For Jah Provides SLP 2 INVENTORY MODULE 2

Background

Trina’s Gourmet Hot Dogs commenced its operations in September 2013. It is a family start up business specializing in the sale of Gourmet hot dogs. Trina’s original chili (homemade) makes the taste amazing making the product unique in the hot dog market. The business is a startup hence operates only as single restaurant with plans to expand happening in future. Since it’s a family business, it has Trina and her sister Bernice as employees running the management. The business has additionally hired 6 more personnel. Three chefs who are in charge of preparation of the gourmet hotdogs with the addition of Trina who is good at catering. The next personnel are the delivery guys who delivers the requests made by calls or social media and delivers through the use of motorbikes. The last personnel offer the services within the restaurants to clients who visits the physical premises. The mission of the restaurant is to become the best gourmet hot dog joint and the best hot dog delivery business. The target customers are between children who are aged two and above and individuals in their fifties. The reason behind is because over the fifty age period is mainly comprised of persons with strict diet measures.

Area of Concern and Productivity Measures

One area of concern for productivity is the usage of workers’/labor productivity. Labor is key to development of any organization hence require special consideration (Chase, 2005). The usage of workers will determine the performance of the restaurant. The three productivity measures in the restaurant are deliveries per day, sales made at the physical premises and raw materials used in terms of cost. The business aims at not only serving the walk-in clients but also those in different areas. The deliveries made are thus a determiner of how productive labor is. The business has set targets which assist to define how effective each area of labor is. As far as delivery is concerned, the business aims at delivering hotdogs worth $200 per day. The ratio is thus determined by summing the deliveries made in terms of price then dividing by the number of working days that is, six. The average figure should be above the target. When it comes to sales as the joint, the target is $300 per day. The formula used is determining the productivity is the sum of total sales per week divided by six days to get an average. On the raw materials, the business aims to use raw materials worth $500 per day that is, total cost. The formula is thus sum of raw materials used throughout the week divided by the six days. The three measures will assist to know how effective the human resource is in each of the area. For instance, with all factors kept at constant, the delivery guy should make a point of delivering as many orders as possible. The business is located near a market hence it has regular clients.

Key Processes and Steps

The key processes involved are mainly three. The first step is preparation of the hot dog done at the kitchen. The chefs are the ones in charge with the addition of Trina. The preparation is done early enough before the day starts in order not to affect the rest of the processes. The next step is transfer to the sales side of the restaurant. At this point, there is a packaging of some of the gourmet hotdogs in order to ensure readiness for delivery. The rest are kept in sales area for the walk-in clients. The third step is sales. The sales can be done at delivery or at the sales point within the premises. The processes do interact but they do so successfully as every process paves way for the next.

Improving Productivity

To improve productivity, the business can employ technology to boost sales (Harrington, 1991). The first aspect that can be done is automation of the sales processes. A vending machine can be used for instance to make sales within the business premises hence delays will be reduced such as waiting to be served. Payments for deliveries can be made online hence delivery will not include any need for payments. The aspect will ensure delivery is done quick without delays. By automation, the business will have doubled its sales by eliminating ensuring faster delivery of services.

Problems in Attempts to Change

Some of the problems that occur are additional costs constraints. The business will have to employ more capital in order to come up with the required equipment such as vending machines, computers for online payments, customer care for online issues among others. Such costs may be not anticipated by the business giving a financial hitch. The next problem is integrating the online process to be part of the business (Gellerman, 2012). Most of the businesses are going for the apps hence instead of the obvious social media, Trina’s Gourmet Hot Dogs will definitely go for the App. It might take time for the clients to be used to the App hence it will be a problem. To overcome the problems, the business will have a well written business plan meant to ensure that every aspect will go as planned. That aspect will reduce unnecessary spending which can strain the budget. On the automation issue, the restaurant will have a manual and frequently asked questions (FAQ) part in its website. The aspect will assist to solve the many questions the client may have on the use of the App.

References

Chase, R., et al. (2005). Operations Management for Competitive Advantage (11th ed). New York: McGraw Hill/Irwin.

Gellerman, S. (2012). Motivation and Productivity. NJ: Prentice Hall

Harrington, J. (1991). Business Process Improvement: The Breakthrough Strategy for Total Quality, Productivity and Competitiveness. NY: McGraw-Hill Education