Introduction:

Haji Rabri originally known as ASLI HAJI RABRI is a sweetmeat shop located at shahi
bazar Hyderabad since 1948. Its speciality is its Rabri which is famous in all over the
Pakistan. The original proprietor of the shop wash Haji Bashiruddin who migrated from India
to Pakistan and opened this shop with his special recipe of Rabri and since then the business
continued his growth and sustainability and now it is in the hands of his great grand-son
Naveed sheikh. Over all those years, ‘Haji Rabri’ assimilated itself into the very identity of
Hyderabad, much like Bombay Bakery and the city's famous glass bangle factories. Over all
these years the shop is still located at Shahi Bazar but due to increased demand and
popularity they have also opened their one outlet in Karachi.

Now there are huge number of competitors of Haji Rabri in the market like Shah Latif sweets
and Soghat e Sheeren but Haji Rabri remains the pioneer among them due to their moto
regarding quality.

Design of Goods and services:

Main reason of existence of any business is to offer the product which satisfies the needs and
wants of customers. Haji Rabri core product is their famous rabri which is made with the
same recipe since the origin of the business. The Product is made out of milk and various
other ingredients and served in earthen tumblers to give it old traditional look. One of their
differentiation factor or specialization factor is their speciality is their Rabri. Also as
environment is very dynamic everyone has to make changes in their product, now they offer
simple rabri as well as pista rabri. They have also enhanced their product line time to time
and have introduced sweetmeats as well due to demographic and economical changes. If we
talk about the product life cycles their main product rabri is in maturity phase they are
making it profitable by producing high volume but their new products like halwas and other
sweets are in growth phase. Talking about the product by value analysis still their product
which is Rabri has the highest contribution to the firm due to its popularity. Their
consideration for designing the product is robust design because their products does not get
effected by slight variations in the production process like increasing or decreasing of heat
during cooking or cold during storage does not fully effect the product.

Managing Quality:

The management of Haji Rabri take certain measures to ensure their quality is up to standard.
The ingredients they use are of quality specially the milk, usage of adulterated milk is strictly
prohibited by them. Also as instructed by Hyderabad Food Authority they have to maintain
neatness in their kitchens. In an interview with dawn the owner said we have our own tools
and methods for checking the quality of production. He said that if our 40 litres of milk ends
up producing 10 kilograms of Rabri then it is pure otherwise it is not.
Process and Capacity Design:

Process and capacity design of Haji Rabri refers to stages of production and resources
available to meet ends. It includes internal business processes like their daily production of
sweets especially rabri, ordering of milk and other ingredients for it. Packaging and order
delivery if any. The process strategy they follow is product focused because their main focus
is high volume- low variety. Haji rabri produce in a continuous process e.g. daily production
of sweets. There are three Job shops involve in the production process of sweets of haji rabri.
The first Job shop mixes the materials and shape the sweets. The second job shop is a
cooking stage and the third job shop deals with the storage of sweets into freezers and bring
them into retail outlet. Their target capacity of Haji Rabri facilities is based on customer
footfall. They make maximum number of units using current resources. The management
tries to maximize utilization through these decisions. They make changes in capacity
planning in seasonal times like Eid because of the demand. E.g. they make 600 kilograms of
rabri during normal days and on special occasions they increase capacity and make 4000
kilograms.

Location strategy:

Haji Rabri is still located at Shahi Bazar from where they started back there in 1948. Haji
Rabri location decision is based on several factors of site decision. The first factor they
considered is labour productivity. The productivity of their labour as compared it cost is very
cheap as compared to autobahn or any other location of Hyderabad. Second factor they
considered is tangible costs i.e. rent; rent expense of that location is easily in budget. Third
their personal values related to their historical location. Fourth is proximity to markets, they
are close with their main targeted customers. Fifth is proximity to suppliers, being a
perishable product they use JIT system for their inventories because their main ingredient i.e.
milk is also perishable in nature so closeness with suppliers and being located in shahi bazar
is a good factor for them. Although location is very key aspect of every business profitability
and this location has indeed proven them that they are at the right place. Due to increase
demand from outside the Hyderabad and to taker the bigger market the owners of the
business have also opened their one more branch which is also located in Hussainabad
Karachi.

Layout Strategy:

Layout strategy focuses on the flow of information and arrangement of equipment, people
and space. Haji Rabri uses two layout strategies to run their business operation, one is Work
cell layout for their manufacturing site and other one is retail layout where they sell their
products. Haji Rabri uses work cell layout because they produce similar nature of products or
products which belongs to same group that is sweets. By implementing this strategy haji rabri
requires less machineries and equipment because of good utilization of them and also their
product is perishable and this strategy allows the rapid production of sweets. There are few
number of workers in their kitchen and all of them work together to manufacture sweets on
the daily basis. On their retail site, their layout strategy focuses on high rate of customer
exposure towards the products. Their store is designed in such a way that just by entering you
will lay your eyes on their core product the rabri and then lot of different sweets placed
closely. Also high profitable item like Sohn Halwa have upper slots to attract the customers.

Human Resource and Job Design:

This refers to job description and tasks included in it. Haji Rabri job design is based on the
current needs of the business. The type of employees they usually need is a chefs and sales
personals. Their job includes variety of tasks and their productivity is measured by business
efficiency. The persons they hire for the job does not require any specific qualification but
certain experience is required to be a part of Haji Rabri. While hiring an employee they tell
them about their work activity means what will be his core tasks, his basic pay and job
context (working hours). One of the elements of their job design which they tell to new
employee is his task significance which means how much crucial his task his. E.g. if he is a
part of manufacturing unit then the whole business reputation is at stake. The employees they
hire are usually unskilled so as part of their training they perform on the job training. The
owners and previous employees help them actually perform that job so that they could learn.
The owners also involve themselves in public dealings and kitchen to monitor the employees.
The management of Haji Rabri is determined to hire particular person for one particular job
as to increase their commitment towards that job.

Supply Chain Management:

For the Supply of raw material needed for the manufacturing of sweets, they do produce
their own raw material i.e. milk up to some extent and also purchase it from various
suppliers. For other raw materials like sugar, honey, wheat etc. they have their one trusted
supplier. Also they do have cold storages and warehouses where they keep certain stock as
well. From production factory they bring the final product to their retail shop to sell it. They
do not use any sort of wholesalers and distributers. The owner did sign the deal with his
suppliers for uninterrupted milk supplies.

Inventory, material requirements planning, and JIT:

For keeping in check of inventory, Haji Rabri does keep inventory of good quantity to meet
demands but they keep inventory of only 2 to 3 days of demand because their products are of
perishable nature. They have an inventory of 600 kilograms of Rabri on daily basis and other
sweets as well. For occasions like Eids, Rabi-ul-Awal and Independence Day the demand
multiplies by six times so according to demand they increase their inventory. Since their
product is of perishable nature so the common practice they apply is just in time (JIT) system
for production and for supply of raw material too. Whenever they receive big order or their
demand rises they contact their signed suppliers for delivery of milk and produce
accordingly. Also for material requirement planning they forecast their requirements by using
past month or year data to order their supplies. They do know how much gas cylinders sugars
milk etc. materials are needed for every month of production and if anything uncertain
happen they do have closely located suppliers available in shahi bazar.

Intermediate and Short-term scheduling:

 Manufacturing firms make schedules that match resources to customer demands.
Intermediate scheduling develops weekly schedules and short term develops daily schedules
and assignments needed to meet demands and to get work done. Haji Rabri makes
intermediate schedules decisions to decide the weekly production of sweets, their quantity,
and how much material will be required for it. As for short term scheduling Haji Rabri
management gives daily tasks to their chefs, sales persons and to their waiters’ interaction
with customers and fulfilling their needs. They perform jobs according to customer order and
delivery is scheduled at the earliest time possible.

Maintenance:

Haji Rabri applies two kinds of maintenance. Preventive maintenance in which routine
inspections of machines and equipment are checked as they are running properly and if any
minor fault occur they repair it quickly. On the extreme side as part of their breakdown
maintenance, when their any machinery fails they replace it on the emergency basis. Also to
prevent any incident Haji Rabri does calculate the depreciation of their equipment and
machineries time by time and replace them after a certain period.

References:

https://www.dawn.com/news/1194996

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