Operations & Service Management

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3) Critically discuss whether Wace Burgess should accept the order from M &S if they are awarded it.

Wace Burgess should accept the order as it is a opportunity to scale up their potential and level of business. Wace Burgess is a member of the Wace Group, a company in the prepress and print technology market, with a mission: “To become a world-class company providing complete production service for corporations, enhancing the perceived values of their products and services by improving the quality and efficiency of the communication process” Company profile The Wace Group operates in a wide range of communication-related sectors including imaging networks, advertising, promotional print, corporate literature, academic journals, rigid and flexible packaging, and labels. Wace Burgess, a business employing around 250 people, specialises in the colour printing of greetings cards, gift wrap, posters, calendars, book jackets and folders. Their customers are mainly creative publishers, supplying retailers. Specifications of M&S order Wace Burgess had forecasted vision to be a lead player in the market and technological developments and wanted to involve actively in attracting new and big customers. With the help of their excellent reputation for quality and responsiveness, they were good enough to get a chance to supply for a large retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S). Vicky Dockety, one of the account managers, had for some time been talking, via a publisher, to M&S and she now seemed to be close to actually getting the first order. She had already outlined the preliminary requirements to some of the technical specialists and several managers within the company. The vast majority of the orders were for print runs of between 5,000 and 10,000 sheets, the average being about 8,000. T The most popular size of card was around 175 x 125 mm (for some typical orders see Table 4.1). A sheet was a piece of thick paper printed in the lithographic printing machines, normally with standard sizes of up to 720 x 1020 mm, and with typically 12 to 16 cards printed on it. However, M&S had specified a smaller size of sheet, with smaller cards, very carefully arranged so that almost no paper would be wasted. They were also asking for just five design variants. The delivery requirements were also unusual in that they would be precisely scheduled over several weeks, in contrast to the single delivery for most normal orders. The special paper could be obtained from one of the usual paper suppliers, but for the metallic inks and gold-blocking, they would have to use a relatively new supplier of whom they had little experience. The die-cutting and gold-blocking would be outsourced, as the factory did not have suitable equipment for the job. It seemed that there were no technical problems with the card or any unusual features that would have to be solved. Major Business catch is that if Wace burgess gets the order, it has the following concerns and the ways brainstormed to tackle the same. If Wace Burgess were to get the order from M&S, it would mean processing a single order of 600,000 sheets, there is a real challenge in delivering on time and sustain the good name in the market. Huge order from M&S which is a leading market player and would expect quality and on time delivery of orders. There is a risk involved in maintaining the reputation among other competitors. Reliability of manufacturing and technical departments on getting the order and completing the same without any hassles. There are huge existing orders booked and there is challenge in capacity planning and utilisation. Wace Burgess can handle the same by making the employees to work two eight-hour shifts in the printing, bindery and packaging sections. Overtime option or Sunday extra shift option on Saturdays and Sundays can be given if there is a requirement for more people. Team combinations of new and old workers are deputed to have balance in work pattern and effective focus completion of job. There is also challenge in the setup times but the same was also handled efficiently by the supervisors. Set-ups are very fast both for guillotining and folding: around 10 minutes each for a typical job. Die cutting process takes time and suggestion was given to outsource the die cutting and the compliance of the same can be monitored .It is possible to outsource die-cutting as well as the embossing, but it is more difficult with the folding and packaging. Strategy to use home workers for folding and packaging leading to more transportation cost it would take some time, and this takes a lot of organising and transport. If outsourced, this must also meet our very specific standards in order to meet the customers’ quality demands.’ There was a concern for quality compliance and the company has a ongoing quality check procedure for all printed materials starting from beginning to the end of process. Only high quality, on-spec products will be sent out, and it is because of this that the customers trust us with their most demanding work. Thus Wace Burgess had all the avenues to provide best service by formulating a strategy to handle M&S business and confident in meeting the expectations of the retail client M&S.As stated earlier, the above facts reiterate that Wace Burgess should accept the M&S order.

4) Given that Wace Burgess are awarded the order from M&S and accept it, discuss if Wace Burgess should introduce any new or special practices in the factory.

If Wace Burgess is awarded the order, there are certain changes or specific practices to be introduced in order perform effectively and satisfy the client. Capacity planning and Utilisation Requirement: Huge order with a tight deadline from M&S.There is always a quest for quality based design .Need more staffs to be appointed to meet the additional orders and specific requirements of the client. Actionable Change Wace Burgess can handle the same by making the employees to work two eight-hour shifts in the printing, bindery and packaging sections. Overtime option or Sunday extra shift option on Saturdays and Sundays can be given if there is a requirement for more people. Team combinations of new and old workers are deputed to have balance in work pattern and effective focus completion of job. Implication of adhoc setup times. Another best practice is that Set-ups are very fast both for guillotining and folding: around 10 minutes each for a typical job. Die cutting process takes time and suggestion was given to outsource the die cutting and the compliance of the same can be monitored .It is possible to outsource die-cutting as well as the embossing, but it is more difficult with the folding and packaging. Strategy to use home workers for folding and packaging leading to more transportation cost it would take some time, and this