Operations Management in Daimond Manufacturing free essay sample

Definition Operation Management is the activity of managing the resources which produce and deliver goods and services (Slack et al, 2010). These activities commences from the very initial production stage of information gathering right up to the final stage of consumer consumption of the product. Every organization does operation management even if they do not notice it. All organizations produce goods and/or services and to create goods and/or services, the organization must perform a number of operations which must be effectively and efficiently managed. 1. 2 Role of Operations Management Operations Management is of prime importance in all sectors, cells, functions, units and groups within the organization. An organization is a system and according to the business dictionary, (http://www. businessdictionary. com/definition/system. html) a system is ‘An organized, purposeful structure that consists of interrelated and interdependent elements (components, entities, factors, members, parts etc. ). These elements continually influence one another (directly or indirectly) to maintain their activity and the existence of the system, in order to achieve the goal of the system’. We will write a custom essay sample on Operations Management in Daimond Manufacturing or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Read more: http://www. usinessdictionary. com/definition/system. html#ixzz2QSyXAP1f . All employees are part of this system and have a common interest in making the consumer to receive goods and/or services in the best way possible. So I will say every manager in every part of the organization is to some extent an operational manager. According to James (2011), the role of operations management is to manage the transformation of an organization’s inputs into finished goods and services using processes. Processes are actually present in all areas of the organization from Human Resource to Finance to Marketing to Procurement etc. 1. The ‘Input – Transformation – Output’ process Resources can either be transforming resources or transformed resources. After the transformation process is complete, transforming resources give rise to transformed resources. According to James (2011), there are 2 main types of transforming resources: * Facility which compri ses of land, building, plant and equipment. * Staff which comprises of everyone involved in the operation process. There are 3 main types of transformed resources: * Material. Transformation can be physical (manufacturing), by location (transportation), by storage (warehousing), or by ownership (retail). Information. Transformation can be by property (accountant’s information), by possession (market research), by storage (libraries) or by location (telecommunication). * Customer. Transformation can either be physical (plastic surgery), by storage (hotel accommodation), by location (airline transport), by physiological state (hospital), or by psychological state (entertainment). Input Output Input that will be transformed * Material * Information * Customer Input that will transform * People * Facility * Goods * Services Transformation Input Output Input that will be transformed * Material * Information * Customer Input that will transform * People * Facility * Goods * Services Transformation Figure 1: The ‘Input-Transformation-Output’ process 2 Operations Strategy 2. 1 Definition Strategy is defined by Johnson et al, (2008) as ‘the direction and scope of an organization over the long term: ideally, which matches its resources to its changing environment and in particular its markets, customers or clients so as to meet stakeholder expectations. ’ 3. 2 Levels of Strategy Strategy can be viewed from 3 levels which are: The Corporate level: This level looks at the long term position of the company. It answers questions like ‘where will the organization be in 10 years? Or are we going to launch a new product in a new market? ’ The Business level: This level looks at the market and is concerned with the goods and services which the organization has to offer. It answers questions like ‘how do we compete? ’ The Functional level: This level deals with the functional aspect of the organization like finance, marketing, human resource etc. It answers questions like ‘how do we manage our financial resources’. . 3 Operations Strategy Operations strategy is the total pattern of decisions which shape the long-term capabilities of any operation and their contribution to overall strategy, through the reconciliation of market requirements with operations resources (Slack and Lewis, 2011). A 5 step structure has been designed by Hill (2005) so as to design and understand a goo d operation strategy. The steps are as follows: 1. Define Corporate Objectives Here, long term objectives are set-up so as to give the company balance and a good direction. At this stage, Sparkle does environmental scanning and the company also looks at its core competences, core processes and its global objectives. Performance Indicators (KPIs) are also established here so as monitor the accomplishment of these objectives. Top management uses a number of models which includes PESTEL, SWOT and Porter’s 5 forces. See appendix A. 2. Set Marketing Strategies Here Sparkle identifies the market it wants to compete in and then it looks on how to compete in these markets. Ansoff’s matrix is used. | New Product| Existing Product| NewMarket| Diversification| Market Development| Existing Market| Product Development| Market Penetration/ Market Growth| Figure 5: Ansoff Matrix. Source: Kaplan Financial Ltd, 2008. Sparkle uses the market penetration/market growth pathway for now. With time, they will start manufacturing out of the UK thus implementing the market development strategy. It is yet not known if they are thinking of one day starting up the production of a new product. 3. How do we gain competitive advantage? At this stage of Hill’s structure, the organization is to find ways to make its product win other products in the market. For this to happen, the organization must have a base to make its competition and this base is usually one or more of the following performance objectives: speed, quality, cost, dependability and flexibility. See chapter 3. Sparkle uses the above performance objectives to gain competitive advantage but it must be noted that, competitive advantage must: * Be real * Add value (to the consumer) and * Be difficult to imitate. 4. Choose a delivery system Here, the organization has to choose an appropriate delivery system so as to meet up with speed and maybe dependability. In Sparkle, most orders are icked up by the customer but if not, Sparkle uses their vans which have a high level of security for close distances or they post the jewelry for faraway distances. 5. Choose your Infrastructure The company at this phase has to choose all necessary infrastructures that it has to obtain so as to gain an edge over its competitors in the market. Different organizations in different industries wi ll need different types of infrastructures. But in the diamond manufacture industry, the infrastructures are almost the same and can hardly give competitive advantage. 3 Performance Objectives In the present congested and very competitive business environment, companies must do something extra so as to stand out of the crowd. For them to do this, they must react to what customers value and these fall into the following category. They are called performance objectives. 1. Cost 2. Quality 3. Dependability 4. Reliability 5. Speed Sparkle is aware of the tight competition in the diamond market and it takes its performance objectives very seriously so as to gain competitive advantage. Before achieving the above performance objectives, they must achieve the 4 Cs (see appendix B). * Cost. The principle of cost is doing things cheaply. Sparkle changes its processes, its materials and its suppliers every now and then so as to operate on a lower cost scale. They buy rough diamonds directly from the companies who buy them from the mine and sometimes the make orders directly from the mine so as to reduce cost because the more intermediaries there are, the higher the final price. They sometimes buy more rough diamonds than what the actually need so as to gain discount for bulk buying. They automate most of their processes to reduce the number of hours worked by human beings thus reducing total wages. Quality. This involves producing durable high standard error-free goods that consumers perceived to the good. In the fashion business, quality is king because consumers are becoming more conscious of what they wear. One can say that everything in the diamond industry is of good quality so in this kind of high standard industry, quality is not the issue but superb quality. Spark le buys the best of the rough stones which are hand-picked one after the other so that their final product will be of the best quality and they will have very little waste during production. * Dependability. This is doing everything on time so as to keep commitments and promises made to customers. Sparkle has a track record and reputation of never keeping its customers waiting. Customers’ diamonds are always fully processed before the pick-up date. Customers love coming to this organization because they know they can rely on them when it comes to delivery. There was a scandal in March 2008 in Real Diamonds where a couple arrange for their wedding rings costing thousands of pounds to be manufactured but the company was unable to meet up with the due date so the couple had to use different rings for the wedding. Flexibility. This is being able to change what you produce or how you produce it. Sparkle is very flexible in regards to their products because they produce apparently anything requested by the customer. We pride ourselves on being different, you won’t find our jewelry just anywhere, we appreciate that you want something special to you (Source: sparlediamonds. com/abo ut). They manufacture dressing rings, marriage rings, engagement rings, necklaces, earrings, bracelets, bangles and designers jewelry out of diamond. Over the years, they have come up with different diamond designs thought by others as impossible and have now gained a name as being the company that uses diamond to manufacture anything and everything. On the other hand, their production process is flexible too but not very flexible. They change little bits of their production process all the time to cut down cost and to increase the quality of the diamonds but this change is never a big change (process improvement). Figure 5: Different items made out of diamond. Source: * Speed. This can be described as how responsive an organization is to the customers’ demands and complain. It is a measure of the time between a customer’s order or complain to the time when that customer’s order or complain is sorted out fully. Sparkle is very fast in dealing with complains. Any customer who comes to the company with a complaint is not allowed to leave when the matter concerned has not been resolved. Complains made online take a maximum of 2 working days to be dealt with and those by post takes a little more time. Figure 5: Different colors of diamond. Source: 4 Product Design . 1 Definition Product/service design is the process of defining the specification of products and/or services in order for them to fulfill a specific market need (Slack et al, 2009). According to Russell and Taylor (2009), new product designs can provide a competitive edge by bringing new ideas to the market quickly, doing a better job of satisfying customers’ needs, or be ing easier to manufacture, use and repair. Product design is of great importance in any organization because consumers are becoming more and more conscious of the products they consume and their contents. Almost everybody in the organization is involved in product design because bringing in a new product design is not just about the market requirement but it is also about anticipating future demand and this needs imagination and creativity. In coming out with a good product design, market requirements, technical issues, cost, quality, investment information and the target market must be considered and dealt with appropriately. Diamond design ‘step by step’ Various steps are followed when coming out with a good diamond design. 1. Generating Ideas Ideas to bring up a new diamond designs can come from anywhere and comes from everywhere. Some organizations look only within the organization and come up with a diamond design but this approach is very dangerous because it can easily back fire leading to a poor design. Ideas in Sparkle usually come from: * The customers who will use the product. Most at times, the customer comes to the organization with a design in mind. The design team in the organization then sits with the customer and adds ideas to perfect the customer’s request. * The employees who serve the customers. These groups of persons know exactly what customers wants because they are the people who take customers specifications, demands and complaints. They play an important role in the creation of a new design. * Competitors and any new technology. Sparkle sometimes looks at the designs of its competitors like Avi Paz and tries to modify it so as to create something better than theirs. * Research and Development (Ramp;D) Department. One of their major roles in the organization is to look for new possible designs which will entice customers. It is at this stage that the diamond color, size, weight, cut grade, clarity grade, carat weight, laser inscription and shape is decided. Figure 4: Computer simulated diamond designing in progress. Source: www. sparklediamonds. com 2. Product Screening According to Slack et al (2009), not all concepts and ideas generated will be capable of being developed into products and/or services. Each idea generated is taken and examined to see whether or not they are acceptable, feasible and vulnerable. Fig 5 illustrates. Figure 5| Some typical evaluation questions for marketing, operations and finance. | Evaluation Criteria| Marketing| Operations| Finance| Feasibility| Is the market likely to be big enough? | Do we have capabilities to produce it? Do we have access to sufficient finance to develop and launch it? | Acceptability| How much market share could it gain? | How much will we have to reorganize our activities to produce it? | How much financial return will there be on our investment? | Vulnerability| What is the risk of it failing in the market place? | What is the risk of us being able to produce it acceptable? | How much money could we lose if things do not go as planned? | Fi g 5: Slack et al (2009) Some typical evaluation questions for marketing, operations and finance [e-book] p. 89 3. Preliminary Design At this stage, the design is reviewed by the cutters and polishers to see if the can really produce the diamond and any unnecessary complexity in the diamond’s design is eliminated because such complexities can build cost. For example; there are some unnecessary and unnoticed cuts in a diamond’s design but these cuts could split the whole diamond if not done carefully. Because customers will not even notice the additional cuts and even if they do, they will not be willing to pay an addition for it so the cuts are eliminated. Figure 4: Different diamond designs (drawing). Source: Figure 4: Different diamond designs. Source: 4. Final Design After all the above has been done, a prototype is then created out of glass and tested to see if it meets market requirements, technical requirements and the financial limit. Tangible prototypes are created and virtual (computer simulations) model too to properly assess the diamond before production goes any further. Sometimes, customers are called in to see the prototype and give their feedback from which some adjustments may be made on the product’s design. An after acceptance, diamond cutting commences. Figure 5: Prototype diamond made out of fine glass. Source: 5 Process Design 5. 1 Definition Process design is Sequence of interdependent and linked procedures which, at every stage, consume one or more resources (employee time, energy, machines, money) to convert inputs (data, material, parts, etc. ) into outputs. These outputs then serve as inputs for the next stage until a known goal or end result is reached (www. businessdictionary. com). Read more: http://www. businessdictionary. com/definition/process. tml#ixzz2QTQAtoBi When deciding a product design, it is advisable to simultaneously come up with a matching process design. This will entail the flow of the process and Barnes (2008) said that the design of processes is different in all organizations and these designs will be based on the volume and variety of the demand for the product in the market. He further categorized the processes under project, jobbing, batch, line and conti nuous. Types of Processes There are different production processes namely project, jobbing, batch, line and continuous. See Appendix C. Sparkle is in a business of very expensive products which are very small in size so they do jobbing. Customers usually give orders which are produced by the company (make to order). They usually hold little or no fully-processed inventory. The Production Process Diamond ore is sorted by density using X-rays. Before that technology became available, grease belts were used to separate diamonds from the rest of the ore, due to the diamonds greater tendency than other minerals to stick to grease. Rough diamonds are then set to be cut as gemstones in the cutting laboratory. A diamond has different cuts and different professional specialize on different cuts. This is the most daunting task of diamond production because a bad cut will cost the company a fortune. Figure 5: Diamond plan before cutting. Source Cutting produces the facets associated with a diamond. The angles of the facets maximize light, giving the diamond its greatest possible luster (dispersion of white light). The cutting process can take as much as 50% of a rough diamonds weight. Figure 5: Illustration of diamond facets. Source: A number of factors come into play when deciding how a diamond should be cut. X-rays are employed to analyze the stones crystallographic structure, its hardness and ability to cleave. The diamonds flaws are considered, and the cutter decides which to remove and which can remain. Either a hammer or a diamond saw can be used to split the diamond – the hammer is quicker, but the saw is surer. Figure 5: Diamond cutting. Source: A number of institutes in the diamond industry offer courses for diamond cutters, but the bulk and most crucial part of the training for this delicate trade take place during the cutters apprenticeship. A diamond may get its final cut from many skilled hands: the diamond marker or designer; the diamond sawyer; the diamond cutter or brute; the cross-worker; and the brillianteer. After the initial cutting, diamonds undergo the polishing stages, usually performed by a technician as the process is a standard one. Polished diamonds are reexamined for flaws, which can be addressed through enhancement techniques or disguised when set in jewelry. Figure 5: Diamond Polishing. Source: Finally, the polished diamonds are sold to individuals, retailers, wholesalers and jewelry shops. Figure 5: Diamond quality check. Source 6 Planning, Control amp; Innovation In any good type of project or manufacture to be successful, it must be planned at the very beginning and at the end, it has to be controlled to make sure that the planned processes and cost is not very different from the actual. Businesses must also continuously innovate so as to move line to line with the changing tastes of consumers and to beat numerous designs from competitors. 6. 1 Planning Eur says this about planning â€Å"It lists the phases and encapsulates all the main parameters, standards and requirements of the project in terms of time, cost and quality/performance by setting out the ‘Why’, ‘What’, ‘When’, ‘Who’, ‘Where’, and ‘How’, of the project. † Planning therefore looks at the entire process, product and project but in an imaginary form which has not yet happened but it is wished that it should happen that way. 6. 1. 1 Advantages of Planning 1. It gives direction of what has to be done and how it has to be done. 2. It assigns responsibilities on every person thus answering â€Å"Who does what? 3. A good plan will see problems a project, product or process will encounter before the problem strikes. 4. A plan helps us to manage cost, quality and design side by side with the profit we will want to make on the product. 5. Plans are used to assess how well a product, process, p roject or person has done. 6. 1. 2 Disadvantages of Planning 1. It is usually made up by top management and given to the employees down the management ladder who just follow it. 2. Plans are usually followed to the latter. Even when some changes have to done, it is not because a plan is being followed. 3. Plans are usually just estimates and it has no use in turbulent economic environments as the plan and the actual are usually very different. 6. 2 Control Control involves measuring the actual results against the plan and then taking action to adjust actual performance so that it moves in line with the plan. So in other words, control is only possible when we have a plan. Control has a feedback phase and this involves adjusting the actual to move in line with the plan or reporting differences between actual and budget so that there may be no such discrepancies in the future. 6. 3 Innovation Innovation is defined by the oxford dictionary as â€Å"changing something established by introducing new methods, ideas or products. † Just like there is no control where there is no plan, there is no innovation where there is no control. They all rely on one another. After control has been done, feedback is sent back and improvement or innovation is made. But in the complex business environment operating now, innovation just not just come from within the company but from outside the company like from competitors and especially from the consumers due to the rapid change in customers taste, design and fashion. In the diamond manufacture industry, there are many different innovative ways manufacturing diamonds and Sparkle has had the following innovations: 1. The Supercut design Sparkle has introduced the innovative supercut design into the industry: a patented ideal emerald cut, with more than twice the facets of a traditional Emerald – providing unparalleled brilliance and fire. The culmination of three years of research, the supercut gives extraordinary brilliance and reflection and this innovation gives Sparkle competitive advantage in terms of having good designs with extraordinary glittering. 2. Precision cutting Since 2010, Sparkle has brought in a technology of cutting the diamonds using computer software and this cut is so exact that less than 0. 000002% waste is created from diamond cutting. Waste use to be about 0. 5% during diamond cutting and this innovation has caused drastic cost saving making Sparkle to be more competitive in terms of cost. 3. Sparkle offers a wide range of jewelry manufacturing processes, including design, modeling, prototyping, grooving, setting, finishing and meticulous quality control; all featuring our own fine diamonds, and designed for clients to sell under their private labels. . 4 The ‘Planning – Control – Innovation’ Cycle. From the above notes, it can be seen that planning, control and innovation work together. Sparkle’s cycle looks like this. Plan Procurement of unrefined stones. Process the stones into fine diamond. Sell and make a reasonable gain. Actual Procurement of unrefined stones. Process the stones into fine dia mond. Sell and make a reasonable gain. Control Looks at the difference between what was planned and what actually happened. External Information Customer specific design New tastes and fashion Design from competitors Market Research (Ramp;D) Feedback and Innovation Plan Procurement of unrefined stones. Process the stones into fine diamond. Sell and make a reasonable gain. Actual Procurement of unrefined stones. Process the stones into fine diamond. Sell and make a reasonable gain. Control Looks at the difference between what was planned and what actually happened. External Information Customer specific design New tastes and fashion Design from competitors Market Research (Ramp;D) Feedback and Innovation Figure 7. The ‘planning-control-innovation’ cycle. 6. Changes happening in the diamond industry. * Researchers are on the verge of bringing in new materials which reflect light better than diamond and these materials are stronger and more durable than diamond. But, they will be far cheaper than diamonds and this is going to be a big problem to diamond manufacturers as the demand for diamond will surely drop. An example is synthetic stones. * In response to growing concern over illicit trade in conflict or blood diamonds, the United Nations General Assembly established the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme in 2003. This scheme is going to make sure of the source of every single diamond so as to ensure that they are from a genuine source. This happening will increase the price of diamond because more than 55% of diamonds are from Africa and the mines there are operated by very cheap labor and sometimes by slaves, women and children. The UN will come in and stop this practice thus increasing the cost of labor, working conditions and ultimately the price for diamonds. 7 Quality Management Quality is one of the performance objectives and it is taken very seriously by all organizations because if achieved, may give them competitive advantage. Some organizations rely on quality more than others and the fashion and health industry takes quality as primary considering the fact that people want to look good and in good health. Quality is a matter of perception so what can be called quality for A might not necessarily be called quality for B. According to Garvin (1984), the attributes in quality for a product are: * Performance * Features * Reliability * Conformance * Durability * Serviceability * Aesthetics * Other perceptions Parasuraman et al. (1985), on the other hand listed 5 attributes in defining what is quality of a service? nd they are: * Reliability – Are we always going to get on time delivery? * Responsiveness – Are the always going to respond quickly to our demands and complaints? * Assurance – Are we assured of their competence? * Empathy – Does the organization feel and understand customers’ needs and concerns? * Tangibles – Is the physical surrounding conducive? 7. 1 Qu ality in the Organization But in relation to Sparkle, the best definition of quality is that as per Slack et al. (2009) â€Å"quality is consistent conformance to customers’ expectation† and I will say and even surpassing those expectations. Sparkle uses total quality management as their quality management technique. They look for means and ways to maintain and continuously improve quality at each stage of the production process. All employees meet once a month to discuss on how to improve the organization’s present performance. Books by Deming, Crosby, Juran, Hill and other total quality management gurus are in the company’s library and research department for employees to read and be motivated to contribute into the organization’s performance. All employees are made to know that quality and customer’s requirements being met comes before any other thing. The organization has a suggestion box where employees can write any inspiring idea that comes in mind and this box is emptied every day and read by the research staff and it is summarized and sent to the manager examine. 7. 2 The Cost of Quality Quality has a cost which is like a double-edged sword meaning that good quality will have a cost and bad quality will also have a cost. 7. 2. 1 The Cost of Good Quality This is also known as the cost of quality assurance. Sparkle has a lot of this cost because they are continuously always trying to get better in quality all over the organization so as to better serve customers’ needs. The cost of quality assurance is further divided into prevention cost and appraisal cost. * Prevention cost is the cost of trying to make everything right on first attempt and some of this cost are: * Sparkle does not give a command for precious stones and wait for the stones to come. They go to the supplier’s premises and pick the stones one after the other and not in groups to ensure the best stones are taken. The supplier charges more for this. * The cost of designing the jewelry in a computer automated system and running several checks with other very expensive bespoke software before the design is confirmed. Sparkle trains its employees every 6 months and buys books to update them on new technologies and to keep their skills up and awake. * All employees are taught a wide variety of skills so that if a certain employee is not available to do a specific thing, there will always be another to do it. * Appraisal cost is concerned with controlling quality and this is achieved by testing the process before the product is manufactured and testing the product before it gets to the customer. Some of these costs are: * The cost incurred in testing all equipment, machines and ensuring staffs are fit and able before any diamond is processed. The cost of checking the diamond after manufacture by employees and with the use of a computer aided personalized software which is very expensive to make sure that the diamonds are flawless. * The time spent in testing the diamonds ensuring the pass all the set of test before and after manufacture. 7. 2. 2 The Cost of Bad Quality All organizations including Sparkle wants to evade this cost because it is very dangerous and it can even bring down the entire organization in a blink of an eye. The cost of bad quality is divied into internal failure cost and external failure cost. Internal failure cost is cost incurred before the product reaches the customer. Some of this cost are: * The cost of scrap. Diamonds are very expens ive so any little scrap of badly shaped diamond is worth a whole lot. So Sparkle makes sure the best quality diamond is procured and diamond cutting should be not less than perfect. * The cost of reshaping ill-shaped diamonds and gluing broken once. * The resources lost in repairing diamonds. Labor, machine time, and electricity are used which should have if the diamonds were made right the first time. External failure cost arises after the product has been received by the customer and some of this cost include: * The cost listening to customer complaints and responding to them. * The cost of replacing a defective diamond which a customer has rejected. This can cause the organization a fortune. * The customer might have to take the company to court and the organization will pay a huge sum if the lost the lawsuit. Some compensation may run to millions of pounds and could bring the organization to its end. * One of the most dangerous costs is that which we don’t see. An example is the lost sale and contribution. When a customer is dissatisfied, he will most at times not want to come back and he will discourage a potential customer who will discourage another customer to come to us. Saying all this, quality should be treated like an egg in the midst of rocks. 8 Supply Chain Management 8. 1 Definition Supply Chain is the management of the interconnection of organizations that relate to each other through upstream and downstream linkages between the processes that produce value to the ultimate consumer in the form of products and services (Slack et al. 2010). A supply chain is a holistic network starting from the sourcing of material, through its transportation to the organization’s premises, to manufacturing, to storage and warehousing and finally to consumers. So it is a whole system and it works as one therefore is one part of the chain is broken, the whole system will fall apart and consumers’ will not be satisfied. 8. 2 Sparkleâ⠂¬â„¢s Supple Chain Stage 1 Sparkle’s supply chain starts from the diamond mines in Africa which produce more than 50% of total diamonds to mines in India, Russia, Canada and Australia. The mines usually dug very deep but the deepest diamond mine runs for about 160km passing through sand, rocks, and gravel to be blasted drilled, crushed and processed. It should be noted that only 20% of diamonds from mines can be polised and used for jewelry; the rest is used for industrial use. The stones picked here are very rough still with no beauty (see figure 10). Stage 2 Companies and independent buyers go to these mines and buy the rough stones from the mine owners and take them to their premises for processing. These stones are then processed to make them a little bit more presentable so that diamond manufacturers can then buy them and further process them into diamonds. Diamonds at this stage looks like that in figure 11. Figure 8: Trapping stones to look for diamonds in an African mine. Source: Figure 9: A typical unprocessed diamond. Source: Figure 10: Unprocessed diamonds directly from the mine. Source Figure 11: Diamonds which have been slightly processed. Source: Stage 3 Sparkle buys the diamonds in fig. 11 and examines them with the use of a computer aided personalized software. After a series of checks, rejected diamonds will be sent back to the suppliers and the good ones will be cut into different shapes so as to give the greatest value. After cutting, the diamond goes through computer aided software to confirm its perfection and after this, it is polished and cleaned. Sparkle will also buy what the diamonds are going to be fitted on because people will scarcely buy a chunk of diamond. Diamonds are usually fitted on rings, pens, earrings, belts and many more (see figure 14). These things are usually bought from top manufacturers with good design and quality and they are usually very expensive. Figure12: Diamond cutting in Sparkle. Source: Figure 13: Diamond polishing in Sparkle Source: Stage 4 After polishing and the diamond have an unblemished shine, shape and color, it is then taken by the customers. Some of the customers ordered just a few and sometimes even just one special diamond while other big customers like jewelry shops order bigger quantities at ones. It is either Sparkle delivers the diamond to the place agreed by the customer or the customer comes to the organization’s site on an agreed date and after a phone call to pick up the diamond. The supply chain ends after the diamond has reached the customer. Figure 14: Finished diamond ready for the customer. Source: Figure 15: Diamonds bought by jewelry shops. Source: The Mine The Cutting Company Polishing Customers Jewelry Shops Manufacturing The Mine The Cutting Company Polishing Customers Jewelry Shops Manufacturing The supply chain of Sparkle is a good and effective. Its success can sometimes be attributed to the information technology they use. They use the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system which brings in data from all sources and this is used to know when suppliers have diamonds and the variouse categories, to know when jewelry shops are running short of iamonds, and many more (all discussed in chapter 9). Figure 16: Sparkle’s Supply Chain 9 Information Systems As seen in chapter 1, â€Å"Operation Management is the activity of managing the resources which produce and deliver goods and services† (Slack et al, 2010). For these activities to be properly managed, it needs the help of automated process and compu ter aided techniques. Information systems are found throughout an organization and if used well reduce costs and can be a source of gaining competitive advantage. 9. 1 Computer Aided Techniques Sparkle uses information systems in many ways in its business. Listed below are some specialized computer aided programs used. 1. They use Computer Aided Process Planning (CAPP) which gives an optimum layout of the cutting steps and their sequence (this is different for different diamonds). There are many diamond cutting machines and they all have different cutting styles and they are operated by specialist in the different cutting sectors. So the CAPP examines a diamond and gives different possible steps on which machine to use first and which not to use so as to minimize waste and give the diamond the best possible cuts so as reflect light in an optimal way. 2. They use Computer Aided Designs (CAD) to design the shape of diamonds on a computer and finished diamonds can actually be seen even before processing starts. If an error is made in the design, it can be corrected but this could have been impossible without CAD. 3. The also use Computer Aided Engineering (CAE) which takes the drawings and designs from the CAD and test them for perfection. Different test are administered and the flawlessness of a diamond can be confirmed even before manufacture. 4. Automated Material Handling (AMH) system is also used. Diamonds are very expensive and so care must be taken at each step. The AMH system improves efficiency in diamond movement, storage and retrieval. 5. The Laser Security System (LSS) is used where diamonds are kept be it rough stones, semi-processed diamonds and fully processed diamonds. Invisible laser rays crisscross the diamonds and it needs a password to be deactivated. Only top managers have the password and the password of each of them is different making it easy to know who accessed the diamond safe. If someone tries to pass through the laser rays, it can kill or paralyze them and the security alarm is automatically triggered and an automated call goes to the nearest police station. . Security Camera Systems (SCS) make use of Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) at all times to monitor the whole building especially where inventory is held. 7. The Inventory Control System (ICS) gives detail information about each diamond rough, semi-processed or fully processed held in inventory at any point in time. Management must no go into the safe to see what t hey have in stock because the ICS does it all. This system is also used online to make customers see the diamonds, its specification and all other relevant information. Figure 16: The CAD system used to design a blue diamond. Source: Figure 17: The virtual version of the diamond in fig 16. Source: 9. 2 Pros and Cons of Information Technology (IT) IT is a very necessary tool in any organization be it a big or a small one. IT has advantages and disadvantages. They are listed in Appendix D including ‘Why IT cannot replace Human Beings’. 9. 3 Information Systems ‘Information system can be defined as a set of interrelated components that collect, process, store and distribute information to support decision making and control in an organization’ (Laundon amp; Laundon, 2006). Most organizations use some form of computer-based technology to accumulate, organize and distribute information’ (Ted, 2011) and Sparkle is not an exception. They use a set of interrelated information systems. 9. 3. 1 Transaction Processing System (TPS) This system is used to account for day by day transactions of Sparkle. It records all sales, purchases, expenses, income, tax, bills paid, equipment bought and all other transactions performed by organization. This system is also used to account for employee’s attendance, absences, pay, overtime, bonuses, remuneration, and all other things concerning the employees. . 3. 2 Supply Chain System (SCS) This system deals with customers and suppliers. It monitors the stock in the jewelry shops so as to know when to give the shops an offer. It monitors the stocks which are demanded more and those demanded less so as to know when to produce. It tracks frequent and valuable customers and grades them into groups so as know how to give discounts. This system also monitors the stock in the cutting companies. It looks at the new stocks and compares price side by side quality so as to know which supplier to order rough diamonds from. 9. 3. 3 Knowledge Management System (KMS) In Sparkle, all manufacturing processes are recorded and stored in the KMS. Any ideas gotten either by inspiration, customer’s requirement, employees’ suggestions or business intelligence are stored in the KMS for future use. Sparkle is said to be very innovative and has this edge over its rivals because of its mastery of the KMS. When a new employees is recruited, he has 2 weeks probation where he is taught how to operate in the organization and how processes function. Before the implementation and use of the KMS, probation was 3 months so this system has greatly reduces learning time. 9. 3. Management Information System (MIS) This system takes all the information from the above systems and summarizes them into financial statements and reports. It is used by management to make decisions on how to run and control the business. 9. 3. 5 Decision Support System (DSS) This system looks like an advance of the MIS. It takes data from all sources (internal and external) and su mmarizes them for top management to make decisions on the long term plans of the organization. Information from this system appears as statements, reports, charts, graphs, ratios, statistics and trend analysis. . 3. 6 Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) This can be called the overall system. It takes information from all sources of the organization and brings them together in one large database. From there, required information is taken out and implemented or used to make decisions in Sparkle. It should be noted that all other systems deposit their information in ERP. Figure 18: Example of ERP. Source: LSBF MBA Intake 14, SOM Lecture 3, Session 9, Slide 34. 9. 6 Intranet and Extranet Sparkle uses intranets to deal with its employees and management. Staffs all have a particular passcode which the use and your code depends on your position within the company. Some passcodes can access some areas which other codes can’t. They also use extranets to communicate and share information with customers, suppliers, some competitors and the government. This system is more secured and less vulnerable to attacks as compared to the internet. 10 Job Design It is said that the blood stream of any organization is money and I will say the skeleton holding an organization and making it stand up straight is its workforce. An organization manages resources so as to be able to deliver acceptable goods and services to its customers and one of these resources is its workforce. An organization’s workforce is its most valuable and the most complicated of all its resources because unlike other resources, humans have a mind of their own. To be able to deal with human beings, you must know what they like and this is different for different people but these needs though different are similar. In providing this, it motivates the employees and when motivated, they produce better output eventually yielding higher profits, quality and flexibility. 0. 1 Motivation Motivation is the urge to take action to achieve something or to avoid something (BPP, 2010). Motivation can either be intrinsic (wanting to satisfy an internal urge like being happy to be able to help others) or extrinsic (reliant on tangible rewards like money, fame and power). Continues in Appendix E. 10. 2 Empowerment This is the act of delegati ng work to employees making them feel more superior because of the added responsibility and new accountability. This is good motivation for many employees. ‘Job design is about how people carry out their tasks within a process. It defines the way they go about their working lives. It positions the expectations of what is required of them, and it influences their perceptions of how they contribute to the organization. It also defines their activities in relation to their work colleagues and it channels the flows of communication between different parts of the operation. But, of most importance, it helps to develop the culture of the organization – its shared values, beliefs and assumptions’ (Slack, 2009). In designing any job, the following have to be put into consideration. * Safety. Jobs should be design in a way that it will bring no harm to the employee be it physical, psychological, mental or emotional harm. Workers in the mines especially those in Africa are exposed to a lot of risk and still earn less than the minimum wage. The mine owners wanting to make more profits cut down on cost by reducing expenditure on employees’ safety. The employees of Sparkle all have safety equipment like hats and new ideas are being implemented to make the process safer. The organization has also fully insured its entire staff. * Legal and Ethical Issues. Jobs should be design in such a manner that those doing the job will not go against the law or their code of ethics. * Own time. Job design should create time for the employees to catch up on something other than work. For example visiting new places, being with their families or performing other social activities. Employees working in the mines have little of this, but Sparkle’s employees all have right to a paid holiday and taking permission to be out of work if the need arises. * Employee’s Ability. An employee’s ability to do the job or a range of task should be considered before designing the job. For example; only heavy built men carry cargo from the trucks into the warehouse because of their physical ability to carry heavy weight unlike their colleagues. * Wage and Benefits: In designing any job, the wage and benefits to be paid for the job should be considered if not the employee can be over-paid or under-paid for the job. 10. 3 Division of Labor Unlike traditional production approaches that stipulated that one person should know everything in the company so that he can serve any function, Henry Ford came in with the idea that one man should only know one thing and should be an expert in that thing. He suggested that with specializing in a particular function, the whole organization will be specialized and will give the best quality goods and services. So jobs should be broken down into smaller portions and given to different individuals who will specialize and bring forth quality cost-effective products. 10. 3. 1 Advantages of Division of Labor (Slack, 2009) * It is easier to learn. Short and simple tasks are easier to learn compared with long and complex tasks. This will be very advantageous when training new recruits because training will take a shorter time and it will be better mastered. Automating. Short and simple task are easily automated as compared to long and complex task. * Time. More time is spent on one long task compare to time if that task was broken down. This extra time is as a result of picking different tools up and putting them down, looking for equipment, thinking of what to do next etc. 10. 3. 2 Disadvantages of Division of Labor (Slack, 2009) * Monotony. The same small task will be repeated every hour, week, month and year. This will make the job boring and less fulfilling thus resulting to absenteeism, staff turnover and errors. Over-reliance. If one employee is absent, no other will be able to perform his duty and this may bring the whole production process to a halt. * No flexibility. Employees let to do one particular thing over the years turn to lose the skill of being able to learn another thing. So if the production process was to change, many employees will not be able to cope with learning how to perform a new task. * Physical Injury. The repetitive use of one part of your body let’s say arm or wrist will in the long run cause pain to that part. This is known as Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). Sparkle teaches their employees a wide range of task during their probation but the employees are assigned to do just one thing when they fully start work. Teaching them a wide range of task is to expose them to the processes of the whole organization so that they can contribute ideas in the development of a department or process which does not involve them. Another reason for giving employees holistic training is to make an employee being able to do an absent employee’s work. This tactic was also implemented because the organization did not want an employee to feel indispensable. 0. 4 Job Design Approaches In coming out with a good job designing, the following approaches should be implemented:- 1. Job Simplification: The organization tries to the range of task and their complexities. Polishing diamond use to be a very complex task at Sparkle but with the introduction of DiamondShines TM a specialized software where diamond polishing is programmed with exact details. 2. Job Ro tation: This is periodically interchanging employees performing different task to do the task of the other. Sparkle does a lot of job rotation and this makes the employees’ job more exciting. Job rotation is successful in this organization because they train their employees to perform a number of task but if division of labor was strictly implemented, this approach could have been impossible because employee A will not have a clue of employees B’s task. 3. Job Enlargement: This involves integrating same level tasks to the ones already performed by the employees to make the job more exciting. This is not practiced in Sparkle. 4. Job Enrichment: This involves integrating different level tasks to the ones performed by the employees. The new tasks are usually higher level tasks giving employees more responsibility and decision making power. Sparkle once a week picks an employee randomly and gives him the power of a supervisory manager so as to see the changes and innovations he is going to bring to the organization. Sparkle also makes employees work in small teams and the organization creates a competitive strain amongst the teams. The competition amongst the teams brings a lot of hard work, efficiency and effectiveness.

How To Use An Example Essay Sample To Write A Quality Paper

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Tata Nano

Tata Nano EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Tata Nano is the first car to be said to be the common mans car. It is sold in home country India around Rs 1-lakh i.e approximately USD 2000. It is manufactured by Tata Motor Limited, the largest automobile company in India. Its Chairman, Mr Ratan Tata envisions that Tata Nano to become a â€Å"People car† which is affordable by almost everybody. Tata Nano was first launched in India on 1st April 2009 and expected to be in Indian market by July 2009. Since launching, it has created a huge buzz all over India. Within the first two days of lunching, it has received 5500 booking. The s keep increasing every day since the launching. What makes Tata Nano so cheap? Basically, by making things smaller, lighter, do away with superficial parts and change the materials wherever possible without compromising the safety and environmental compliance. It is said that Tata Nano has better millage than Toyota Prius and same gas emission as a scooter. Tata Nano will be imported to Malaysia by Tata Industries in parts. It will be assembled in its two factories i.e in Shah Alam, Selangor and Pasir Gudang, Johor Bahru. There are four distribution centres in Peninsular Malaysia i.e. in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor Bahru and Kuantan. All Tata Nano cars will be distributed through these distribution centres only. Order can be made vide these distribution centres or its web site. There are three types of Tata Nano car available i.e. Tata Nano, Tata Nano CX and Tata Nano LX. However, due to hot weather in Malaysia, only Nano CX will be brought to Malaysia and will be sold here. The selling price of Nano CX in Malaysia is RM 13,704 per unit. It is estimated that gross profit for the first year would yield xxx, second year xxx and third year xxx. Estimated monthly instalment payment is xxx for seven years period. With this price, the target market is very wide which includes those with income RM 2000 per month, students, female workers and scooters riders. 2.0 SITUATION ANALYSIS Tata Motors Limited is Indias largest automobile company, with revenues of Rs. 35651.48 crores (USD 8.8 billion) in 2007-08. It is the leader in commercial vehicles in each segment, and among the top three in passenger vehicles with winning products in the compact, midsize car and utility vehicle segments. The company is the worlds fourth largest truck manufacturer, and the worlds second largest bus manufacturer. In March 2008, Tata Motors acquired Fords UK based car brands Jaguar and Land Rover (BBC News, 2008). According to Ratan Naval Tata (Chairman of Tata Group), the need for an innovation like Nano has got to do something for the people of India and transport. Unavailability and poor quality of mass transport is a common problem in India. In a two wheeler, father driving with elder child standing in front and wife behind holding a baby is norm in this country. Thus, this is a relatively an unsafe mode of transporting a family. Thus, with this in mind Tata Nano was created as a safer form of transport. As one of its objectives is to become an Indian business conglomerate operating in many countries, Tata Nano will be introduced in Malaysia. 2.1 Market Summary It is estimated that Malaysia has more than 5 million motorcycles on the road, compared to over 4 million motorcars(ICE, 2001).The majority of motorcycle buyers or users does not own a car and belong to the lower and middle-income group. A significantly larger percentage of motorcycle users in Malaysia are male. 2.1.1 Target Markets The company is targeting lower income group with family, first-time buyers of car (fresh graduates) and motorcycle owners. 2.1.2 Positioning Tata Nano will position itself as the world cheapest car and yet does not compromise the quality, safety and environment. This positioning will be achieved by leveraging Tata Nanos competitive edge: industries experience from the parent company Tata Motor who has been in vehicles industries (commercial, passengers utilities) since 1945. Tata motor has good supplier-manufacturer relationship with more than 100 components. 2.1.2 Demographics Population , demographics, rural urban, vital statistics from Malaysian auto report. 2.1.4 Geographics Tata Motors has targeted the urban area in Malaysia. This is going to be Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru. There are 5 million motorcycle riders in Malaysia. 2.1.5 Distribution review Just like in India, Tata Nano will appropriate place as an low-cost car even in foreign markets. ‘Easy-to-assemble kits will be imported from Tata in India. The car then will be assembled at pre-defined locations. The proposed locations are Shah Alam, Selangor and Pasir Gudang, Johor Bahru. It will be then redistributed to showrooms that will be set up based on region. 30 sales offices will be opened throughout Malaysia. 2.1.6 Competitor review The main competitors are Proton, Perodua, Toyota and Honda. The table below indicates the market share of the main competitors in the auto industry for the year 2008. 2.2 SWOT Analysis The following SWOT analysis investigates the Malaysian political, economic and business environment. The following finding are adapted from Malaysian Auto Report 2009. a. Malaysia Political SWOT Strengths Malaysia is a successful example of a democratic Islamic state. Despite murmurs of discontent among hard-line Muslims in some states, multiracial Malaysia is unlikely to abandon moderate Islam Weaknesses The Malay half of the population holds a constitutionally enshrined special position in society, amounting to positive discrimination in not only jobs, but also wealth. Opportunities The weak performance by the ruling Barisan Nasional in the general elections held on March 8 2008, has paved the way for the stalled reformist agenda -promised by Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi back in 2004 to gather pace. This would help to open up the countrys closed political system and improve transparency and accountability within key institutions. Threats Ethnic tension will remain a non-violent, but simmering, problem, so long as there remains a threat that the influence of hardline Islam could revive. For now, however, the hardliners have lost much of their political clout. The poor showing of Barisan Nasional at the 2008 general elections has put Prime Minister Abdullah under intense pressure from both opposition parties and members of his United Malays National Organization (UNMO) party, who blame him for the coalitions worst ever result. b. Malaysia Economic SWOTaysia Economic SWOT Strengths During the past four decades, Malaysia has transformed itself from a commodities-dependent backwater into a major world source for electronics and computer parts. Malaysia is the worlds largest producer of rubber, palm oil, pepper and tropical hardwoods, and is also a net exporter of crude oil. All this provides a solid platform for economic growth Weaknesses Malaysias relative insulation from global energy price shocks is being eroded. Within the next 5 years Malaysia could become a net importer of oil Malaysias economic openness can be as much of a burden as a benefit, since it confers a high degree of vulnerability to global growth and capital flows. Opportunities The opportunity for private-sector-led growth will improve as the government continues divestment of state shareholdings in order to raise funds to narrow the budget deficit. Threats Wages are higher in Malaysia than in a number of its competitors, such as China and Vietnam, which could be a long-term hindrance to economic expansion. To maintain its competitive edge, Malaysia needs a steady stream of inward investment Export competitiveness could be eroded if the exchange rate continues to appreciate markedly. c. Malaysia Business Environment SWOT 3 Strengths 4 Standards of corporate governance in Malaysia have greatly improved since the Asian financial crisis at the end of the 1990s more so, in fact, than in many neighboring countries. Foreign companies, or at least foreign manufacturing companies, looking to do business in Malaysia will continue to be welcomed with open arms, with the government offering lavish tax breaks and concessions. Weaknesses State subsidization of prices will remain a peripheral but persistent part of daily economic life in Malaysia. Doing business in Malaysia will always, to some extent, mean dealing with the politically well-connected. Big construction projects and big contracts for foreign construction firms are unlikely to be as much of a priority for Malaysias government as they were under the previous administration of former prime minister Mahathir Muhammad. Opportunities The opportunity to invest in Malaysian state assets could improve. The government, if it sticks to its word, will conduct its biggest ever divestment of state shareholdings. Malaysia is eager to compete globally in banking, and although it currently lacks a domestic champion, with ten main institutions in the market, bank consolidation is a strong possibility. Threats The waterways and shipping lanes that surround Malaysia will continue to pose the threat of piracy and terrorism Malaysia is at risk, conceivably, of losing out to China in the race for foreign investment. Penang, once the pillar of Malaysias electronics industry, has seen an exodus of foreign firms, with Seagate, Motorola and Solectron all shifting production elsewhere in Asia. d. The following will be key strengths and weakness within the company and describes the opportunities and threats facing Tata Nano. Strength The internationalisation tactics so far has been takeover to local managers in new style, and only to transplanting a couple of higher managers from India into the new trade. The key point is that Tata has been able to share ideas. The company had a successful agreement with Italian mass product Fiat in 2006. This has enhanced the product collection of investments for Tata and Fiat as per agreements of production and ideas sharing. An example, Fiat Palio design was introduced in 2007 by Tata, and both the companies have an contract to create and achieved their Goal at Central and South America. Weaknesses The Tata Nano passenger travel car products are depends upon 3rd and 4th generation platforms, which is a disadvantage of Tata Motors Limited with competition others car manufacturers. One which is not recognised in English the word tat means ‘rubbish. Opportunities In 2008 Tata Motors announced that they had successfully purchased the foreign car assembled Land Rover and Jaguar from Ford Motors for United kingdom  £2.3 million. Worlds Two luxury car brand have been added to Tata Motors portfolio of brands, They have a chance to demonstrate Company vehicles in the luxury segments. Tata Motors Ltd have taken Daewoo Motors Commercial vehicle business in 2004 for USD $16 million. Tata Nano is the most cheapest car in the World selling at little more than a motorbike. The new emerging industrial of the countries such as India, S.Korea and Republic of China will have a thirst for produce and distribute vehicles in low-cost passenger. These are the advantages. However the company has put in place a proactive Corporate Social Responsibility considering to address potential tactics that will make its operations more sustainable. The range of Super Mileage fuel efficient buses are powered by efficient, atmosphere friendly car engines. The bus has auto matic organic clutch with booster help and better air intakes that will low fuel consumption by up to 10 percent. Threats Other car manufacturers companies are in passenger car business for 40 or more then 40 years. Therefore Tata Motors Limited has to catch up in terms of quality and lean production. Sustainability and environmentalism could mean extra costs for this low-cost producer. This could impact its underpinning competitive advantage. 2.3 Objectives and issue We have set aggressive yet achievable objectives for the first, second and third year of market entry. First year objective ( July 2009 to December 2009) We want to achieve 25,000 units of sales gaining †¦.market share % get from market size Second year objective (JAN 2010 TO DEC 2010) We want to achieve 10% increase in quarterly basis (RM 48,600) Third year objective (JAN 2011 TO DEC 2011) We want to achieve 10% increase in quarterly basis (RM 53, 460) 1.0 MARKETING MIX STRATEGIES 3.1 Product Strategies The product strategy which will be adapted would be the straight product extension, which is marketing the car in another foreign market without any change. This is because there would be no additional product development cost, manufacturing changes, or new promotion. 3.2 Product Review * There are three variants in the Nano range: Nano, Nano CX and Nano LX * Only the Nano CX variant would be introduced in the Malaysia Market for the first stage * Tata Nano LX will introduced in the Malaysia Market during the following year The car has achieved its low price by minimizing costs on unnecessary â€Å"luxuries†, the basic Nano comes without front and rear fog lights, without a heater or air conditioning, without anti-lock brakes, only one single windscreen wiper, manually operated windows, manual steering with no air bags, tiny 12† wheels, plastic body parts joined with adhesive instead of more conventional metal and welding and a two cylinder 623 cc engine that provides a massive maximum speed of 65 mph (around 105 km/h). Among the features of the car are: a) Stylish and comfortable The Passenger Car, designed with a family comfortable in mind, has a luxury passenger space with superb leg space and head room. It can luxury sit 4 persons. 4 doors with excellent seating perfection make ingress and egress easy. with a measuring length of 3.1 metres, width of 1.5 metres and a height of 1.6 metres, with adequate ground clearance, it can effortlessly manoeuvre on busy roads in cities as well as in rural areas. Its semi volume structure, with tires at the sides and the power train at the rear, enables it to uniquely combine both space and manoeuvrability, which will set a benchmark among small cars. b) Fuel-efficient engine The Peoples Car has a back wheel drive, with aluminium, 2 cylinder, 523 cc, 33 PS, multi point fuel injection petrol engine. This is the first time that a 2 cylinder gasoline engine fitted in a car with a one balancer shaft. The lean design strategy has helped minimise weight, which helps maximise performance per unit of energy consumed and delivers high fuel efficiency. Performance is controlled by a specially designed electronic engine management system. c) Meets all safety requirements The Peoples Cars safety performance exceeds current regulatory requirements. With an all metal body sheet, it has a solid passenger department, with safety features for e.g crumple zones, intrusion resistant doors, seats belts, strong seats and anchorages, and the rear tailgate glass bonded to the body. Tubeless tyres further enhance safety. d) Environment-friendly The Peoples Cars tailpipe emission performance exceeds regulatory requirements. In terms of overall pollutants, it has a lower pollution level than two-wheelers being manufactured in Malaysia today. The high efficiency also ensures that the car has low carbon dioxide emissions, thereby providing the twin benefits of an affordable transportation solution with a low carbon footprint. 3.3 Branding Brands identify the source or maker of a product and allow consumers either individuals or organisations to assign responsibility for its performance to a particular manufacturer or distributor. Branding is endowing products and services with the power of a brand. Its all about creating differences between products. For branding strategies to be successful and brand value to be created, consumers must be convinced there are meaningful differences among brands in the product or service category. In Tata Nanos case, the branding strategy used is corporate name combined with individual product names. This companys name legitimises and the individual name individualises the new product 3.4 Product Strategy The Tata Nano CX, including all the features described in the earlier Product Review section, will be sold with a three-year warranty or 100,000km warranty, whichever comes first. We will introduce the Tata Nano LX during the following year, after we have established our Tata brand. The brand and logo will be displayed on the car as well as in all marketing campaigns. 3.5 Pricing Strategies The Cost price is an estimated USD2, 420 or equivalent to RM8,954, which includes import tax, duties excise , sales tax, shipment costs and assembly cost . The selling price for the Malaysian market is RM13,704.00, which is inclusive of standard accessories, but exclude road tax (RM70.00), registration fees (RM150.00), number plate (RM50.00) and ownership endorsement fee (RM50.00), sales tax (RM1370.40) which amounted to RM320.00. The On-The-Road price will be RM15797.40.These prices reflect a strategy of taking a share from established competitors, such as Perodua s model of Kancil and Viva. 3.5.1 Setting the price selecting price objectives Tata Nano Malaysia (TNM) has set major three objectives in its effort to position itself in the Malaysia Automotive market. The objectives are: Survival, maximum current profit and maximum market share. a. Survival Intense competition from Malaysias second car manufacturer, Perodua for a share of the automotive market segment for the below 1,000 cc category will spur TNM to ensure that the car price covers variable costs and some fixed costs. In this case, survival is a short term objective as in the long run, TNM will add value such as added safety features to the Nano range. b. Maximum current profit TNM has set a price that will maximize current profits, cash flow and return on investment, after taking into consideration the demand and costs involved. As this category of small foreign cars segment has not been really tested by other manufacturers, therefore the demand is rather difficult to estimate but TNM is confident of a good response towards its entry into the Malaysian market. c. Maximum Market Share For the Malaysian market, TNM will implement the market-penetration pricing, which is to set a low price for a new car in order to attract a large number of buyers and a large market share. This will be done by achieving high sales volume, which will results in falling costs, allowing the company to cut its price even further. We are positive enough that the Malaysia car market is highly price sensitive, as a low price produces more market growth. TNM is also confident that production and distribution costs will fall as sales volume increases and the low price of Nano cars will help to keep out competition and maintain its low-price position. The low-price entry will provide Malaysians consumers with a viable alternative to Perodua -Malaysia second National car. Further liberalization is expected as Malaysia implements the ASEAN Free Trade Area agreement, which commits the Malaysia Government to scrap foreign car taxes. 4.0 PROMOTION STRATEGIES 4.1 Objectives of Promotion Strategies Before determine the promotion strategies, we need to very clear about what are the objectives we need to achieve. We know as above, our missions are to promote Tata nano in Malaysia and increase the sales quarterly. Tata Nano is very new for Malaysian, they feel fresh with this new brand and concept of this car. Tata Nano will get into Malaysia market in July 2009. So first of the objective for promotion strategies are aims to create brand awareness and concept/knowledge of this new car Tata Nano. This is the cheapest car in the world and burst into the worldwide market in the short time. But still is the new brand for the Malaysians, so we do the advertisement and organize the event or campaign in sufficient detail to establish the good brand attitudes. Brand awareness is important to provide a foundation for brand equity. After that, our second objective is knowledge and persuasive. We aim to create liking, preference, conviction, and purchase of a Tata Nano car. We can do the comparison with other cars which are higher purchase price and this price is not every people will be affordable especially lower income families and students. Beside that we will convince current purchasers that we will give the potential customer to enjoying the good experience with Tata Nano by give try to drive the Tata Nano before buying the car. And also will provide them warranty to the Tata Nano. We will organize all the promotion strategies with lower cost to maintain the lower purchase price for the Tata nano in Malaysia. 4.2 Promotion Tag line ‘Have Fun, Pay Less, get more with Tata Nano Why we establish this tag line? Because this is make all the Malaysian to easy to remembered Tata Nano and feel happy all the ways with Tata Nano. Tata Nano is safety and you can travel everywhere by Tata Nano with your family or friends with fun, but you just need to pay all of this at lower price -Pay Less Get More. Beside that we can enjoying special fun with Tata nano, our earth also will feel happy with Tata nano because Tata nano also is the environment friendly car. 4.3 Advertising Program We aims to inform Malaysians this is the cheapest car in the world and persuade Malaysians to buy Tata Nano due to this car is safety, useful, all in good quality and also environment friendly by developing an advertising program. 4.3.1 Online Advertisement First step we start before lunching Tata Nano, we do the online advertisement. Tata Nano created a Web site www.tatanano.com on March 2009 to better communicate with the customers. In the Web site, we posted the photo categories and videos to provide customers the information and special features of Tata Nano and bring them inside the company. In addition to photos and videos, the web site links to recent news about Tata Nano and space for public feedback. Besides that, Blogs have become an important outlet for word of mouth which are regularly updated online diaries. Blogs is bringing together people with common interests. They vary wide and can influence a vast audience due to many internet users have read Blogs. We can establish the blog network and carefully monitoring to find out whats on peoples minds especially the potential customers. This is a cheapest and good way to build up brand awareness. 4.3.2 Television Advertisement Television advertisement is very expensive but this is the most powerful to perform the Tata Nano to the public by demonstrating Tata Nano attributes and persuasively explaining their corresponding consumer benefits. By lower advertising budget, we cannot do the TV advertisement in whole day, so we just choose the prime time (7pm 11pm) to place the advertisement. By properly designed and executed TV advertisement can improve brand equity and affect sales and profits. 4.3.3 Radio Advertisement Most of the Malaysians listen to the radio daily. Now a day have many facilities such as MP3, hand phone and so on, is convenience for the people to listen the radio anytime at anywhere, This is a cheap and pervasive medium for us to create the brand awareness by repeatedly listen the advertisement and the brand name. Advantages of the radio advertisement are flexibility, quick response and also more effective media for reaching teens. 4.3.4 Newspaper Advertisement Beside that the radio, most of the Malaysians also will saw a newspaper everyday. So this is good market coverage. From here, Tata Nano can get the broad acceptance and good reputation from Malaysians. Newspaper advertising is inexpensive. 4.4 Marketing Campaign This Marketing campaign is base on every four month : 4.4.1 Marketing Campaign for July 2009 to October 2009 Tata Nano will lunch at Malaysia on July 2009. Launching program is very important for positioning which is the act of designing Tata Nano and image to occupy Malaysia in the minds of the target market. Launching program also is one of the promotion strategies to build awareness, through launching at public center Tata Motor will introduce the Tata Nano to market. In July and August, we focus on marketing campaign which will take place at all the IPTA and IPTS which have organize the convocation, by providing product display and banner; and the peoples can have the experience with Tata Nano by provide the opportunities to drive Tata Nano around the campus. Theme for this campaign is Good future with Tata Nano. Reason for this marketing campaign is one of our targets are students such as fresh graduate who just get the new job and also the international students. Fresh graduate need the transportation in their working life but they cant afford to buy the too expensive car; international student just need the car which is economy and using it in short period around 2-3years for their student life in Malaysia. This is cheapest cost by event or campaign in the campus. In September and October, Malaysians will celebrate two big festivals together, there are Hari Raya Puasa Aidifitri and Deepavali. So we can focus on lower income group with family especially those are come from Malay family or Indian family. Use the mail, telephone, fax, e-mail to communicate directly with them. Base on historical, more of the Malay or Indian will buy the car before festival. Raya with Tata Nano can be the theme for our campaign at this period, and promote them Tata Nano is cheapest and safety. 4.4.2 Marketing Campaign for November 2009 to February 2009 In November and December, Malaysia have the Mega Sales due to Merry Christmas and New Year in the end of the year at whole Malaysia so that have many people will go to shopping. We can organize the event at shopping centers in Malaysia such as KLCC, Midvalley, Berjaya Times Square, and Sungai Wang by providing product display and banner. On January and February, most of the employees in Malaysia will get the bonus in this period so the purchasing power will increase. Beside that Chinese New Year is at February. Send the brochures to the small and medium company or office and do the introduction or briefing to them. Follow by mail, telephone, fax or e-mail to developing effective communication. 4.4.3 Marketing Campaign for March 2009 to June 2009 We will do the road show at every state (whole Malaysia). We can have the road show at the center market such as all market at all the state. Have many people will go to market early morning to buy the vegetable, take the breakfast or buy the necessary things. Most of them are women or housewife who may be come from the lower or medium income family. Some of them go to Pasar by motorcycle or by bus. There are our target markets. We can promote Tata Nano to them such as, Tata Nano is the cheapest car in the world, Get the Tata Nano to be second car for their family member especially for their children or elder parent, Easy life with Tata Nano. Housewife or mother can go to Pasar or anywhere by Tata Nano better than motorcycle or by bus for complete their daily matter more effectively. When the women get the news, they will pass this news to their friend immediately. This will help us to promote Tata Nano effectively in the local society. At the road show, people also can get the exper ience with Tata Nano by have the opportunities to drive the Tata Nano car before purchase it. 5.0 Channel of Distribution Strategies 5.1 Direct marketing channel (zero-level channel) We perform the Tata Nano in Malaysia by selling it directly to customers. Customers can deal directly with our dealers and make the booking for Tata Nano by visit our sales office or at any special event/campaign. Besides that, customers also can get the information or make the booking via the telephone (1-800-88-nano) and through the Internet ( www.tatanano.com ). By this way we can save more cost and maintain the cheapest purchasing price rather than through retailers or resellers. 5.2 Physical Flow From the diagram, can know that Tatanano will send the paths to the Malaysia after received the order from the sales office. After that, we will assemble a car at the workshop. Finally, send to the customers directly. From here, we can often provide faster delivery to customers because we are closer to the customers. 5.3 Payment Flow Customers can paying bills by cash or do the financing from bank. Customers pay less by this diagram due to not need to pay extra commission to third party such as wholesalers or retailers. Tata Motor also can collect the payment more efficient. 5.4 Information Flow Customers can get the information directly from Tata Motor such as new product, price development and so on. Tata Motor can more understanding customers needs when receiving customers, response calls and mailings or through internet blog. If customers have any need or complaint, we can satisfy them immediately by deal with customers directly. 5.5 Promotion Flow Marketing Campaign/Event Have two ways of promotion flow, directly and indirectly. Directly is well organize the marketing campaign, event and road show. By this way, well promote Tatanano to target market by face by face and provide the opportunities to them try to drive the Tatanano. Indirect ways are we will do the advertisement through media such as internet, TV, radio and also newspaper. By this promotion flow, Tata Motor aims to create brand awareness and increase the sales in the Malaysia. 6.0 Financial Plan This section will offer the overview of Tata Nano related marketing activities. It is include, sale forecast, expense forecast, break even analysis and how those relate to the market strategy. 6.1 Break even analysis Break even analysis indicates that 3369 unit or $ 46,168,776 will be required in monthly sales revenue to reach the break even point. Table: Break Even Analysis Break even analysis : Monthly unit break even 3369 Monthly sales break even $46,168,776 Monthly unit production 6083 Average per unit revenue $13704 Average per unit variable cost $8,954 Average per unit fixed cost $2630.28 Estimated monthly fixed cost $16,000,000 6.2 Sales forecast Sale was forecasted quarterly basis, with adjustment of seasonal factor. At Malaysia there is 3 main celebrations each year, which Aidil Fitri, Chinese new year, and Deepavali, those factors was used as seasonal factor. Since one of our target markets is fresh graduate student, graduation month also was used as seasonal factor to adjust our forecasted sales. The sales was fore