Traceability Issues in Food Supply Chain Management A review

Question: Describe about the Traceability issues in food supply chain management? Answer: Total Quality Management It is very important for the management as well as the employees of the organization to be committed to improvement in the quality of service that is provided to the customers. Total Quality management (TQM) doesnt mean improvement in the quality of service provided to the customer only; it talks about quality in all the possible aspects of business. AA limited should start with an analysis of what is present currently in the organization. The management should understand the services that they are delivering and the expectations that the client may be having. The time required for the equipment to reach the client place would be 3 hours from the time, the client informs the company. There are various ways by which the time limit can be reduced so it is the responsibility of the management to plan for activities that will help the organization to reduce the transmit time. Due to the transmit time, there are high possibilities that the customer will opt for some other service provider rather than that of AA limited. Rather than anything else, TQM is an attitude. It is the responsibility of the management to ensure that this attitude in embedded in the employees. The management should have meetings and trainings to the employees so that they can understand the importance of reduction in transit time and then they can plan accordingly to reduce the time. The employees should also be motivated to give suggestions so that every person in the organization is committed to improvement. AA Limited can use various tools like SPC (Statistical Process control) or TOPS (Team oriented problem solving). The management can have special teams in place so that they can use the statistical tools to understand the reduction in transit time. This will help the management to take real time decisions rather than that of being dependent on random number which may not be accurate (Lee 2002). AA limited should try to reduce the transmit time from 3 hours to 2.30 hours and then it should look for continuous improvement. An excellence team should be formed in the organization and it would be the responsibility of the excellence team to note that the transmit time is reduced continuously so that the organization can improve continuously rather than that of stagnant. The management of AA limited should meet up with the customer and understand their requirements. The management may think that they are doing their best but there are very high possibilities that the customers expectations would be different than what organization is doing. With implementation of various TQM strategies, the cost of production will also reduce so this will ultimately be beneficial for the customer. This cost reduction is one of the best ways by which the customer would stay back with the organization for longer. At all point of time, the management of the organization should remember that they shouldnt compromise on the quality that they are offering to the customers. In case of compromise in quality, the customers may opt for some other service provider and this will be risky for the business (Lamberti 2012). Quality improvement tools Various quality improvement tools can be used by AA limited so that they can ensure that they are providing the best possible quality to their customers. Few of the quality improvement tools which will be considered to be suitable for the organization are discussed below. Plan-do-study-act tool should be implemented so that the quality of service provided by the organization can be improved. With the help of this tool, the management can plan the activities that will have to be undertaken for the betterment of the organization. The plan will be implemented so that the benefits can be enjoyed by the clients. There are very high chances that the plan will be successful at the first shot and hence, the management will have to study the plan that has been implemented so that they can understand the various areas that requires improvement. Accordingly, changes in the plan will be done and it will be implemented again so that the desired results can be achieved (Sharma 2011). Secondly, Six Sigma can also be implemented in the organization so that the quality of the service can be improved. With the help of Six Sigma, the management can reduce or eliminate the wastage and hence, efficiency in the process will automatically improve. First and foremost, the management should define on areas where they are willing to improve. AA limited should reduce the transmit time and also the maintenance time. Next will be measurement wherein the management will get the exact numbers. The management will study the current transit time and also the time for maintenance. The management will analyze the complete transit and maintenance process so that they can understand the areas which require improvement. Finally, the management will look for ways so that the improvement can be implemented. Once the improvement plan is implemented, the management will ensure that there is no deviation from the plan so that best of results can be achieved. Lastly, root cause analysis strategy can be implemented so that the management can understand the various reasons due to which delay in transit is taking place. Accordingly, the management will come up with solutions so that customer satisfaction is given more importance than that of anything else. The management will continuously analyze the process that needs improvement so that various solutions can be implemented for better results (Kannan 2011). ISO 9001 standards For implementation of ISO 9001 standards, the management of AA will have to follow to rules and procedures so that the standards of ISO 9001 can be implemented in the organization. Few of the requirements that the management needs to implement so that they can organization can follow ISO 9001 standards are discussed below. Quality manual will have to be introduced in the organization. The quality manual will describe the various quality standards that need to be adhered by everyone in the organization. Detailed description of the quality process should be used present in the organization so that the employees can also be aware of what needs to be followed in the organization so that quality standards can be maintained. Quality documents that are publicized by AA limited cannot be issued without any prior approval. It is the responsibility of the management to ensure that all the required are taken in advance before the document is rolled out to employees, clients and also the other parties which are associated with the organization (Rakheja 2013). All the records in the organization should be maintained and disposed appropriately. All the documents should be safeguarded so that the management can be rest assured that the confidentiality of the data can be maintained. The storage of records should be planned in such a way that it is accessible only to the right set of people. On the other end, retrieval should also be easy. The management should be committed to achieve the quality standards and hence, they should conduct management reviews at regular intervals. If management reviews are conducted at regular intervals, the excellence team will ensure that they adhere to the quality policies that they need to follow. In case of ignorance by the management, the excellence team will be ignorant about the quality and hence, the organization will not be able to achieve the quality. All the quality policies in the organization should implemented to achieve better customer satisfaction. The management can look for areas where in the customers are dissatisfied and then accordingly, quality policy should be planned and implemented. A quality planning system can be implemented in the organization so that the management can easily understand the expectations that the customer has (Gupta 2013). Environmental aspects The management of AA limited will have to consider various aspects of business so that they can reduce the businesss impact on the environment. Today, every business will have to reduce their impact on the environment so that they can survive. Few of the various ways by which AA limited can reduce the impact on the environment are discussed below. Every employee in the organization will have to contribute so that the organization can reduce their impact on the environment. The printing of invoices should be avoided so that paper can be saved. All the computers at AA limited should be programmed in such a way that they will automatically go to sleep mode. This will help the organization to save electricity. The number of employees who are working from office for AA limited is very less and hence, the management can allow the employees to work from home. This option is considered to be the best as the usage of the companys resource will be reduced to a great extent (Mellat-Parast 2013). AA limited should try and understand the best transmit route to reach the client location. This is one of the best ways by which the fuel can be saved. In fact, it is the responsibility of the management to buy vehicles that consume less fuel than that of the existing vehicles. The management should also ensure that the vehicles are sending out for maintenance at regular intervals. This will help the vehicles to operate in a fuel efficient manner. AA limited should ensure that their vehicles stoppage place is close to the clients place. This will help the management to reduce the usage of fuel. The management of AA limited should understand that the efforts that they are putting to save the environment will be beneficial to them as well. Saving fuel will save money for the organization and hence, the employees in the organization should be motivated to look for ways by which they can do their good to the environment (Douglas 2005). Environmental management programs Various environmental management programs should be implemented at AA limited so that the organization doesnt cause any harm to the environment. Few of the environmental management programs that can be implemented for the betterment of the organization are discussed below. Awareness program at regular intervals so that the management can be rest assured that all the employees in the organization are aware of the programs that are prevalent in the organization. All the employees in the organization should be trained regarding the various environmental policies that are prevalent in the organization. This will allow the employees to adhere to the existing policies in the company (Stein 2011). The drivers at AA limited should be trained to choose the shortest possible route. The shortest route may seem to be difficult to choose so they can be provided with a GPS system. They should be trained to use the GPS system even the new drivers can use the GPS system. The supply chain management of AA limited should be designed in such a way that the organization can save electricity, fuel and other things that can create an impact on the environment (Dabbene 2014). 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