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Balancing Safety, Quality, and Cost at Walkers

The document discusses a case study of Walkers, the UK's largest crisp manufacturer. It examines how the company balances four key areas in its business: safety, quality, customer service, and cost. Each area is measured differently - safety focuses on keeping workers safe, quality meets consumer expectations, customer service satisfies customers' needs, and cost aims to maximize output efficiently. The case study considers Walkers' goals in each area and how maintaining balance across all areas is vital to the company's continued success.

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Adaobi Ugha
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12 views4 pages

Balancing Safety, Quality, and Cost at Walkers

The document discusses a case study of Walkers, the UK's largest crisp manufacturer. It examines how the company balances four key areas in its business: safety, quality, customer service, and cost. Each area is measured differently - safety focuses on keeping workers safe, quality meets consumer expectations, customer service satisfies customers' needs, and cost aims to maximize output efficiently. The case study considers Walkers' goals in each area and how maintaining balance across all areas is vital to the company's continued success.

Uploaded by

Adaobi Ugha
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Unit 6 Written Assignment

University of the People

Managing Projects and Programs

BUS 5611 - AY2022-T1

Dr. Ilknur-Mj Tekin


The Walker’s Case Study

Walkers is the UK's biggest crisp manufacturer, world's largest snack factory at Bursom Road,
Leicester. It is also a subsidiary of the worldwide PepsiCo group, which is a multi-branded New
York based corporation. The business operates in almost 200 countries with 153,000 staff and
has operated in the snack foods market since 1966. In the UK, Walkers employs over 4,000
people in 15 locations. The company operates to achieve a balance in four key areas:
 Safety
 Quality
 Customer Service
 Cost.
This paper will examine how a project manager can strike a balance amongst the mentioned
areas.

How Each Area is Measured

 Safety: The International Labour Organisation (ILO) tells us that globally there is one
death in the workplace every 15 seconds, and almost 270 million accidents happen each
year. The Walkers is fully aware of this, that factories are dangerous places to work and
therefore regards safety as its highest priority. Managers are therefore mandated to keep
staff safe on site. The culture of safety at Walkers is that safe working practices take
priority over others, even customer service.

 Quality: Quality, in the eye of the consumer, means that a product must provide the
benefits required by the consumer when it was purchased. If all the features and benefits
satisfy the consumer, a quality product has been bought. It is consumers, therefore, who
define this. Just like every exceptional brand, Walkers understands that quality must
match the expectations of its customers and consumers which is why it maintains a
comprehensive approach to Total Quality Management (TQM) approach. This approach
involves looking at the whole supply chain, starting with the farmers who grow the
potatoes.

 Customer Service: The factory must meet the needs of several types of customers. Some
of these are within the business, some of them outside it. This requires being able to step
up production when required and be able to scale down too, if necessary, deliver 98.5%
of what a retail supermarket outlet ordered in 24 hours and ultimately satisfying the
expectations of the final consumer.

 Cost: Management's operational performance depends on maximizing the output from


the factory of the required products. To achieve this, Walkers depend on just-in-time
production, materials arrive at the point in production just-in-time to effectively utilize
labor, energy, and plant. Also to save cost, Walker encourages little or no waste.

Identifying Direct and Indirect Goals For The Following

 Quality:
Walkers rely on TQM to achieve its goal on quality this in not incorporated into
manufacturing alone but in the selection of raw materials and suppliers. With the TQM
approach, they are able to meet the expectations of the final consumer.

 Cost:
The goal at the Walkers is to cut down on production cost as much as possible in order to
survive in the competitive market, to this end, even employees are encouraged to spot ways
of saving on process costs, and efficient management of the production process.

 Delivery
Walkers aim to be successful in delivering 98.5% of their products within 24 hours of request.
Walkers have 160 different types of products, so they know holding or producing a product with
no sales is a loss to them (Success through managing quality, safety, customer service and cost:
A Walkers case study, 2019.).

Choose a Rank of Priority for the Goals Identified and Justify Why this Approach is the
Best to Respond to the Success of the Business

It may be hard to choose a rank of priority for the Walkers as each area outlined in the study
need attention and emphasis to differing degrees. It can be observed that all the elements are
inter-dependent and close attention to one robs off in a good way to the other.

Conclusion

Good customer service has the same effect, as people get to recognize and trust Walkers crisps.
Increasing demand, fluent production processes and continuous attention to safety and quality
ensures that the Leicester plant operates at optimum effectiveness, which is vital to the continued
success of the Walkers business (Success through managing quality, safety, customer service and
cost: A Walkers case study, 2019.). The key word here is balance in all areas of the execution
phase of any project. It is the heart of a successful project management.

Reference:
Success through managing quality safety customer service and cost. (2019, September 17). Business Case
Studies. [Link]
service-and-cost/[Link]#axzz3j011Sinn

Common questions

Powered by AI

Walkers' approach to balancing key operational areas—safety, quality, customer service, and cost—serves as a model for other organizations by demonstrating the importance of an integrated management strategy. By aligning these areas through interdependency, Walkers exemplifies how to maintain high standards without over-prioritizing one element at the expense of others. Other organizations in the snack food industry can adopt similar strategies, using TQM to manage quality, just-in-time production to control costs, and responsive customer service practices. This holistic approach can lead to enhanced operational efficiency, improved product quality, and increased customer satisfaction .

It is challenging to prioritize one operational area over the others at Walkers because all elements are interdependent and contribute to the company's success. Attention to safety, quality, customer service, and cost needs to be distributed to ensure that focusing too much on one area does not detrimentally affect the others. Each area supports and enhances the others; for instance, high safety standards likely lead to fewer accidents and disruptions, improving quality and customer satisfaction. Therefore, a balanced approach is necessary to maintain operational effectiveness and support Walkers' market position .

Walkers' emphasis on quality significantly influences its relationship with suppliers by requiring them to align with its Total Quality Management (TQM) approach. Walkers expects suppliers to provide high-quality raw materials that meet specified standards to ensure the end product meets consumer expectations. This relationship involves selecting suppliers who are reliable and capable of adhering to strict quality benchmarks, thereby building a supply chain that supports the company's quality goals .

Maintaining a balance between safety, quality, customer service, and cost is crucial for Walkers' operations because it ensures the optimal effectiveness of the plant and the continuous success of the business. Each of these areas is inter-dependent, and attention to one positively impacts the others. Prioritizing safety ensures a secure work environment, which in turn supports consistent quality and reliable customer service. Similarly, effective cost management allows the company to sustain its competitive market position by maximizing output and reducing waste without compromising the other critical areas .

Walkers implements Total Quality Management (TQM) by ensuring quality is not only a part of manufacturing but also integrated into the selection of raw materials and suppliers. This comprehensive approach allows Walkers to meet the expectations of the final consumer by maintaining a high quality standard across its supply chain. The focus on TQM emphasizes that quality is defined by the consumer, ensuring that their products provide the benefits required at the point of purchase .

Walkers prioritizes safety within its operations above other key areas such as customer service. The company emphasizes that factories are inherently dangerous places and that protecting staff on-site is its highest priority. This commitment is reflected in the culture of safety, where safe working practices are given precedence. By prioritizing safety, Walkers ensures a secure work environment, which indirectly supports quality, reliability in customer service, and cost efficiency through reduced accident-related disruptions .

Through effective cost management, Walkers aims to directly achieve the goal of reducing production costs to remain competitive in the market. Indirect goals include encouraging employees to identify cost-saving opportunities, ensuring efficient production processes, and minimizing waste. These efforts contribute to maintaining product affordability and achieving operational efficiencies, thereby supporting the company's overall strategic objectives .

The just-in-time production approach contributes to Walkers' cost reduction goals by ensuring that materials arrive precisely when needed in the production process. This strategy minimizes inventory holding costs and reduces waste by aligning production schedules closely with demand. Consequently, it optimizes the use of labor, energy, and plant resources, aiding in the overall reduction of operational costs without compromising product quality .

To meet the customer service goal of delivering 98.5% of products within 24 hours, Walkers employs several strategies. They have a flexible production system capable of scaling up or down based on demand. This allows the company to efficiently manage resources and respond to customer needs promptly. The use of sophisticated supply chain management practices ensures that products are available when needed, minimizing delays and meeting customer expectations .

Operational performance plays a crucial role in Walkers' cost management strategy by striving to maximize factory output and minimize costs. Efficient operations are achieved through just-in-time production and waste reduction practices, which optimize resource usage and lower production expenses. These strategies ensure that Walkers can produce the necessary quantity of products without incurring unnecessary costs, helping maintain the organization's competitiveness in the market .

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