Assignment 4 - Business Plan - Final

Alita Heckstall

Assignment 3 Bus 599 Strategic Management

Dr. Banto

Strayer University

August 25th, 2019

Operation Plan

Before taking on the decision to produce products on a broader scale, Sweet Blend had previously been introduced in county Fairs which were sold at $2 a bottle. However, she intends to start the business as a startup since they are not yet in operation as a large scale producer. So far, the company only has the recipe and the facilities and equipment that were left to her with her uncle after he died. However, there is the need to have a more extensive inventory of equipment based on the production projections of the company.

Melinda cate’s recipe will be the main one used in the production of the Sweet Blend beverages. Apart from this, there will be the use of other tools and equipment to be used in production. However, since the company does not already own all the machines required, the company is willing to lease some of them. An example of these include the labeling machinery and the printers. These machinery will be bought with time using the profit realized within the course of the business. The main challenge will be funded to acquire the lease the machinery which is expected to be covered by the $20000 that was raised from friends and family.

Materials

The procurement of raw materials will be done through the procurement department, which will publicly outsource for suppliers. They will be tasked with making sure that they acquire only the best products because this will determine the overall quality of the products produced. In supply, there is always the problem with the suppliers failing to do deliveries on time. This delay affects the production process negatively, something that will be captured when processing bids by introducing some penalties.

The company will use the Total Quality Management (TQM) system to improve on the quality of its production process, which automatically impacts on the quality of products. This system will involve the follow up on the ISO 9001 certification, which describes a set of procedure that will be implemented to make sure that the production process is as efficient as it can be. However, the whole company will be involved, including the employees through training and development and also constant audits on the production process. These measures will make sure that the products are produced according to the proper standards.

Equipment:

Production will be done under the facility that was left to Melinda by her uncle, which will host the production plant for the time being before a bigger one is required in the future. This facility will host the production equipment described below: Two SWEET BLEND mixers which will cost $28500 each, two Accutek Accusnap Capper Bottling Machines at $9600 each, Four-panel vans at $10000 each, three Apple Macintosh computers at $1200 each and a graphic software at $750. Other leased equipment that will be used in the production includes the labeling machinery at $450/month and Printers at $550/month.

As a market penetration strategy, the company will reduce the prices of one unit from $2 to $1.3, which will provide the main competitive advantage for the company. These will be provided by the ready availability of equipment and labor that will be used in the production process. The supply of the products will be done by the use of the distributors' channels that has seen many companies do a merger. This observation explains the importance of sharing the work, thus delegating the distribution process to those who know better. This notion is supported by the fact that they do the majority of the work in advertising, for example, the major distributors.

Technology Plan

It is worth noting that at the moment, the company has not yet made a considerable input into the use of technology in its operations. This might be attributed to a number of factors, for example, the number of employees in the organization and the scale of operation of the company. However, the use of technology has always been known to be advantageous to companies with growth objectives.

Since the company will exhibit a minimal number of employees during startup with a considerable range of operations, it will need to employ the extensive use of technology in its operations. An example of this is an Enterprise Management Planning System. The ERP software is used in large and small organizations to account, procure, manage projects, and supply chain operations. This software will facilitate the visualization of the company's operations, thus coming up with easy to interpret data.

In production, the company needs to invest in the application of business automation services. An example of these is the Fishbowl which automatically records the inventory flow and by referencing the automated production line. This software will ease the production process while at the same time, reducing the cost of production because less labor will be required.

The company will soon launch a website which will serve as a meeting point for everybody and the business. The provision of the site will go a long way into making the communication of the customers more accessible through the online presence. The integrated SAP management provides a perfect tool for the fulfillment and tracking of orders. This observation is mainly because they handle information regarding daily operations and reporting more efficiently and in a safe way.

Management and Organization 

Any successful organization usually attributes the success to the strong management it has had. This observation is mainly supported by the fact that management usually integrates the organizational goals with the individual objectives (Chand, 2019). The management plan will also help improve the efficiency of operations as well as avoid conflicts in the place of work. Since the company is a startup without a vast number of employees, a collaborative organizational structure will be used to run the organization. This means that all decisions will be made collectively since duties will be shared before the proper allocation of tasks is done. However, the final decision in the company will be approved by the CEO in consultation with the Owner of the company.

The consultant will be in charge of Human resource management and all legal issues about the company. The allocation is because of her vast knowledge in the unlawful business practices that might threaten the future of the company. It is worth noting that the legal issues typically include the Employees Act, which requires staffing under specific rules. The computer Expert will be in charge of the maintenance and repair of the production system by tracing the defects and applying the necessary corrective measures. The production line manager, on the other end, will be sharing the marketing role with the CEO having worked with big beverage companies previously. The CEO, on the other hand, will be responsible for making sure that everything involving the operation of the company is followed accordingly and directly reports to the Owner of the company.

Upon growth, the management structure will be expanded to accommodate the new staff but will be keen to add only the qualified personnel to top management. An example of this is the sales and marketing representatives and human resource manager. However, there will also be the need to create additional production line foreman, the projection line workforce, and the Maintenance workforce. The growth might necessitate the change of the structure from a collaborative one to a more democratic structure.

Melinda Cates