Assignment 2

Vinay Ramnath, Roll no 110, PGDM OPS

Q1) Compare the features of breakthrough and continuous improvement with examples.

Continuous improvement is about many, small improvements initiated and implemented by anyone and
everyone in the organization to improve the quality of their working processes and practices. Simplifying
administrative processes by eliminating unnecessary copies, installing racks for organizing equipment in a
more visual and orderly fashion, color-coding dossiers in a lab for easy identification are all examples of
continuous improvement. It both reflects and creates a culture of quality.

Breakthrough improvement involves major improvements in key business areas. They are often chronic
problems solved permanently through focused, dedicated resources working for a limited period of time.
Due to the investments in time and attention required, breakthrough improvement projects are selected by a
management group that typically acts as a steering group. The improvement goal is between 50 and 95
percent improvement in four to 12 months, depending on project scope. Usually the scope of inquiry crosses
multiple functional boundaries. These are good opportunities for developing next-generation leaders, an
equally important aspect of creating an enduring quality culture. Breakthrough improvement projects yield
the highest economic return in the short- to medium-term.

Source: Google Images

Q2) What is sustainable alignment? 

The process of continually reconciling operations resources with market requirements to achieve a degree of
alignment or fit is known as Sustainable Alignment.

The process of achieving the alignment between parts of the firm responsible for marketing activities and
those responsible for resource management activities is difficult, since
 Uncertain nature of the market does not provide the clear objectives to develop the operations
resources
 Operations capabilities or constraints of operations resources may not be always predictable

Alignment means a balance between required market performance and actual operations performance. So
when an alignment is achieved, customers do not expect levels of operations performance which the firm is
unable to supply - IDEAL SITUATION

Q3) Analyse Enterprise resource planning fitment into Operations strategy of any company.

Bhilai Steel Plant, a unit of Steel Authority of India Ltd. is a public sector undertaking and was conceived
under Indo-USSR Treaty in the 2nd Five-year plan. This was in accordance with erstwhile government
policy for strengthening economy and self-reliance through development of core sector. The plant is located
at the central position of India, which is one of the major iron belts of India, and it is about 40 kilometer
from Raipur, capital of Chhattisgarh. The captive mines of the plant located at Dalli- Rajahara supplies iron
ore and lime stone used to be available from Nandini captive mines. At present limestone is procured from
outside. The other major raw material, coal is purchased from outside either through import or from
indigenous market. Bhilai Steel Plant, an integrated steel works, was commissioned in 1959 with production
capacity of 1.0 million tonne of steel. In successive phases, capacity was enhanced to 2.5 and 4.0 million
tonne in the year 1962 and 1984 respectively. Bhilai Steel Plant produces wide range of products. This
includes Rails, Wire Rods, Plates and Merchant products. Bhilai steel plant is planning to expand its
production to 7.0 MT by the year 2011-12.

Need of ERP: To compete in the market and to ingrate various business functions, Bhilai Steel Plant have
decided to go for ERP solutions. According to official sources they were facing following challenges.

 Suitable definition of Products.

 Variant configuration for Raw
 Materials & Finished products.
 Products defined at intermediate levels to have a visibility of WIP.
 Product Grouping to suit planning & reporting.
 Reengineering and up gradation of surrounding systems to facilitate feeding of required data to ERP
systems.

Finally, BSP has decided to go for ERP project named as Utkarsh. Utkarsh has Six Broad areas namely
Production Planning, Plant Maintenance, Finance & Costing, Quality Management, Material Management
and Sales & Distribution.

ERP and Business Process: Approximately 300 man-years of effort invested in implementing ERP. For the
success of ERP about 2500 End users trained in SAP. Six broad business areas of BSP are covered through
seventeen different modules of SAP. For proper integration of existing system with new ERP system,
existing processes are mapped with to-be processes in ERP. To confirm proper integration, 174 scenarios
were tested during integration testing of software. ERP became operational from 1st April 2009. In Bhilai
Steel Plant, ERP facilitates Management Reporting, Analysis & Interpretation of business data. Data can be
obtained from multiple business areas. Enterprise Portal is created to allow access via web. User access is
made possible by defining only user name and software. It provides different level of access to the user. A
communication desk is established to report or resolve any issue. The training and documentation has been
given prime importance. User manual are prepared to make the things clearer.
 Benefits of ERP: ERP was implemented in Bhilai Steel Plant in 2009. To assess the real benefits achieved
by its implementation may take some more time. However, following major benefits has been observed due
to implementation of ERP: 37

 Integration of business processes which is the main goal of ERP

 Online availability of stocks in the system to help in maintaining right inventory levels.
 Timely information in the form of standard reports is available online in the system for decision
making.
 More Transparency in business operation as everybody has access to same data leading to better
accountability and visibility.
 Order based manufacturing leading to complete integration between marketing, production, and
quality and inventory and finance functions.
 Details of all the masters like items – Finished, Semi-finished, Stores & Spares and Raw Materials,
Vendors- Suppliers & customers, Services are available in one central database.

Q4) How does organizational context affect operations strategy implementation?

Strategic planning is a challenge. It requires a lot of self-reflection. When you question the performance of
your organization, you might have to confront a reality that you do not want to face. This kind of brutal
honesty can help your organization to realign its focus. If you have the ability to dig deeper into your
organization and unearth those ugly truths, you will be able to craft a strategy that aims to conquer your
greatest weaknesses. Self-awareness is an incredible trait for an organization to have. Knowing what your
strengths and weaknesses are will stand you in good stead for the future. To effectively implement a
strategy, you have to be able to commit fully to the objectives. If you don’t approach your strategy with
complete conviction, you can’t expect anyone else within the organization to believe in it either. A fully-
formed long-term strategy won’t be crafted in the matter of just a few days. It could take several weeks for
specific goals and objectives to be outlined. Then, you will have to spend time with your team to decide how
you’re going to achieve those aims.

Example: The senior leaders in an organization gather for a single day to map out a long-term strategy. The
implementation of the strategy is also discussed, like an afterthought. Several days later, many of the leaders
want to alter the strategy with fresh ideas. As a result, the original commitment to the strategy falls by the
wayside.

Actionable Steps: Take your time to map out a strategy. This can’t be done in a single day. It needs time to
brew in the minds of all involved. Once a strategy has been decided upon, all senior leaders must be fully
committed to its implementation. They can’t be half-in and half-out when it comes to a long-term version.

1. Commit to the strategy

2. Align the structure of your organization with the strategy
3. Engage with the right people in the organization
4. Create an environment where your strategy will succeed
5. Set realistic targets for delivery across a set time period