Topic: OPERATIONS & SERVICE MANAGEMENT

Question 1
What is the external performance objectives Wace Burgess should apply to obtaining the
M & S business, and discuss how these might differ from performance objectives applied
to existing customers. (15 marks)

Wace Burgess should use the SMART technique as a first measure of external
performance objective. SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant,
and Time Bound
*The below information is based in part on insights from Thomas Gilbert's
"Human Competence: Engineering Worthy Performance".

Specific Performance objectives must be very clear and detailed enough so as to leave
no room for ambiguity or misinterpretation.
Measurable Always use a verifiable verb and describe an action that can be seen and
measured.
Achievable Performance objectives should always be achievable.
Relevant Performance objectives should be relevant to the performer they should
relate to the objectives that matter to that person.
Time bound Performance objectives are more effective if they are to be achieved
within a defined time frame.

Wace Burgess also needs to have ardent focus on external performance objectives like
Information, Tools, Incentive and environment and understand the correlation with the
internal determinants like Knowledge, Capacity, Motivation and Attitude.
Wace Burgess can adopt smart technique to obtain M & S business

Wace Burgess is prominent with specific skills to qualify for the franchisee of
M&S.Important skills like ease if manufacturing and design concept are prerequisite for
obtaining M & S business.

The quantity of job to be completed is ideally measured and quantified. The normal
output of printer rates is 6000 sheets per hour for normal printing and 4000 sheets per
hour for guidelines and 24000 sheets per hour for folders .That is the optimum capacity
utilization strategy adopted by Wace Burgess.
Other performance objectives which are determinants to obtain business are
Orientation, Legal Restriction, Layout and Design, Composition, Process Photography,
Darkroom Procedures, Stripping, Plate making, Offset Ink and Paper, Bindery
Operations, Offset Press Operation, Production Problems, and Occupations and
Evaluation .Main is the usage of special paper for printing for M& S.

Unique performance objectives

The below performance objectives are to followed by Wace Burgess to differentiate
themselves from other service provider

Produce print to a high level of quality and in accordance with the visual identity.

Provide a rapid response to users in accordance with the following schedule:

Design, typesetting and proofing - 7/10 working days
Authors corrections and printing - 7/10 working days
Finishing - 5 working days

Note: All corporate and promotional material (e.g. booklets, leaflets and posters) must be
approved by the Publications Officer, before being passed to the Print Unit for
reproduction. 3-5 working days should be allowed for this, depending on the complexity
of the job.
If we are unable to achieve any of the above timescales, the client will immediately be
advised of the situation and a revised delivery programmes agreed.
Urgent requirements should be discussed with the Printing Services Manager.
Undertake quality control throughout production.
Co-ordinate the distribution of print within the University and to external
customers.

Printing Services: Service Level Agreement (SLA) review from Essex university review

2) Outline the main potential risks and rewards accruing to Wace Burgess in
accepting the order from M & S.

In order to obtain order from M&S,Wace Burgess need to focus and assess on the
potential risks and reward for its sustenance and integrity .It is ideal to sign a printing
services agreement including the expectations of the client stating all the possible format
for orders, Costing ,Capacity planning,Utilisation,Turn around time ,Accuracy parameter,
designing process and die cutting etc .There should also be stringent clause on payment
terms and penalty or adjustments in terms of late completion of order based on impact of
loss incurred by W&S.

Major risks involved

Wace Burgess should also the need to commercialize the new technology on a large scale
and to make profits and prove its sustainability. It is important to note that the Wace
Burgess is noticed by M&S because they have been successful in printing technology.
Now they are faced with a new challenge of managing creativity while getting a big order
from a profound organization like M&S: an identity-shift from a small organisation to
larger organisation is a bit risky but inevitable while accruing orders from big companies.
Capacity Planning and utilisation

By obtaining new order, more additional employees are required to process and complete
the order. There should be a proper capacity planning and decision to recruit people with
skill and expertise with in depth knowledge on printing technology. The employees may
be recruited full time or on a contract basis as and when there is requirement for people to
work for big orders. There should also a forecasting and scheduling of shifts for
employees to complete orders with ease and adhere to the committed time line. Overtime
wages and extra wages for employees must be communicated well in advance for more
clarity. Absenteeism, Attrition and lack of skill of employees are potential risk factors
straining the new business opportunities .Wace Burgess should have framed policies to

understand the organization priorities to a focus on being more cost-effective and on

improving the current product as opposed to developing a new technology or product.
One of the risks is also the constraining creativity in order to obtain orders from M&S.
Fragmentation challenge.

There is an increase in the number of activities that need to be undertaken in order

to successfully commercialize the newly developed printer device. It is ideal to
the increase in the amount of activities as activity fragmentation.
The second challenge is referred to as product fragmentation. It is important to
note that an increase in product line is not same as developing a new product.
Product fragmentation influences the extent to which employees can cognitively
focus and/or identify with their work, thereby affecting both cognitive and
emotional creative engagement.

Shifting goals

As a result of accruing new orders, goals often change or are influenced by the
order company. There is a challenge of shifting goals wherein priorities and goals
continually change, resulting in limited cognitive, behavioural, and emotional
engagement in producing creative results.
Due to continuous orders and changes in work pattern, employees reported not
being able to stay focused on a given problem for a sustainable amount of time
necessary for creativity, which can ultimately influence cognitive engagement.
Employees also reported experiencing reduced passion, as they now do
monotonous job to meet the requirements of the new client M& S.

Cancellation of orders

Cancellation of orders is major risk which is highly unpredictable and can hamper the
progress of Wace Burgess. The Cancellation and compensation terms and adjustment
terms should be reported in detail in Service level Agreement.

Rewards perceived by Wace Burgess

Performance rewards is given to for excellence for workers appreciating their

work, dedication and knowledge with a time based commitment
Appreciation bonuses to motivate the employees completing big orders at a
stretch.
Team awards for a specific fragment of workers displaying confidence in job
and influencing to achieve as team. This also increases cooperation among
employees and work coordinated as a team.
Incentives as margin share of profit incurred after completion of M&S order
can help in employee motivation and retention.

These are the potential risks and rewards accruing to Wace Burgess in accepting the order
from M & S.

3) Critically discuss whether Wace Burgess should accept the order from M &S if
they are awarded it.
Wace Burgess should accept the order as it is a opportunity to scale up their potential and
level of business. Wace Burgess is a member of the Wace Group, a company in the prepress and print technology market, with a mission:
To become a world-class company providing complete production service for
corporations, enhancing the perceived values of their products and services by improving
the quality and efficiency of the communication process
Company profile
The Wace Group operates in a wide range of communication-related sectors including
imaging networks, advertising, promotional print, corporate literature, academic journals,
rigid and flexible packaging, and labels. Wace Burgess, a business employing around 250
people, specialises in the colour printing of greetings cards, gift wrap, posters, calendars,
book jackets and folders. Their customers are mainly creative publishers, supplying
retailers.

Specifications of M&S order

Wace Burgess had forecasted vision to be a lead player in the market and technological
developments and wanted to involve actively in attracting new and big customers. With
the help of their excellent reputation for quality and responsiveness, they were good
enough to get a chance to supply for a large retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S). Vicky
Dockety, one of the account managers, had for some time been talking, via a publisher, to
M&S and she now seemed to be close to actually getting the first order. She had already
outlined the preliminary requirements to some of the technical specialists and several
managers within the company.

The vast majority of the orders were for print runs of between 5,000 and 10,000
sheets, the average being about 8,000. T
The most popular size of card was around 175 x 125 mm (for some typical orders
see Table 4.1).
A sheet was a piece of thick paper printed in the lithographic printing machines,
normally with standard sizes of up to 720 x 1020 mm, and with typically 12 to 16
cards printed on it.
However, M&S had specified a smaller size of sheet, with smaller cards, very
carefully arranged so that almost no paper would be wasted.
They were also asking for just five design variants.
The delivery requirements were also unusual in that they would be precisely
scheduled over several weeks, in contrast to the single delivery for most normal
orders.
The special paper could be obtained from one of the usual paper suppliers, but for
the metallic inks and gold-blocking, they would have to use a relatively new
supplier of whom they had little experience. The die-cutting and gold-blocking
would be outsourced, as the factory did not have suitable equipment for the job. It
seemed that there were no technical problems with the card or any unusual
features that would have to be solved.

Major Business catch is that if Wace burgess gets the order, it has the following concerns
and the ways brainstormed to tackle the same.
If Wace Burgess were to get the order from M&S, it would mean processing a
single order of 600,000 sheets, there is a real challenge in delivering on time and
sustain the good name in the market.

Huge order from M&S which is a leading market player and would expect quality
and on time delivery of orders. There is a risk involved in maintaining the
reputation among other competitors.

Reliability of manufacturing and technical departments on getting the order and

completing the same without any hassles.

There are huge existing orders booked and there is challenge in capacity planning
and utilisation. Wace Burgess can handle the same by making the employees to
work two eight-hour shifts in the printing, bindery and packaging sections.
Overtime option or Sunday extra shift option on Saturdays and Sundays can be
given if there is a requirement for more people. Team combinations of new and
old workers are deputed to have balance in work pattern and effective focus
completion of job.

There is also challenge in the setup times but the same was also handled
efficiently by the supervisors. Set-ups are very fast both for guillotining and
folding: around 10 minutes each for a typical job. Die cutting process takes time
and suggestion was given to outsource the die cutting and the compliance of the
same can be monitored .It is possible to outsource die-cutting as well as the
embossing, but it is more difficult with the folding and packaging. Strategy to use
home workers for folding and packaging leading to more transportation cost it
would take some time, and this takes a lot of organising and transport. If
outsourced, this must also meet our very specific standards in order to meet the
customers quality demands.

There was a concern for quality compliance and the company has a ongoing
quality check procedure for all printed materials starting from beginning to the
end of process. Only high quality, on-spec products will be sent out, and it is
because of this that the customers trust us with their most demanding work.

Thus Wace Burgess had all the avenues to provide best service by formulating a strategy
to handle M&S business and confident in meeting the expectations of the retail client
M&S.As stated earlier, the above facts reiterate that Wace Burgess should accept the
M&S order.

4) Given that Wace Burgess are awarded the order from M&S and accept it, discuss
if Wace Burgess should introduce any new or special practices in the factory.

If Wace Burgess is awarded the order, there are certain changes or specific practices to be
introduced in order perform effectively and satisfy the client.

Capacity planning and Utilisation

Requirement: Huge order with a tight deadline from M&S.There is always a quest
for quality based design .Need more staffs to be appointed to meet the additional
orders and specific requirements of the client.

Actionable Change

Wace Burgess can handle the same by making the employees to work two
eight-hour shifts in the printing, bindery and packaging sections. Overtime
option or Sunday extra shift option on Saturdays and Sundays can be given if
there is a requirement for more people. Team combinations of new and old
workers are deputed to have balance in work pattern and effective focus
completion of job.

Implication of adhoc setup times.

Another best practice is that Set-ups are very fast both for guillotining and
folding: around 10 minutes each for a typical job. Die cutting process takes
time and suggestion was given to outsource the die cutting and the compliance
of the same can be monitored .It is possible to outsource die-cutting as well as
the embossing, but it is more difficult with the folding and packaging.
Strategy to use home workers for folding and packaging leading to more
transportation cost it would take some time, and this takes a lot of organising
and transport. If outsourced, quality demands can be met to satisfy our
customers.

Change in the recruitment pattern

Company cannot recruit additional staff on company rolls unless and until there is stable
huge order is placed and continued. Wace Burgess was in the verge of hiring extra people
as contract when required .The contract staff can work part time and major catch for the
same will be students and others on a short term basis and they should be only involved
in labour intensive jobs like packing which can be done without any specific knowledge
expertise in printing.

Work force order

Wace Burgess adopted a new technique to form teams having one experienced and other
new as combination. This has a dual advantage of conceptive thinking from the new staff
and experience of the old staff leading to effective quality assurance and sharing of
knowledge from old to new.

Outsourcing strategy
To process huge order involving more people, outsourcing becomes a critical determinant
for saving time and energy. Die cutting process takes time and suggestion was given to
outsource the die cutting and the compliance of the same can be monitored .It is possible

to outsource die-cutting as well as the embossing, but it is more difficult with the folding
and packaging. Strategy to use home workers for folding and packaging leading to more
transportation cost it would take some time, and this takes a lot of organising and
transport. If outsourced, quality demands can be met to satisfy our customers.

These are some of points of evidence that Wace Burgess should introduce any new or
special practices in the factory

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