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Introduction - Supply Chain Management and Operations Research
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Quality is one of the most important objectives that is maintained by the organisations. Maintaining quality of the products and services are factors that contribute in generating customer satisfaction as their needs are being met and they have nothing to complain about. This is categorised into an external effect of good quality. Whereas internally, the effects of quality of the products leaves a different result within the organisation. This helps in cost effectiveness of the products along with the increase in the dependability and speed of the response. This report will discuss the operational performances of Nestle and its competitor, Unilever.
Overview of the organisation
Nestle is a Swiss MNC with its headquarter in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. The company is one of the largest food and drink processing conglomerate corporations across the globe. With the merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, the organisation was formed. In 1867 the company was founded by Farine Lactee Henri (Nestlé, 2021). It serves and caters to the needs of the population worldwide. It generates revenue of 91.43 billion annually. It employs more than 352,000 people all over the world. The products of Nestle are baby food, dairy products, cereals, bottled water, coffee, pet foods, ice creams and so on.
Overview of the Competitor Organisation
Unilever plc. is a MNC established in England with its headquarters in London. It is one of the largest consumer goods companies that manufacture products such as food, confectionery, soft drinks, pet food, baby food, chewing gum, bottled water, beauty products and so on. It is also one of the largest producers of soap across the globe (Unilever global company website, 2021). It caters to the population of about 190 countries. It owns over 400 brands and has a turnover of 53.7 billion euros in the year 2017. The company was founded in the year 1929. The organisation has an annual revenue generation of €50.724 billion. It employs around 155,000 people worldwide and caters to the various needs of the population across 190 countries.
Global Supply Chain of Nestle
The suppliers of Nestle are an integral part of the company’s value chain which contribute to maintaining the quality of the products and services of the organisation and caters to a large population of approximately 187 countries. The products that Nestle caters to the population with its diverse product range such as coffee, cereals, tea, and pet foods, ice-cream and so on. The flow of the products of the organisation begins from the raw materials to the products that are finished and reaches the customers (Ferrando and Fulli-Lemaire, 2019). The product flow of Nestle is one of the very effective aspects that has contributed to the popularity of the brand.
Another reason that has contributed to the popularity and heavy demands of the brand is that Nestle ensures that the quality and safety of the products are being maintained before they are being delivered to the customers. The organisation ensures the maintenance of the standards of the company along with the supply chain that begins from the very basic stages of the production of the raw materials, packaging and distributing them to the customers (Stadtler, 2015). As the company checks the product line of the different products, the customers feel safe making a purchase from the organisation. The products are being checked on the production line in order to meet the different standards and quality, along with abiding by the local and international regulations.
The money flow within the organisation determines the flow of cash from the end of the customers to the manufacturers and from them to their suppliers. Nestle faces three major challenges which consist of profit maximisation, conservation of the cash flow along with the value creation of the shareholder. The information flow within the organisation of Nestle provides the company with the necessary information that is needed by the company in order to improve the nutritional needs of the customers. The flow of information is the process that involves the sharing of information from the suppliers as well as the customers. The main reason as to why the information is necessary is to educate the customers about the product ingredients. Nestle majorly manages the supply chain as it plays a crucial role in meeting the various needs of the customers that leads to customer satisfaction within the organisation (Ferrando and Fulli-Lemaire, 2019).
The Make Process
In order to maintain supply chain in an effective manner, the supply chain management within the organisation is maintained and ensured. The planning and scheduling of the products and their processes are being effectively measured and executed so that the activities of the company maintain sustainability and help in safeguarding the products. The planning of the production within the company is very essential in the organisation as the company ensures and executes the operations of the economies (Wood, 2015). With the help of production planning, the company is being able to ensure that the best qualities of the products are being maintained. Proper scheduling of work within the supply chain of Nestle helps the company in accelerating work and the activities. Maintaining the product quality ensures that the customers will be satisfied.
The organisation is very strict when it comes to quality maintenance. Nestle ensures that the quality control and maintaining programs are being held within the organisation so that the employees go through a process of learning to understand the various ways in which quality of the products should be maintained along with the standards of the business activities before delivering the products to the customers (Jia et al., 2019). Nestle plans the production process. With the help of planning, Nestle decides the work path and the operation succession of the activities that are being carried around in the organisation. The planning process is later followed by the scheduling process in order to increase the effectiveness of the process and ensure that the quality of the products and the objectives are being maintained. In order to ensure quality and cost effectiveness of the company, the production planning is one of the most important objectives that should be attained by the organisation. It helps in lowering down the costs of the production and thus facilitates the production of the raw materials at a lower price (Chen et al., 2021). The suppliers of Nestle apply good standards and quality of labour in the process of recruitment, compensating and taking care of the workforce. The employees and staff of Nestle ensure to abide by the ethics of the company and perseverance of natural resources so that a collaborative way of the organisation is being ensured. All the suppliers of Nestle comply with the various laws and regulations of the country it operates in.
It also believes in safeguarding the authenticity and transparency of the products with the help of monitoring and keeping a record of the various items, traceability enabled along with various other systems of management. The identification of the origin of the supplied materials to the company should also be ensured. The activities related to sourcing should be managed and kept a track of. The logistic management along with the elimination of the harmful impact on the environment should be implemented as a part of the strategies that ensures good quality of the products and services that are being supplied to the customers. It is thus recommended that the planning and the control process of the resources and its allocation should be done effectively so that the capacity of the production can ensure customer satisfaction.
Suppliers of Nestle
The suppliers of Nestle apply good standards and quality of labour in the process of recruitment, compensating and taking care of the workforce. The employees and staff of Nestle ensure to abide by the ethics of the company and perseverance of natural resources so that a collaborative way of the organisation is being ensured. All the suppliers of Nestle comply with the various laws and regulations of the country it operates in (Shukla et al., 2018). It also believes in safeguarding the authenticity and transparency of the products with the help of monitoring and keeping a record of the various items, traceability enabled along with various other systems of management. The suppliers of Nestle also work hard in order to meet the specifications of the products before delivering it to the customers. It also complies with all the anti-bribery laws that are applicable including the ones that are based on the models of OECD.
Intermediaries of Nestle
The intermediaries of Nestle also abide by the laws, rules and regulations along with the values set by the company before catering to the needs and wants of the customers. The intermediaries of the company range from Trader, brokers, labour, collectors, semi-finished manufacturers and cooperatives, and so on. The intermediaries of Nestle have the responsibility of maintaining transparency between the operational factors of the company. The identification of the origin of the supplied materials to the company should also be ensured. The activities related to sourcing should be managed and kept a track of (Rhodes et al., 2021). The logistic management along with the elimination of the harmful impact on the environment should be implemented as a part of the strategies that ensures good quality of the products and services that are being supplied to the customers.
Quality Maintenance as a part of the Operational Performance Objectives of Nestle
The sand cone diagram demonstrates that Quality management within an organisation is one of the most essential components that form the foundation of the system. It leads one to understand that quality of the organisation comes initially leading to the other factors such as dependability, cost and speed of the products and services of the organisation. The organisation is very strict when it comes to quality maintenance. Nestle ensures that the quality control and maintaining programs are being held within the organisation so that the employees go through a process of learning to understand the various ways in which quality of the products should be maintained along with the standards of the business activities before delivering the products to the customers.
The company works rigorously to verify that the wellbeing models and the quality of the products are being met and addressed to. Conformance of the quality met by the company demonstrates various advantages and disadvantages both externally and internally (Chung et al., 2020). The external advantages help in maintaining the standard and quality of the products so that the consumers have nothing to complain about while the internal advantages of the company ensures that the occurrence of blunders and mistakes within the process of manufacturing and dispatching are minimal so that it can lead to customer satisfaction. Maintaining their primary objective is the reason that helps the brand establish itself in the market and have made it popular.
Global Supply Chain of Unilever
The business strategy of Unilever is to ensure maximum profitability, growth and return-on-assets of the company. It has improved its functional aspects in order to meet the various goals and objectives of the company to attain profitability and productivity. The company has facilitated the local supply chain for the demands of the local people in order to minimize complexity. The distribution and selling of products of Unilever are generally being done with the help of its sales force. The products of the organisation are being delivered with the help of the institutions and service distributors. The information flow within the organisation of Unilever provides the company with the necessary information that is needed by the company in order to improve the nutritional needs of the customers (Brito, 2016). The flow of information is the process that involves the sharing of information from the suppliers as well as the customers. The main reason as to why the information is necessary is to educate the customers about the product ingredients.
Suppliers of Unilever
The suppliers of Unilever ensure sustainability of the products and safeguarding so that the customers do not complain about the products. The suppliers of Unilever maintain the objectives and work in alignment with the objectives that have been formulated by the company. The suppliers of Unilever apply good standards and quality of labour in the process of recruitment, compensating and taking care of the workforce. The brands have a purpose to grow and maintain value by achieving the various objectives and goals of the organisation.
The employees and staff of Unilever ensure to abide by the ethics of the company and perseverance of natural resources so that a collaborative way of the organisation is being ensured. All the suppliers of Unilever comply with the various laws and regulations of the country it operates in. It also believes in safeguarding the authenticity and transparency of the products with the help of monitoring and keeping a record of the various items, traceability enabled along with various other systems of management (Hao and Jiang, 2019). The suppliers of Unilever also work hard in order to meet the specifications of the products before delivering it to the customers. It also complies with all the anti-bribery laws that are applicable including the ones that are based on the models that are well suited for the company.
Quality Maintenance as a part of the Operational Performance of Unilever
Unilever has trained employees that believe in maintaining the quality and standards of the workforce along with maintaining the quality and vision of the company. The employees of the organisation work for the company with integrity and have continuous commitment towards their work and managing the harmful impacts of the company on the environment. The organisation ensures that the quality control and maintaining programs are being held within the organisation so that the employees go through a process of learning to understand the various ways in which quality of the products should be maintained along with the standards of the business activities before delivering the products to the customers. They have set personal goals and objectives for themselves in order to achieve the organisational. They have team unity and respect for one another which helps them maintain the quality of their operations and attainment of the objectives of the company.
Fostering innovation within the organisation has further ensured in maintaining the performance quality of the individuals which has resulted in contributing to the growth and success of the organisation. The company works rigorously to verify that the wellbeing models and the quality of the products are being met and addressed to. Conformance of the quality met by the company demonstrates various advantages and disadvantages both externally and internally (Anitah, 2019). The external advantages help in maintaining the standard and quality of the products so that the consumers have nothing to complain about while the internal advantages of the company ensures that the occurrence of blunders and mistakes within the process of manufacturing and dispatching are minimal so that it can lead to customer satisfaction. Maintaining their primary objective is the reason that helps the brand establish itself in the market and have made it popular.
Key Difference Between the suppliers of Nestle and Unilever
Unilever provides a detailed form of the locations of the supply chain, although it makes sure to not make a differentiation between the direct and the indirect suppliers. Whereas Nestle put in huge efforts in providing deep insight of the indirect supply chain. It does most of the operations in a detailed manner to have all the information flow handy within the organisation.
Triple Bottom Line and Sustainability Goals
According to the concept of Triple Bottom Line (TBL), companies like Nestle and Unilever should focus on the concerns such as the social and environmental concerns as they do on profits. This theory is of the view that instead of focussing on one bottom line, the companies should focus on three bottom lines such as the profit, people and the planet. Ensuring that all these factors are being considered by Nestle and Unilever, they could form sustainability goals to implement them further into practice (Hammer and Pivo, 2017). Nestle and Unilever both works together in maintaining sustainability as a part of their organisational objective. Nestle ensures that there is minimal amount of food waste and facilitation of responsible packaging is to be done by the organisation. It has also been striving to ensure that there is absolutely zero wastage to landfill.
The organisation is working towards zero waste for disposal to maximise the value of the remaining products. It is further working on improving the efficiency of the resources within its operations in order to eliminate the wastage of food materials. Banning of plastics to packaging of the products in a smart way has significantly contributed to optimising the weight and volume of the products. While Unilever’s approach towards sustainability is through continuous changes and improvements in their policies with the suppliers. It has communicated the sources of sustainability through their brands (Hammer and Pivo, 2017). They have launched plastic free ice-cream tubs in order to ensure sustainability of the brand and reduce the use of plastic. It has also introduced country specific roadmaps in order to collect and process the packaging of its products made of plastic. It has also introduced a refill and reuse revolution as well.
Conclusion
With the help of the above report, it can be said Unilever provides a detailed form of the locations of the supply chain, although it makes sure to not make a differentiation between the direct and the indirect suppliers. Whereas Nestle put in huge efforts in providing deep insight of the indirect supply chain. It does most of the operations in a detailed manner to have all the information flow handy within the organisation. Whereas, Unilever focuses on maintaining sustainability of the system management and the products. Both the companies work rigorously to verify that the wellbeing models and the quality of the products are being met and addressed to. Conformance of the quality met by the company demonstrates various advantages and disadvantages both externally and internally. The external advantages help in maintaining the standard and quality of the products so that the consumers have nothing to complain about while the internal advantages of the company ensures that the occurrence of blunders and mistakes within the process of manufacturing and dispatching are minimal so that it can lead to customer satisfaction. Maintaining their primary objective is the reason that helps the brand establish itself in the market and have made it popular.
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