INTRODUCTION

Online business has been around for quite some time however not many non-sale oriented companies have adopted it. Online business has been regarded as a sales oriented program that is usually used by retailers to increase their sales. However with our customer’s culture shifting towards the trend, it is the high time that the company adopted the trend. The adoption of the online sales to home and overseas customers program will have a major impact on the company’s operations and future. The program will involve a number of adjustments on the company’s operations and branding as the online sales products will be uniquely branded and packaged so as to cope with the competition.

Project Layout

Introduction of the online sales platform will involve the introduction of a new department that will be solely focused on online marketing. The main reason behind this being the need for a 24 hours sales personnel to facilitate sales through direct customer service and the fact that it is a new introduction to the company that needs close monitoring. The products will also be uniquely branded so as to keep up with the high level of competition in the online platform. This will involve close coordination with the production department so as to come up with a product that will fit the market requirement. The most important component in the success of online marketing will be operations management.

The goal of the project is to take advantage of the large customer base that online marketing provides as well as to develop a customer base that does not rely on retailers who can sometimes be inefficient in getting help or offer services. Online marketing will not only be a new selling experience but also a whole new product development platform whereby customer’s feedback will be used as the basis of developing new and better products. Furthermore the platform will give the company international customer base which is actually the goal of any local business.  The power of online marketing is unimaginable; take for instance Red planet Guitars. Through e-marketing the company generated so much traffic on their site which in return led to increased sales and they actually had to open a shop due to their popularity so as to develop a personal attachment with the customers.

The online-marketing platform will not only be a sales platform but will also be the basis of creating customer loyalty. Through direct contact with the company’s professionals the customers will get the best output of the products which is a major advantage for the company. The platform also provides an opportunity for the company to measure the impact of its marketing campaigns as well as targeting specific segments of the market. Moreover once the sales pick, this will be a platform for making abnormal profits.

Operational Management

Operations management which is commonly defined as the science and art of ensuring that goods and services are produced and delivered to the consumers will be the back bone of the entire program (Collier & Evans, 2012). This will be the difference between satisfied customers and unhappy customers which will have a direct impact on the project. Operations management will be the role of each member of the Online marketing department that will be representing the department in the production, purchasing, inventory and quality management department. Moreover this process will help in translating consumer feedback into designs, coordination of resources and operations, determine resource capacity and schedule, creating a high performance environment and continuous development of the organization in relationship to trends (Collier & Evans, ).

Operational management at the production level will involve developing of an appropriate design for the market requirement. This may involve fine tuning, customization or maintenance of the current production line. The quality of the product will however be maintained since the products of the company have been successful in the past and the retailers have successfully made online sales of the products without having to improve them. The only change in quality would be on branding of the output. Just like the retailers are able to customize the products on their websites, the online marketing department will come up with a new unique brand that will help in marketing of the products uniquely. It is however important to note that the company will be in a better position compared to the retailers since it is the reference point for all the customers.

The challenge in the production however is the production capacity of the company. Introduction of a new market for the company’s production capacity in normal working hours might be exceeded depending on the market response which is anticipated to be high. This issue will be addressed by taking advantage of the good relationship that the company has with the workers union to negotiate for longer working hours. With UK having the 3^rd highest working hours in the EU, this will not be a big challenge for the board (Gamwell, 2013). This will enable the company to operate at an optimum rate while at the same time make more profits. The longer working hours will be a temporary change as the company will assess the level of sales and determine whether to outsource or expand its operating capacity.

                        Purchases and Inventory Management

The purchases process is always a crucial part in the actual implementation of a program such as this. Though not complex, lack of clear communication between the suppliers and the company may lead to cost overrun and time overrun too (Krishnan, 1990). The purchases that the project requires are acquisition of an additional delivery van, acquisition of an extra office and office equipment in the newly structured department. The company might however decide to contract the van rather than buying it since the demand of the products may not be consistent. This will ensure that the project is cost efficient and effective.

Inventory management unlike purchases will consist of a number of considerations before settling on a specific inventory managing technique. The fact that the company has limited inventory capacity poses a major challenge for the project. The fact that this is a manufacturing company and usually lack of inputs in one sector will lead to stagnation of the entire process poses a major challenge for the inventory management technique. However before settling on a specific technique, we have to consider a number of factors.

The lead time which is the amount of time it takes to reorder inventory should be revised downwards. This will be through negotiations with the supplier on the minimum possible lead time at no extra cost. The inventory levels which always lead to increased overhead costs should also be revised downwards so as to provide extra inventory space. The customer or retailer delivery period should also be looked into. This is the period between the production of the machinery and the time when the finished product leaves the company’s warehouse to the retailers’ shops. The inventory managing technique may also be revised if need be. Since the company uses the First in First Out (FIFO) model which is the safest approach as it guarantees enough input at any one given time, the method can be substituted to a hybrid system of Just in time and the ABC analysis technique.

The ABC analysis which focuses on classification of the inventory divides the inventory into three categories, A, B and C. The three categories are based upon the inventory value such that items of high value and small in number are termed as A (imports), items of moderate value and moderate number are classified as B while items of less value and large in number are classified as C. The management therefore takes more caution in A and stocks less of it while C is less sensitive and stocked in large numbers. Just-in-time is a method used by highly efficient companies especially large malls and Japanese companies such as Toyota UK. The technique is widely used in Japan though it can be devastating to a country if it is hit by a natural disaster (Harvey, 2012). The technique involves replenishing of stock as soon as it runs out and is usually facilitated by a store keeping software linking the store with the supplier. Therefore the company may use the two techniques to get re order timing just right especially for C which occupies lots of space thus providing space for the increased production.

                        Quality Management

This is the most complex part of the entire project as it involves measurement of the performance of the project not only on monetary terms but also in goodwill and consumer satisfaction. Business performance measurement is the formal, information based routine that the manager of the project will use to maintain or alter the organizational activities involved dependent on the results. This approach to the project will help to periodically set goals and provide back the feedback so as to determine the progress of the business (Kellen, 2003). This will be a useful tool of assessing the progress of the project and therefore determining which approach to take regarding investment in advertising and machinery. It is important to note that the measures can be objective or subjective in nature.

The above said measures will be guided by the 8 principles of quality management which are a golden rule especially in a service oriented project such as this. The eight principles which are; customer focus, leadership, involvement of people, process approach, system approach to management, continual improvement, factual approach to decision making and mutually beneficial supplier relationships can be referred to as a guideline of the behavior of the business within its operations and to external parties. The key emphasis is that all organizations provide something to others and cannot exist in isolation as a matter of fact (Hoyle, 2007). The principles are used to validate a process or project and determining whether it meets the required standards.

The involvement of the administration is always unavoidable when it comes to quality measurement matters since it is within the mission statement that they should uphold the quality which is a common factor in almost all companies. The Total Quality Management approach will be used in measuring of the overall quality of the project’s proposed adjustment to the operations of the company and the entire sales process. The administration will also be involved in monitoring of the quality of the inputs and any other inbound quality inspections ranging from office equipments, van and the quality and security of the domain that will be running the online business transactions. The safety and efficiency of the new inventory technique as well as the quality if the IT experts hired will also be put under scrutiny.

Quality and performance evaluation always go hand in hand. The reason behind this argument is that employees or a process cannot be evaluated and be termed as successful if it is not of the right quality. To certify this, we shall analyze the project’s performance evaluation process that ought to be followed. The most common method of measuring the success of a project are either goal oriented measurement or a cost benefit approach. However the goal oriented approach is the most appropriate method for small project and is referred to as a qualitative assessment of a project. Moreover as said earlier, principles of quality management are also a measure of quality of a project.

The final measure of the quality of the project will be on the impact of the implementation of the project on consumer satisfaction. We will use the most used approach of the output perspective and a process perspective. The application of the project therefore will be measured whether it will have a large impact on the entire company’s performance and whether the online sales approach provides key customer requirements and how reliable the requirements will be delivered. The two measures should give a clear indication of the project on consumer satisfaction and the impact it will have on the company.

CONCLUSION

The implementation process of a project is always a complex affair that has to be vetted before its approval. The goal, the management and quality assessment of a project are always important factors and determinants of the success or failure of the project. However the project is not only measured on such basis but the impact on the company as a whole is usually considered above all factors. The world has become a global village and as result a company whose products have wide customer base should take advantage of the internet and market its goods throughout the village.

Reference

Collier, D. A., & Evans, J. R. (2012). OM 3([3th ed.). Mason, OH: Cengage Learning.

Gamwell, S. (2013, September 20). Survey reveals impact of long hours on well-being. Survey      reveals impact of long hours on well-being. Retrieved May 15, 2014, from      http://www.eurofound.europa.eu/ewco/201

Harvey, F. (2012, January 6). Just-in-time’ business models put UK at greater risk in event of        disasters, warns thinktank. The Guardian , p. 1. Retrieved May 15, 2014, from             http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jan/06/just-in-time-business-model-disaster-risk

Hoyle, D. (2006). Quality management: the essentials. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Kellen, V. (2003, February 1).  Business Performance Measurement. Business Performance           Measurement. Retrieved May 15, 2014, from http://www.kellen.net/bpm.htm

Krishnan, P. G. (1990). Purchasing and materials management. New Delhi: McGraw-Hill.

Rezaei, A., Çelik, T., & Baalousha, Y. (2011). Performance measurement in a quality         management system. Scientia Iranica, 18(3), 742-752.

 
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