1. Introduction

A consistent position has been occupied by the global pet care industry in this current competitive business market. ‘Dog Global Manufacturing’ is an organization that manufactures food and other essential projects for cats and dogs. Application of various business strategies has helped this organization to continuously supply food and other essential products for the pet cats and dogs of different breeds even in the pandemic situation. In this aspect, panic buying has increased the sales figure of the organization along with creating problems for its entire supply chain management. Shortage of products has become a severe problem for this organization during the pandemic situation and the panic buying of customers has caused a shortage of pet products. In this aspect, this study aims to discuss the constant development of this organization based on its current challenges, and recommend a new inventory management strategy to improve its inventory performance.

2. Context of global pet care market

The context of the global pet care market suggests that pet lovers are the targeted customers of this industry. It has been revealed from this study that the pet care industry is going to make a huge profit from its business such as 113876 USD by 2026 (Statista.com, 2021). As mentioned in the case study, the organization is suffering from an issue with its inventory management. Warehouse of this organization is already overwhelmed with product stocks and still, this organization has continued its manufacturing process. In this aspect, this organization has faced major issues like overinvestment on stock that needed to be reduced by its finance manager immediately. In this situation, proper inventory management is required to improve the inventory management of this organization. A lean manufacturing process is appropriate to manage the inventory of this organization along with its other aspects.

Figure 1: Revenue forecast of UK pet care industry

(Source: Statista.com, 2021)

The current situation in the inventory management of this organization suggests that an effective inventory management strategy is required to improve the inventory management of this organizational business process. Lean manufacturing process is a smart procedure of manufacturing organizational products in which the entire production will be done in a cost-effective manner. As argued by Yadav et al. (2020), the main issues in lean manufacturing processes include that in this process a complete infrastructure of the product manufacturing system is required and it has a possibility of causing stress to the employees. Besides, employees that are using their traditional methods of a manufacturing process can face difficulties in this process. Constant input from the employees for quality control is another requirement in lean manufacturing but employees may not be qualified enough to do that.

3. Critical evaluation on the Impact of contemporary operation management

Traditional practice

Traditional process of inventory management suggests that people used to apply spreadsheets for keeping records regarding organizational inventory management. Regular performance of the employees was recorded in the spreadsheets and it was a lengthy process. It has another problem such as manipulation of records by the employees in case of nepotism. It can cause major losses to the organizational financial performance and employee turnover rate. Besides that, tracking everything about employee activities through manual spreadsheets is a difficult and time taking task. Lean manufacturing process has been considered to be one of the major solutions for such issues. As stated by Rodriguez and Walters (2017), it can increase the concentration level of the employees in that organization by changing the entire production process. However, this process requires proper quality control in the entire production process that can help the organization to develop more in future and increase its inventory performance.

Operational performance and product quality of an organization determine the future durability and sustainability of the products and services of the organization. Poor technological implementation can require more workers in the organization and that can be cost-consuming for a particular organization. As suggested by Younus (2021), an organization must switch to technological advancement and its application in the entire production process to improve the operational management of that organization. Effective operational activities in an organization can help to improve its future business sustainability and obtain effective quality control. However, a lack of knowledge and training on the technical perspectives can create major complications for the employees in an organization.

Previously, organizations used to apply the traditional process of market research to understand current consumer market trends. Based on the current situational requirements, an organization is supposed to apply technology in its market research process. It is beneficial to make this process faster and ensure more accurate knowledge of current market demands. In the words of Vincent et al. (2020), based on the current market trends the organizational leaders are supposed to implement the ideas on the upcoming products. This strategy can help in producing innovative products and enhancing organizational operational and inventory performance. Understanding the market demand will help this organization to produce pet food and other products in appropriate quantities. It will help to reduce product waste and shortage as well.

The case study suggests that poor inventory management has created major issues for this pet product manufacturing organization in overwhelming product stock. Application of an effective lean manufacturing process can help this organization in determining current product stock and current market demand for those products. Once the products are delivered to the retailers, the inventory manager is supposed to forecast the required product quantity. It may help to reduce wastage of products and reduce the organizational budget by not acquiring another warehouse. According to the view of Ghobadian et al. (2020), a proper lean manufacturing process can help the organizational inventory management to automatically understand which products need to be manufactured and which are not. Besides that, the inventory record of this organization will help in annual financial analysis.

Implementation of lean manufacturing process

The major factors of a lean manufacturing process consist of product value definition, value stream mapping, product flow creation, increasing product flow in the entire supply chain management; pull factors, persuasion of perfection in final products. The UK government has announced the prevention of any social gathering to prevent the further contamination of COVID-19 pandemic. In this aspect, the pet product manufacturing organization has not been able to call their employees in the organization and manufacture the products. It has created a major issue for this organization and this organization has faced issues in shortage of pet care products during this pandemic situation (Rombach and Dean, 2021). Another reason for such issue is the panic buying behaviour of the pet lovers who have preferred to make huge stock at their homes.

Figure 2: Lean management process

(Source: Frank et al.2019)

In this pandemic situation, pet animals have become the only companions for people in the entire lockdown period. In this situation, people have become more aware of the safety and sustainability of their pet animals and they have started stockpiling pet care products. Prior to this situation, this organization has been producing huge amounts of products, and not implementing lean manufacturing processes created issues for the organizations. Lean manufacturing requires implementation of advanced and current technology in an organization to make the manufacturing procedure smoother. As argued by Frank et al. (2019), poor technical knowledge and skills of the employees in a manufacturing unit can create major issues for the organizational manufacturing process. In case this pet care product manufacturing organization faced this issue then it could make huge losses to this organization.

This study suggests that this pet care product manufacturing organization needs to implement a lean manufacturing process in its organization so that the entire process can be accomplished smoothly. For example, application of Artificial Intelligence, blockchain technology, big data analytics, and other factors can help this organization to make its manufacturing process automatic. In this aspect, this organization will be able to predict the future market demand more effectively and modify its production process effectively (Finishtya, 2019). For example, if the prediction suggests that a particular food product of dogs is in high demand by the consumers then this organization can increase manufacturing of that product more. It will help them to achieve more revenue from the market. However, a change management theory can help this organization in this particular aspect because, in the case of implementing lean manufacturing processes, the employees of this organization and its entire management can face major issues.

Effective lean management manufacturing processes can help this organization in its waste management. As stated by (2019), in case an organization produces minimum waste from its product manufacturing process then it can save its manufacturing and resource cost. Reduced costs for the required resources can help to save the budget of the organization and improve its resource and budget management strategies. It will be beneficial for Dog Global Manufacturing Company to increase its workflow in the organization through effective lean management practices. Improvement in the manufacturing process will be helpful in enhancing the organizational inventory performance and operational performance (Sravani and Rao, 2017). As a result, this organization will be able to generate huge profits from its manufacturing business by controlling its inventory management with the implementation of an effective lean manufacturing process.

4. Best practices and limitations

Best practices

Figure 3: Best practices and limitations

(Source: Iankova et al. 2019)

Effective market research

In this current business time, every organization has engaged in competitions to generate more revenue and profit through increased sales figures. Application of social media has become a trend now to understand consumer demand and requirements (Iankova et al. 2019). In fact, consumers too have started to rely on the data and information collected about the market through social media. Besides that, attractive marketing approaches have been highly influential for grabbing attention of the customers. In the case of pet products, customers are highly concerned about the health and safety of their pets and they have focused on purchasing those products only that are reliable and nutritious for the pet animals (Davies et al. 2019). However, effective market research can increase the productivity cost of an organization and that is an issue for organizational management.

Application of advanced technology

Application of advanced technology can help the organization in enhancing its organizational work efficiency. Implementation of blockchain technology will help to enhance the inventory performance of this organization as the products will be able to be tracked. In this way, misplacement of products will be minimized that will reduce the organizational cost-effectively (Buer et al. 2018). This best practice has been applied mostly in the e-commerce sectors to minimize the damage and misplace of products. Dishonesty of the internal stakeholders is one of the major reasons for misplaced products and inventory. Besides that, application of AI will help to detect lower efficiency among the employees and it will be beneficial for the project manager to measure the efficiency level of the employees (Andronie et al. 2021). Big data analytics will be beneficial to forecast the future demand of a particular product in this organization based on the analysis of its previous sales figure.

Encouraging feedback forms

Most of the business organizations are currently including feedback forms with their products in which the customers are requested to participate in the survey to share their experience so that this organization can improve the quality and features of their products. Many organizations have provided the option to win attractive gifts if they participate in this feedback survey (Watling and Ginsburg, 2019). This strategic practice has benefitted the organizations to understand the feedback and review of the customers for their products.

Training of the employees

Employee training is the most essential factor in an organization because poor knowledge and skills of employees can cause job dissatisfaction and customer dissatisfaction. In terms of reducing such issues, organizations are supposed to provide proper training and education to their employees so that they can possess adequate knowledge about the product to convince customers to buy those (Al-Omari et al. 2020). Currently, organizations that sell pet care products properly train their employees to tackle pet animals. Besides, they are provided with huge knowledge on the variety of animal breeds.

Limitations

Changing consumer behaviour

Continuous changes in consumerbehaviour have created major issues for the current pet care organizations. As stated by Al-Omari et al. (2020), business globalization and strong market competition are the main reasons behind continuously changing consumer behaviour. However, acknowledgment of proper strategies to attract consumers with innovative products can reduce this issue.

Poor research on pet requirements

In this current business era, business organizations are supposed to gain proper knowledge on the requirements of pet lovers. Online surveys and access to social media accounts can help to gain knowledge in this field (Tarazona et al. 2020). In this aspect, pet care products manufacturing organizations will be able to understand the current requirements of pet lovers for their beloved pets.

Poor technical knowledge

Poor technical knowledge of the employees that are involved with the manufacturing department of pet care products is a major limitation for this industry. Poor knowledge about the application of technology can make the lean manufacturing process complicated for the employees (Tokarčíková et al. 2020). As a result, work efficiency of the employees will be reduced and it will cause major loss to the organization.

Non-implementation of lean manufacturing process

The advantages of a lean manufacturing process have been analysed in this study in the above section and the outcome of not implementing a lean manufacturing process will not be profitable for this organization. Wastage of products and resources will not be controlled if this organization does not implement a lean manufacturing process in the organizational manufacturing process (Yadav et al. 2020).

5. Realistic recommendations

Based on the issues faced by this organization in its inventory management, several realistic recommendations have been given below:

• Implementation of lean manufacturing processes in the organization has been recommended to enhance the workflow in its operation and inventory management. Besides that, it will help to reduce the waste of resources and products and that will be beneficial for this organization to increase its workflow efficiency (Ghobadian et al. 2019).
• Application of advanced technology in organizational operational processes such as blockchain technology, AI, and big data analytics. Blockchain technology will help this organization to track its inventory during its transportation and delivery to retailers as it will help to reduce the chance of product misplacement. Besides, big data analytics will help to analyse market data and predict future demand of a particular product produced by this organization (Frank et al. 2019).
• This organization is recommended to improve its market research process to determine current requirements of the consumers. Based on the market research this organization will be able to implement innovation in its products and services (Buer et al. 2018). Besides, quality management and employee training on various aspects of this entire supply chain management can also be recommended.

6. Conclusion

It can be concluded from this study that the pet care industry called ‘Global Dog Manufacturing’ is facing issues in its inventory management. This study has analysed the advantages and disadvantages of lean manufacturing processes for the inventory management of this organization. Critical analysis of the impact of contemporary operation management has been done in this study. Best practices and limitations of this pet care product manufacturing industry have been discussed in this study. Based on the limitations discussed in this study and issues faced by this organization, several realistic recommendations have been provided.

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