2020 Yakult Virtual Tour - Case study for Units 3/4 PDF

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Case study, yakult excursion, for processes, inputs and outputs. Has specific data and information crucial for end of year exam...

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Yakult - Virtual Reality Factory Tour 2020 AOS3 – Operations Management About Yakult: Yakult is a fermented milk drink that contains a very high concentration of the unique bacterium Lactobacillus casei Shirota strain. This probiotic/beneficial bacterium was named after Dr Shirota who first discovered this unique strain in 1930. The beneficial bacteria strain in Yakult is scientifically proven to survive the journey through the gastric juices to reach the small intestine alive. Each 65ml bottle contains 6.5 billion of these highly acid resistant bacteria, exclusive to Yakult. This means that every millilitre of Yakult contains 100 million (100, 000, 000) of the live Lactobacillus casei Shirota strain! Yakult Australia Pty Ltd commenced production on the 22nd of January 1994. Australia was the first English speaking country to launch Yakult, chosen due to its close proximity to Asia. In 2004, Yakult was introduced into New Zealand. Since then, Yakult has enjoyed phenomenal market penetration and success in Australia and New Zealand. Yakult’s greatest goal is to bring smiles to faces everywhere.

How does Yakult manage their operations? Search each room and add examples below, there are five rooms to explore. To begin your tour, click here. Education Room

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Laboratory

Culture and Mixing

Bottle Making & Filling

the relationship between operations management and business objectives

What are the key objectives at Yakult? - to meet shareholder expectations - to make a profit - to increase market share

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key elements of an operations system: inputs, processes and outputs

Give specific examples of inputs…. (MLC-IT) Materials such as sugar, milk powder, flavouring, sugar, bottles, plastic packaging and foil lids Labour such as the employees Capital equipment such as machinery, building and equipment Information such as the knowledge of all employees Time such as time taken in processes and time taken in APL Give specific examples of process…. - Mixing - Fermenting - Chilling

Packing

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Pouring Sealing Packaging

Give specific examples of output…. The result of the yakult product range, the individual bottles and the packs of 5 or 10 . Lite or regular

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characteristics of operations management within both manufacturing and service businesses

Yakult is a manufacturing business, give examples that characterise this? Homogenous / standardised Mass produced Tangible item Capital intensive

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strategies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operations related to technological developments, including the use of automated production lines, computer-aided design, computer-aided manufacturing techniques and website development

What technological developments are evident at Yakult? Computer aided manufacturing – CAM The production of bottles is from CAM -Empty bottles released form storage funnel into a selector machine - places bottles in an upright position -Detects irregularities + calculates materials needed at each point APL: The conveyor belt conveys the small filled bottles to the packaging facility, moves liquid from tank to tank, auto fills bottles, labels + packages bottles -Robotics: takes slabs of yakult and place them on a pallet - after 13-15 minutes robotics complete a fully stacked pallet 

strategies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operations related to materials, including forecasting, master production schedule, materials requirement planning and Just In Time

How does Yakult manage their stock? Just in time, forecasting 

strategies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operations related to quality, including quality control, quality assurance and Total Quality Management

What quality control process does Yakult use? Quality control, individual bottles are selected for random testing Quality Assurance, employee and factory hygiene- complies with national standards. 

strategies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of operations through waste minimisation in the production process, including the principles of lean management

How does Yakult minimise waste? One Piece Flow- automated production line

Zero Defects- check for defective products Limited storage due to just in time and forecasting 

corporate social responsibility considerations in an operations system, including the environmental sustainability of inputs and the amount of waste generated from processes and production of outputs

What are Yakults CSR considerations when sourcing inputs? Labs test the quality of raw materials, high quality milk sources. - Packaging is recycled - The ink is biodegradable - Most ingredients are locally sourced What are Yakults CSR considerations during process? Energy management, reduced environmental impact, quality control - One site water treatment facility - 1% waste - LED lighting

What are Yakults CSR considerations for their final output? - Small bottles that can be recycled – can be reused to create - Final product is of benefit or healthy to consumers 

global considerations in operations management, including global sourcing of inputs, overseas manufacture, global outsourcing and an overview of supply chain management.

Does Yakult utilise any global considerations? Find resources from overseas, locally sourced ingredients but the bacteria comes from japan and it is sold in 35 other countries. - Global sourcing of bacteria from japan

Apply your understanding of Yakult to exam style questions:

Question 1

6 marks

Yakult currently uses quality control and quality assurance to improve the effectiveness of its operations. Explain these strategies and discuss how they can improve Yakult’s competitiveness. What does explain mean? What does

discuss mean? How will you structure your response? Response:

Review your response:

Mark out of 6:

Question 2

2 marks

Describe how website development is used by a business like Yakult to improve their competitiveness? What does describe mean? How will you structure your response? Response:

Review your response:

Mark out of 2:

Question 3

3 marks

Explain a technology strategy other than website development that has been used to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of operations at Yakult. What does explain mean? How will you structure your response?

Response:

Review your response:

Mark out of 3:

Question 4

9 marks

Using examples from Yakult, explain the key elements of an operations management system. Include in your response corporate social responsibility considerations. What does explain mean? How will you structure your response? Response:

Review your response:

Mark out of 9:...