessary information also flows across different departments coordinating their functions. Keyword: Engineering, Production, Departments, Planning, Quality Control, Functions, Processes, Customers, Suppliers, Engineering Business 1. Identify at least five functions of an engineering business (which could be the engineering business you established in assignment 1). Classify those functions according to their purpose. Show the relationship between these business functions using the organisational structure of the engineering business The role an engineering business plays ensures that an optimal path is developed so that the user of the product or service produced, through the operations that have been used in the business, can obtain the maximum benefit at a minimal cost. The functions of the engineering business are hence not confined within the business or company operations in engineering the product but include the commercial roles that affect the engineering aspect functions. According to Tooley and Dingle (2010), design, research and development, product development, manufacturing, quality and planning are the engineering functions, while sales, commissioning, marketing, distribution, finance and purchasing are the commercial functions. The engineering functions direct the technical expertise, the tools and processes used and the way they should be implemented so that the right technical judgment is made. Some of the functions can be managed when grouped together, which saves resources, but all have a unique feature whose general aim is the production. In any organisation, production needs inputs to come up with outputs; hence the engineering business has the management, suppliers, employees and customers. The business uses the purchasing function to access the suppliers for the required materials for production, from which the management takes the lead to ensure production uses a plan and schedule set. Research and development (R&D) and product development are ever consistent functions that ensure the business remains competitive and brings to the consumers what they need, by involving the expertise in the marketing fields, designs and productions so that the invention or the customer’s needs are met. The processes in building the product involve following the designs or the manufacturing framework. From this stage, control is very critical for the management to produce within the budget, which liaises with the finance department to finance the immediate activities or those that would work in parallel. This helps to avoid delays in production and ensure the finances are used efficiently. When the products are out, they are delivered to the consumers through the marketing strategies. The business uses most of the commercial functions at this point to finish the stock. Sales should find and maintain customers in the future market. The business gets to distribute their products to the wholesale shops, sometimes the customers or retailers when orders are made, or to their warehouses from which their sales team can sell. 2. Explain the functionality of three departments of an engineering business of your choice, (which could be the engineering business established in assignment 1). Explain the importance and effects of each function on the operation of the company as a whole. Tata Motor is an automotive company belonging to the Tata group of companies that engages in design engineering of a variety of vehicles. It has a record of great performance in the Indica and Nano projects, which showed their creativity and innovation in the development of the commercial and passenger vehicles. The business has a mixed organisation structure including the finance, production planning, sales and purchasing departments. The financial department of Tata Motors manages the financial resources of the company by monitoring the spending, allocation of funds for the projects, and guiding the company on the way forward based on the budgets and costs of the company. As a single business entity among a group, its finance department has to deal with payments of accounts and maintain financial record and statements, and provide relevant information drawn from the financial reports for the management to make a good decision when required. It liaises with the internal auditors to check the authenticity and consistency of the information the department delivers, so that financial malpractices are eliminated (Jamble et al., n.d.). It ensures the suppliers of the Tata Motors raw materials are paid and acquires the finances being held by their debtors. It not only prepares the financial accounts but also interprets the performance of the company by using the information prepared to give knowledge to the management for future planning. As a result, it ends up making sure that the allocated funds are present at the right time for the company’s projects to run effectively. The sales department function is to advertise and make sales for its commercial and passengers vehicles, as well as the spare parts at the global level. The department consists of managers, sales executives and consultants distributed across the regions who boost the sales of the motors and spare part products. It also monitors the trend of sales to analyse which products move fast in the market, and plans ways to improve their general sales. As part of a marketing strategy supported by the department, Tata Motors incorporates the customer relationship management software, which boosts sales, marketing, and customer relations with the company (Mukerje, 2007). The experts in the department analyse the markets and find out why some products do not perform well. This information is shared with the management and engineering team in the production area to plan ahead, which affects which types of vehicles can be assembled or developed in a larger number than others. The department aims to maximise their sales and plays an essential role in determining the revenue and profits flowing into the company. The purchasing department function is to deal with orders from the companies to their suppliers, in which they specify the quantity required, by which time, to be delivered to which specific branch or plant, the price of the materials or services being ordered, and timely communication to the changes made in the orders, as per the purchase agreement between Tata Motors and the suppliers (“General terms,” n.d.). The department serves to communicate the requirements of the materials to the suppliers on behalf of the company and tracks changes to the orders, ensuring the correct specifications, quality and quantity of products or services are requested and are what is to be delivered to the company’s plants. It works closely to planning departments to support timely deliveries that would promote the schedules and other plans. 3. Planning is an important function for any business. Discuss the importance of planning and illustrate the difference between a single use plan and a standing plan. Give an example of each. Planning ahead assists the business in achieving its prior set goals and objectives. When used in marketing, a business may get to experience a good competitive advantage against the competitors, while in production, it prevents lagging behind and ensuring timely delivery for the product or service to accomplish its purpose in the market, or in the end use. Generally, it connects production with marketing and financing to ensure the project at hand is implemented in a regulated manner, aiming to achieve the end product. Planning for any business gives the management and team of employees the purpose and direction based on the vision, goals, and objectives. It acts as the roadmap guiding the organisation and the employees to focus their energy towards the purpose stated. When drawn up early and the business is under a financial constraint, the plan could be used to acquire bank overdrafts, grants, and or any other loans when the past performance and future projections are satisfactory (Woods, n.d.). From another angle, planning assists in determining the tasks and grouping those that can be managed together. It is an effective strategy to determine flaws and support in decision making when need be. It ensures that resources are used properly, coordination in business operation, and detect and reduce the future risks (Singla, 2009). Time and finances, as limited resources, can be planned efficiently by prioritising certain processes or activities, which prevents delays in activities or clashing due to lack of coordination. At times, there are risks that emerge in business operations and can be detected early enough to rectify the situation. Specifications and minor activities that would cost a company can be captured early and planned for. In any case, the plan can also come up with ways to avoid the risks through proper control and prioritising. Plans also serve as reference points in business progress and generally function to improve performance. Based on the repetitive mode and the period formulated for use, a single use plan is made for a specific problem making it to be used once, while the standing plan is developed to be used repetitively (Lussier, 2008). Standing plans last for long periods and are common in the operation sectors of businesses. Single use plans can, however, be recreated in the future to guide in solving a different but related problem; otherwise, their use ends with the accomplishment of the task. A departmental budget for a financial year is a single use plan because there are different costs planned for and different figures of income that could be generated. Most production procedures, e.g. creation of a specific drug, use a similar plan repeatedly while manufacturing it. 4. Define three examples of the interrelationship between engineering business departments or processes identified in task 1. The departments of an engineering business have to work closely together in an effort to achieve the desired goals and visions for the company and satisfy the market. The marketing and the engineering or design departments are connected by the quality factor, which is important in structuring processes for the production and improving acceptance of the service or product in the market. The marketing department plays the role of accessing the customers to make sales and acquire specifications for the future products they need. The marketing team captures complaints and establishes the taste of the market for the engineering business products or services, from which improvements or development can be shaped. The managers in the department meet with the design or engineering team to relay and express the consumers’ needs. The team captures the specification and design a framework that guides production of the output in an improved quality or to meet consumer specification. The design process and production share information and data to generate the right end product. The production team cannot work without a plan. It is, therefore, guided in implementation by the designed plan, which instructs what should be incorporated and in what fashion, and how the input materials and factors should interact to complete a phase or the project. Take an example of software designs. They give the technical understanding to guide the coding of the software per module and how each should be integrated with the other. The designers work closely with the software developers so that the resulting programme reflects the flow of operation, as expressed in the designs. Any change incorporated in the design has to be implemented in the code. Finance and sales departments interact in handling the cash flow in and out of the engineering business. Sales involve marketing, which requires finances to plan on product or service marketing and advertising. This has to be supported because sales and marketing are crucial factors that determine the returns to the business. The failure can paralyse the engineering business since their output could fail to move, and end up causing stock accumulation that holds the company’s financial resources. On the other hand, all the returns made on sales are directed to the financial department which confirms the amount generated from the units sold, produces receipt for the transfer of finances from the sales department and uses the data generated after incorporating credits and debits of the department to produce financial statements of the company. 5. Outline three different types of information that is exchanged between the different departments within an engineering company. What form does this information take? Sales data originates from the sales and marketing departments but can be used in production planning as well as the financial and accounting departments. Sales data guides future planning in production, i.e. what can be increased and what can be reduced based on the market trend, and assists future sales prospects. In the finance department, they support auditing and verification of the financial records by tracing the finances from sales information. Again, the sales information supports the formulation of financial statements and records, which generally aid in assessing performance by the top management. The information takes the form of sales records and patterns (via charts) after the data is analysed. Product or service requirements are drawn from the customers by a team of experts, whether in sales and marketing or design departments. From the expert, they move from the origin to the design, engineering, and production departments, which work closely together to produce the right output as per the specified requirements. It is first exchanged as a product or service specification, but upon designing, could take the form of visual interpretations in drawings and flow charts. This is a common practice for software developers where engineers translate the system specification into diagrams (data flow diagrams) that are easy to follow and capture for the system developers. 6. Describe the importance of quality control within an engineering business. A project plan consists of information that can run across almost all the departments. It is used by the finance and accounting, planning and control, design and production / engineering departments depending on the structure of the engineering business. The finance department needs it in allocating of finances, in planning and control to monitor performance after scheduling, in designing to develop interaction of inputs and make adjustments, and in guiding operations in engineering productions. It takes the form of a strategic plan across the departments. In communicating the activities in progress and schedules, it could use Gantt charts to track the accomplished and unfinished tasks with respect to time. The main purpose of quality control in any engineering firm is to ensure they achieve the set quality standards in the products engineered, and eliminate defects that would cost the business in the market. After planning, during the implementation phases, whether in single activities or in the processes, control takes the centre stage to monitor the production, allocation and reallocation of resources, and make changes to avoid risks that would affect the quality of the product or service in the long run. Firms can ensure quality outputs are engineered and delivered to their customers without defects. The quality assurance team supports quality control through the inspection of the materials and processes used, tests to ensure the output meets the specifications of the clients, and requests for changes where needed. Quality control and assurance also increase efficiency and safety of the products or services in engineering businesses (“Proceeding,” n.d.). When the quality control is incorporated in production, it is easy to detect and prevent an error in production, which not only saves costs but also improves the quality of the product by minimising expenses that would have occurred when the output is considered defective. Taking an example of software engineering, the quality control would ensure the system developed is safe and efficient for the end users to prevent future losses in case some specifications were not captured. The changing customer needs are met as the system is continuously evaluated and adjusted from time to time (Mukhopadhyay, 2007). With such a consistent move, a deviation from the specifications and requirements of the clients can be identified and corrected, which ensures the outputs shipped to them are free of defects. ISO standards and benchmarking are among the techniques employed in most engineering businesses. Quality control is also effective to halt further production or delivery of the output when the quality has been compromised and poses a danger in its use. Above all that, employing a strategy helps to improve and manage quality in an engineering company and improve its competitive advantage in the market, which contributes to its consistent success. 7. Describe the impact of the JIT (Just in Time) methods and SPC (Statistical Process Control) on product or service specifications and standards. Just in time (JIT) methods have been used in engineering businesses to control inventories, time and product or service quality, hence resulting in greater productivity, efficiency, and profitability. As an inventory management system, the method ensures the correct amount and quality of materials for production are availed in time from the suppliers, products and services are developed just as needed, completed and availed to the customers at the right time, and in the right amount. According to Kimmel, Weygandt and Kieso (2009), the total quality control element of the JIT processing ensures the required quantities of materials (the exact specifications) are delivered at the engineering plants for production of the customer specification. Because the method uses a pull approach that is guided right from the customer order in the company, the product or service developed is pulled to the consumer through controlled quality productions and development. Specifications of the materials from the suppliers are verified and the consumer output is delivered. In the control process, developing what is needed in terms of quality has to be of an acceptable standard. Because of the reliable communication flow between the company and suppliers and clients, the effective delivery schedule to provide quality work, the prevention of using damaged materials, and the high quality materials used ensure production of a standard output. The method eliminates the scope of defects in production and the output, hence facilitating responsiveness to the market specifications of the output and making sure it is of standard quality. Using a statistical process control, which is an effective strategy in process improvements, it prevents waste production that comes around when an unacceptable output is produced. According to Lussier (2008), ‘SPC is used to monitor operations and to minimize variance in the quality of products’ (p. 504). With the technique, it involves analysis of the developed output and the processes from which it can either be approved for the market, or seek improvement in production. Because of the set quality standard, the service or product being developed is inspected to analyse its quality. It concentrates on monitoring the process parameters, controlling the process, and detecting changes that would alter the product. The customer specifications are met through the continuous process improvement, reproducibility, and prevention of errors. Suppose an error occurred, the process is corrected to prevent creation of waste and ensure the right standards and specifications are achieved. In most chemical engineering companies, the method is used and samples the product developed to inspect their quality. Since the inputs and operating conditions are the same, products are developed in the correct specification and standard, in a monitored and controlled process. References General terms and conditions for TML RFQ. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://suppliers.tatamotors.com/Project_Docs/rfq_terms_conditions.pdf. Jamble, S., Sukate, B., Guha, S., Mhasade, S., Suman, S., & Tonk, S. (n.d.). Study on organisational structure and leadership style of Tata Motors. Retrieved from http://www.scribd.com/doc/36578750/Study-on-Organizational-Structure-and-Leadership-Style-of-TATA-Motors. Kimmel, P. D., Weygandt, J. J., & Kieso, D. E. (2009). Accounting: Tools for business desision making (3rd ed.). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons. Inc.  Lussier, R. N. (2008). Management fundamentals: Concepts, applications, skill development. Mason, OH: South Western Cengage Learning  Mukerjee, K. (2007). Customer relationship management: A strategic approach to marketing. New Delhi: PHI Private Learning Ltd. Mukhopadhyay, S. K. (2007). Production planning and control: Text and cases (2nd ed.). New Delhi: PHI Private Learning Ltd. Proceeding of the training programme on ‘Quality Assurance’ held on 27th &28th February 2007. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.dowrorissa.gov.in/Designs/QA.pdf. Singla, R. K. (2009). Business management. New Delhi: F K publication. Tooley, M., & Dingle, L. (2010). BTEC national engineering (3rd ed.). London: Routledge Woods, A. (n.d.). The importance of business planning. Retrieved from http://www.woods-squared.co.uk/pdf/Accountants%20Toast%20Landmark%20Year.pdf. Read More