Operation Management Case Study: Lion Brewing Company Essay.

Overview of Lion Brewing Company, Australia

Discuss about the case study Operation Management for Process, Logistics and Sales.

This report is prepared to generate understanding about major operations of a brewing company. This report also explains the operation process of lion brewing company in detail. Its operation process includes the inbound logistics to finished goods. Further, it uses unique and value-added activities in its operation process in order to improve customer positioning. Moreover, this report discusses different theories, which are linked with the brewing operation of the company. In the last, this report interprets that company maintain its sustainability with the help of different principles such as reduces, reuse and recycle of resources.

Lion Company is popularly known as Beverage and Food Company located in Australia. The Products of Lion includes beer, wines, Dairy/ Juices and spirits, but its main focus is on brewing products. Lion Brewing Company was formed in 1988 with the merger of LD Nathan & Co and Lion Breweries. The owner of this company is Mitsubishi keiretsu. The company is listed on Australian stock exchange. Lion Company is efficient in managing Australian leading portfolio of beer which includes James Squire, Hahn, Little Creatures and Tooheys.

Lion Brewing is popularly known for its beer in Australia and its wine product including an inevitable portfolio of boutique wines. Lion is the largest brewer in Australia. The aim of this company is to build high brand values and make effective appreciation of beers (Lion, 2014). For achieving this objective/ aim, the company efficiently invests in a strategy named as Vibrant Beer Culture (VBC). The company also believes in meeting needs and expectations of its customer for its long-term success and growth. Lion Brewing also delivers an effective platform for making innovation in its products, where the main focus of company is on brewing products.

Operation process is defined as the process, which transforms inputs into outputs. Input includes the raw materials, labor, equipment, information, and capital. Outputs are final products or services that are sold by company to its customers (Ellinger, et al., 2012). The Lion Brewing company uses distinct operation processes that are discussed as below:

Inbound logistics operations of company includes the different activities such as receiving the material from the suppliers, storage of material and the process, in which it transforms into the output. Lion Brewing uses qualified, reliable and flexible suppliers in order to maintain the quality of raw products and final output. Further, it makes the coordination with their suppliers by delivering the payment on time (Barry and Goodson, 2010).

Operation Process of Lion Brewing Company

Lion Brewing concentrates on eye-catchy product appearances. For example, the product design and product packaging of Lion Brewing company are attractive that provides satisfaction to their customer. Moreover, it focuses on low defects in its products and also responsive to specific changes in their products (Cuganesan, et al., 2010). It also uses Plant engineering, Process technology, filling technology, intralogistics and IT solutions in its operations.

For example, it uses mash filtering and lautering technology in order to produce quality product for its customers. It also uses wort boiling and wort stripping in every brewing process in order to save the energy (Krones, 2015). Further, it uses recycling thermal energy during the brewing process in order to use the wastage. Additionally, it uses high-quality brewing fermentation and storage tanks.

Lion Brewing uses several direct and indirect distribution channels like online stores, retail stores and direct sales personnel’s, retailers, wholesalers and value added sales forces. Besides this, lion brewing continually improves and increases its distribution capacity by enlarging retail stores globally (Cuganesan, et al., 2010). It is effective for quick and timely delivery of the product and services to customers.

Lion Brewing sells its product and services by using several modes such as public relation, direct selling, event and sponsorship and integrated advertising. Lion brewing is one of the leading companies in Australia. It focuses on demonstrative product appearances, promotional techniques, generating heavy Buzz in the marketplace by launching the innovative products (Amankwahâ€ÂAmoah, et al., 2013). Furthermore, the company designs products according to the customer’s taste and requirement. For this purpose, it consistently assesses the market, makes predictions about the needs of the customer’s and then produces those products, which meet the customer’s requirements.

Lion brewing company provides outstanding quality of services to its customers. In this way, it recruits young male and female, who have the ability to demonstrate the product in effective manner. Its sales force is usually well-mannered and skilled (Davis, et al., 2014). On the other side, it provides post-purchase services to its clients such as taking feedback from their customer, facilitating complaint grievance handling system etc.

Capacity and Facilities Design

Lion Brewing Company focuses on capacity planning to effectively accomplish the strategic business goals and objectives. Further, it uses capacity expansion strategy in relation to the growth of demand. This strategy defines that increase in capacity depends on several factors such as volume and certainty of anticipated demand, strategic objectives, economies of scale and cost of expansion and operation. For example, if the unit of cost declines then, the company increases its output volume (Pishvaee and Razmi, 2012). Hence, it can be said that production of the company depends on several factors. On the other side, it can be said that Lion Brewing Company provides quantity discount to the customer for material purchase.

Linkages between the brewery operations and LB5230 theory

Further, it uses facility layout that helps to minimize its material handling cost. It is also effective to utilize space and labor efficiently. The facility layout has eliminated the bottleneck from its operation. Through this method, the company provides a good working environment, where employees can communicate and interact with their managers in effective way (Sadjady and Davoudpour, 2012). Further, it can be said that facility layout also reduces manufacturing cycle time that helps to deliver customer services in less time. It also eliminated wasted and redundant movement from its operations.

Lion brewing company makes the process planning by formulating the process design and process strategy to meet the tasks. Process design defines that how company makes coordination among the people, function, and organizational goals. Besides this, process strategy defines the approach for producing goods and services. Lion brewing company uses mass production strategy, where it produces a large volume of standard product for the mass market (Lema and Lema, 2013). Process planning is effective to convert design element into workable instruction in order to manufacture or deliver the goods and services.

Furthermore, Lion Brewing Company uses new and advanced technology that is effective in enhancing its profitability. As a result, the company is effective to reduce its cost. It is also beneficial to offer better quality and efficiency (Tong and Sriram, 2012). Company assesses several factors in order to select the appropriate technology such as risk and uncertainty, piecemeal analysis and replacement analysis.

There are several product technologies that are used by the Lion Brewing Company such as computer-aided design, group technology, computer-aided engineering, collaborative product commerce, product data management, product lifecycle management and product configuration (Kim, et al., 2011). In addition to this, there are various process technologies that are used by the Lion Brewing Company like the standard for exchange of product model data, Computer-aided design and manufacture, Computer aided process and E-procurement.

Further, manufacturing technologies used by company includes computer numerically control, flexible manufacturing system, robots, automated storage system and retrieval system and e-manufacturing (Hastie, 2012). On the other side, information technology used by Lion Brewing includes the Business to Business, Business to Consumer, Internet and Intranet, Extranet, Radio Frequency Identification tags, Electronic data interchange and Bar Codes.

Quality Management

For managing the quality, Lion Brewing Company uses Six Sigma and ISO 9004:2015 quality management system.

There are several functions of operation in Lion Brewing Company such as organizing work, selecting processes, arranging layouts, locating facilities, designing jobs, measuring performance, controlling quality, scheduling work, managing inventory, and planning production. For managing the operation, the company focuses on its marketing, finance, and accounting, IT, economics, HR management and Suppliers management (Mena, et al., 2013). In addition to this, the company uses software to manage their supply chain and flow of goods among the set of suppliers, manufacturers, and distributors.

Lion Company operates in a sustainable manner by making an effective and positive contribution towards local community and the environment. Lion Brewing incorporates sustainability in its vision and mission objectives, which is widely important in taking every business decision. Under production operations, it focuses on an efficient selection of qualities and benefits of a product that is effective to enhance profitability of company. The company emphasizes on mitigating the negative effects of its business operations on the environment for maintaining its sustainability for long-term (Lion, 2014).

Lion Brewing also believes in maintaining a sustainable partnership with its farmers, which efficiently helps to improve its quality and integrity of its brewing and other products. At the same time, company also believes in making innovation in it every function of business with an aim to achieve environmental and social benefits. Employees in Lion effectively undertake their responsibility by making efficient use of scarce natural resources, which has directly contributed to growth and profitability of business.

The company prominently believes in the relationship of trust and quality with its customers and also inculcates ethical behavior among its workforce and its working environment (Andreas, et al., 2011). In its business operation, it includes long-term commitments to environment principles and also believes in supplying environment-friendly products. The company believes in working in efficient and sustainable manner that creates value for customer, environment and investor. The company believes in achievement of a positive culture for the well-being of its employees that helps employees to feel motivated and responsible towards organization.

The principle of reducing, reuse and recycle is effectively followed by company for maintaining. For example, company publishes the message of reduce, recycle and reuse for contributing positively towards environment and society. Company focuses on maximum use of renewable resources in its business operations to minimize use of energy conserving resources (Fukukawa, et al., 2013). The efforts are made by company for maintaining its sustainability, which includes zero-waste initiative, providing benefits to employees and Wellness programs for increasing the level of effectiveness among its workforce and increasing efficiency in business operations.

At the time of brewing and bottling process, there is a requirement of a large amount of water and it is the most important resource in brewing operation. The company made its best efforts for making reduce and reuse of water efficiently within its bottling and cleaning processes. Company efficiently uses trusted and valuable brand for delivering advice and messages about responsible drinking. Lion Brewing strongly believes that it is the responsibility of itself to preserve land and work for its current and future generations by making effective use of it (Watne, et al., 2013).

The company also believes in meeting environmental, social and economic demand, as they are considered as a three most important pillars of its sustainability. The company efficiently makes its efforts on creating conditions and effective organizational structure that are supportive to innovations in business (Fukukawa, et al., 2013). Lion Brewing always believes in creating benefits for the environment for achieving objective of profit generation and saving of costs.

Conclusion

From the above discussion, it can be concluded that Lion Brewing Company has the efficiency to increase customer satisfaction. It is because; the company uses unique and value-added operation process. Further, it can be summarized that there are different theories that are linked with key company operation like LB5230 theory, supply-demand theory etc. Moreover, it can be said that company is sustainable, because it contributes to local communities and environment effectively.

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