Operations Management

check the documents deadline in document is wrong.

Assignment brief:

One of the key aspects of any business (the business being considered in a broad sense) is to provide services and/or products in line with customer demands. Operations Management deals with the design and management of delivery of these products and services including processes and supply chains. The study of Operations Management involves every level i.e. strategic, tactical and operational.

As business consultant, you have been chosen to lead a consultancy project to support KFC UK senior management team during their 3PL switch project (from dealing with Bidvest Logistics to DHL-QSL), and you’re required to prepare a report (of 4000 words) upon taking this challenging assignment.

Questions / Key aspects that need to be covered within the report are:

 Map KFC both supply chains in the UK and make a comparison between the two set-ups where you clearly report the key strengths and weaknesses of each one of them.

 According to KFC senior management, the move to DHL and QSL was justified. Do you research and explain the following:
a) What pushed KFC management team to give up on their historical relationship with Bidvest logistics and get it replaced by two key logistics service providers?
b) What are the key milestones to be achieved during the transition in order to be fully ready for the go-live and thus, increase chances for successful operations execution?

 Risk management is one of the key componenets in such a supply chain project. As a consultant, you were requested to identify key risks that KFC may face in this transition project and address a relevant mitigation plan for each and every risk identified.

 As a business consultant, what are the key lessons learnt from this experience?

Report Structure and Layout and Marking criteria:

 Cover Page: Your Name and Student Number and the word count. 5%

 Introduction: Should explain the KFC crisis in details from tender award to the go-live. 10%

 Map KFC both supply chains in the UK and make a comparison between the two set-ups where you clearly report the key strengths and weaknesses of each one of them. Graphs, maps, process flows or any other type of presentations are encouraged to be used. 25%
A good response should include: a clear map of both supply chains along with their relevant Distribution Networks across the UK and an explanation that underlines both set-ups’ strengthes and weaknesses

 According to KFC senior management, the move to DHL and QSL was justified. Do you research and explain the following:
a) What pushed KFC management team to give up on their historical relationship with Bidvest logistics and get it replaced by two key logistics service providers?
b) What are the key milestones to be achieved during the transition in order to be fully ready for the go-live and thus, increase chances for successful operations execution? 25%
A good response should provide a clear explanation of what are the real reasons of making such a move, and according to students whether these reasons are justified from operational and business perspective, the second part of the response should include the key steps to be strictly followed in order to ensure a smooth transition to the new 3PL and therefore avoid any negative impact on the operations execution

 Risk management is one of the key componenets in such a supply chain project. As a consultant, you were requested to identify key risks that KFC may face during this transition and address a relevant mitigation plan for each and every risk identified. 20%
A good answer should cover the following areas: a list of the key risks that can be encountered by KFC on their way to go live, along with their impact on the business performance. The second part of the answer should include a mitigation plan to avoid the pointed out risks supported by a clear contingency plan.

 As a business consultant, what are the key lessons learnt from this experience? 15%
This answer should underline all the key take aways from this particular case to help student capitalize on their learning and how to approach similar projects in a different way in the future.

Further tips:

• Visual presentations (process flow, graphs, ..) are highly recommended along with their respective detailed and clear comments/ They’re going to be considered in marking system.