Operational Plan - Assignment Example

The main products produced by this enterprise are ‘gluten – free desserts and breads’, the ingredients of which, are carefully mixed together to attain great taste, maintaining high nutritional standards. Production of the desserts and breads would be conducted at the main facility (head plant) as well as at each franchise outlet. Desserts produced at ‘Glutopia Gluten – free Desserts and Breads’ shall include hot, cold, room temperature and frozen desserts. Production of these desserts would require the necessary infrastructure and equipments such as giant mixers, blenders, ovens, moulds, sieves, refrigerators and freezers.

Techniques for dessert production would include processes such as kneading, aeration, rolling, cutting, frying, flavoring and most importantly, garnishing. On the other hand, the process of ‘bread production’ involves four basic steps: mixing, fermentation, baking and finally, cooling. The company would utilize the Chorleywood Bread Process (CBP), which is a modern commercial process of baking (“The Bread Industry: How bread is made”, 2013) Quality control measures must be designed and implemented to measure the adherence to master recipes, safety and nutritional guidelines, quality of taste, appearance, texture, turnaround time as well as cost implications to the company.

Importantly, qualitative and quantitative measures of evaluation must be put in place to gauge the satisfaction levels of the customer and in order to obtain feedback for improvisation. Customer service plays a vital role in a company’s success, especially in a constantly interactive set up, such as in outlets of the food industry. The inventory levels of all constituent ingredients (raw materials) must be regularly monitored and replenished as per the demand. The company would have to work out the Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) for each ingredient in order to minimize stock outs and re-orders as far as possible.

This would also reduce the inventory costs for the company, thus proving to be a ‘cost – saving’ methodology. The company must ensure adequate scope for constant innovation of recipes of higher nutritional value with the help of a team of researchers, analysts and product development specialists. Glutopia’s proposed locations for its franchises would be on bustling streets in prime localities, preferably in close proximity to the young population; eg. near colleges or theatres. The building at each location must be a minimum of two – stories high, easily accessible and with a constant supply of power and water.

Parking facilities may be kept minimal in order to economize on space. This is based on the assumption that most consumers would enjoy a stroll on a busy street and choose to stop by at Glutopia for a bite. This also takes in to account the gluten – intolerant customers, who would visit the facility in their vehicles, specifically to purchase its products. The spaces taken up by Glutpoia would be ‘rented buildings’ (for all franchise locations). Products may also be sold at retail outlets in various regions of the city.

Working hours would be designed to suit the local population and lifestyle and thus remain open between 8:00 AM – 11:30 PM (all days of the week). The company would have to mandatorily obtain a license as per the National Food Safety Regulations and may even find itself eligible to file for patents for some of its unique health foods, based on pre-defined criteria, set by the authorized body. The initial number of employees per outlet would be 10, including 3 bakers, 4 waiters, 2 counter representatives and 1 cashier.

The basic eligibility criteria for employment would include completion of formal school education coupled with a food – industry related specialization at the ‘Diploma’ level (minimum criteria). Department – specific training is mandatory for every employee at the time of induction and at regular intervals post confirmation. The pay structure would be designed in both, weekly and monthly formats and would be remitted as per the duration preference of the employee. The ‘packaged and finished products’ must be dispatched to local distributors and retail outlets using a sound and well coordinated logistics system in order to minimize lead time to the customer.

Major suppliers would have to be zeroed-in on, for all equipment and raw material constituents (major and minor), that influence the master list of products. Recurring orders would have to be placed for perishable goods; competitor quotes must be made available so as to assess and minimize costs at regular intervals. The credit period must be negotiated with key suppliers especially for bulk purchases and the focus must revolve around cost, credibility, adherence to lead time specifications and quality of supplies.

It is thus vital to select the right suppliers for the success of the enterprise. As a risk management technique, a separate list of ‘back up suppliers’ must be maintained and updated in case of urgent requirements. ‘Glutopia Gluten – free Desserts and Breads’ follows a ‘no – credit’ sales policy. However, the company does provide lucrative discounts and promotional offers such as the ‘6 Saver Pack’ (which entitles the customer to 6 pieces of a particular product, for the price of 5) and seasonal / festive offers, eg.

‘Jingle Bells’ (a specially designed and creatively packed set of desserts) on the occasion of Christmas and ‘egg – shaped pastries and desserts’ on the occasion of Easter. These are the major components of Glutopia’s Operational Plan and Strategy that are proposed in order to maintain profitability and sustain the interest of the consumers. Reference 1. The Bread Industry: How bread is made (2013) The Federation of Bakers. Retrieved from http://www.bakersfederation.org.uk/images/pdfs/the-bread-industry/how-bread-is-made.pdf