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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Firstly I would like to express my gratitude towards for various individuals who supported to do the assignment by all means. I wish convey my special thanks to all lecture, who gave me conceptual knowledge at the class room regarding research methods. Secondary, I am thankfully to ICBT campus for the coordination of this assignment.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The report aims at analysing the Operation Management efficiency of the “DAMRO Furniture” which is engaged in the furniture business in Sri Lanka for almost 3 decades. While considering the Operations Management perspective of DAMRO Furniture it further illustrate the operational strategies adopted by the DAMRO specifically on Product Design, Quality Management, Operation, inventory management, Supplier relationships and Consumer Management.

Eventually it has become the secret of the success gained by DAMRO which is the capability to produce high quality furniture in more affordable prices while providing exceptional customer service. The organisation’s existing vision is to be among the world's top furniture manufacturers offering an assorted range of modern and traditional furniture. Anyone who does observer the groups expansion towards the Electronic goods, Fashion Retail and to Leisure and Hospitality industry purely from furniture industry, it is evident that DAMRO operations were managed by its management team drives the DAMRO Group towards a tactical path with a endeavour of clear success.

Its venture in to different industries with in these Thirty years clearly shows the strength of the DAMRO group and the confidence they gained via the loyalty they built in Sri Lanka hearts. India and Australia brace their success and current the target market of the DAMRO group has become Europe.

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INTRODUCTION

Operations can be seen as one of many functions (e.g. production, quality control, personal, marketing, finance) within the organisation. The operation function can be described as the part of the organisation devoted to the production or delivery of products or services. This means all operations undertake operation tasks as eventually the entire organisation which operates to produce products or services. Operations Management is expressed as the activities which produces and delivers products and services to the end user. Operation management is also defined as “The Management of the conversion of process, which converts Land, Labour, Capital and Management inputs into desired outputs or goods and services (Adam el al., 1996: p. 06). Also another definition provided on Operation Management is that, to manage the organization responsible for the production of goods and services for business planning and coordinating via use of organizational resources to convert inputs into outputs (Stevenson, 2002).

Operation management has made it presence in the modern era as a management concept which enriches technologies to increase productivity while reducing costs, enhancing flexibility to meet rapidly changing needs and wants of the customer base, in catering quality product and services. The author explains the concept of Operation Management in this report segregating the report in to four main sections of in the context of DAMRO Furniture:

(01)Importance of a strong operation strategy in DAMRO Furniture to capitalize global opportunities.

(02)Identification of major business processes in DAMRO and elaborate them using standard process management tools and diagrams. Major business processes can be identified from the areas such as “Quality Management”, “Inventory Management”, “Customer Management”, “Supplier Management”, etc.

(03)Critical analysis of and proposing the improvements/changes to the processes mentioned above in DAMRO Furniture, in the view of “Process innovation and improvement”.

(04)Description about the “New Product/Service Development” process in DAMRO, while benchmarking the current practices with leading practices in the industry and recommending required changes.

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Company Outline

DAMRO FURNITURE being one of South Asia’s largest furniture manufactures is now among the world’s largest furniture manufacturers who offers assortment of modern and traditional furniture (The Nation, 22 July 2012). DAMRO Furniture commenced its business 3 decades ago in 1986 by producing soft wood furniture. Since then the company has been expanding its operations locally as well as globally. Today DAMRO Furniture has 65 overseas showrooms and 102 own showrooms locally. In addition they have a strong dealer network of 3000 locally & internationally. Currently DAMRO Furniture is dominating the Sri Lankan furniture market with 33% market share (DAMRO Furniture - About Us, 2014).

It is evident that DAMRO Furniture is the market leader in the furniture industry amidst the rest of the players in the market (DAMRO Furniture - About Us, 2014). In analysing the market, the opportunity obtainable in the furniture market is gigantic in Sri Lanka, as the total size of the business is around 36 billion annually. The furniture market can be divided into two categories – market based on raw materials and the other based on usage. The market overall is highly fragmented as no player in the market is able to secure more than 35% of market share. A major portion of the market share is acquired by small wooden furniture manufacturers who are scattered all over Sri Lanka especially in geographical areas such as, Moratuwa.

Based on the research findings it is evident that DAMRO Furniture maintain the cost leadership strategy through mass scale manufacturing and diversifying business in to new markets such as Hospitality and Leisure service. The main success behind DAMRO Furniture in furniture is their manufacturing capabilities and Technologies. With state of art manufacturing spreads in seven different strategic locations in Sri Lanka providing an entire range of superior furniture to households in the country. DAMRO Furniture is the only Sri Lankan furniture company who has presence in the global market with 65 overseas showrooms and is the largest furniture manufacture in south Asia.

DAMRO Furniture is the pioneer in Panel Furniture and Sofas in Sri Lanka, maintaining market leadership for the past 12 years. Locally they have the best distribution coverage with 102 owned showrooms and 1200 in the country. DAMRO Furniture has grown strength to strength and recorded Rs 8 Billion net sales during the past financial year.

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1. Critically discuss the importance of a strong operation strategy to the organization to capitalize global opportunities.

Import ants of Operations Strategy

An operation strategy cannot be decided in isolation, it needs to be cascaded down from the corporate strategy (James, 2011). The operation strategy of the company combines all the elements of the organisation such as Production, Quality Management, Inventory Management, Finance, Marketing and Customer Relationships, Human Resources etc. which provides the goal congruency in the eventuality. Hence the forcefulness of the Operation Strategy is a critical subject matter when discussing the success of any organisation. Also operation Strategy of an organisation should reflect four perspectives of Top-Down and Bottom-Up requirements and Operations resources (Figure 1).

Figure 01: Operation Strategy reflections

DAMRO Furniture is a player who has focused their business strategy on furniture products. From the overall corporate strategy, DAMRO Furniture it is their key business focus. Due to this nature of products, the operations strategy DAMRO Furniture and all operations will

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need to be supported in order to meet these specific customer as well as business requirements.

DAMRO Furniture manufactures furniture which enables DAMRO Furniture to perform operations in mass scale which is highly capital intensive. Compared to its local market competitor “Arpico” does have small manufacturers scattered who are individual manufacturers which enables them to provide products and services with much more shorter lead times in delivering the products to the consumers.

The operation strategy cascaded from the corporate business strategy provides a plan on how well the business resources could be used and outlines the plans for using the organizational resources (Porter, 2011). This will indeed support the business strategy that is in place in the organization. Hence, this plan will be based on the specific capabilities of the company which gives it a competitive edge in the market place versus the rest of the players in the market. The competitive priorities could be based on the platforms of cost, quality, time and flexibility. This report will further look at the operations strategies that will need to be decided in order to meet the overall business strategy.

Mismatches & Improvements in Operations strategy

The operations strategy of any particular company should be compatible with the type of industry in which the company operates. Analyzing the strengths & weaknesses of DAMRO it is evident that the company has certain inconsistencies in their operations strategy in relation to the industry. There are several attributes which DAMRO Furniture excelled within their operations strategy which has resulted in success of the companies in their respective target segments.

DAMRO Furniture has managed to establish a strong distribution network island wide, own state of the art manufacturing facility, concentrated focus on furniture industry & delivery of high quality products. The success of DAMRO Furniture is evident by the fact that it commands a market share of 33% of the furniture industry establishing itself as the market leader. However the market is heavily congested with competitors hence on reviewing their operations strategy it was identified that a number of improvements can be made in order to elevate their standard to higher level expected by the customers in the furniture industry.

1.1 DAMRO Expansion to India:In a Operation Strategy point of view opening DAMRO’s first international branch and show room in October 2000 branch and showroom in Chennai was critical for them and the utilise the India – Sri Lanka free trade agreement which allowed them to export them to India in a tax free basis. This supported DAMRO in a waste manner for its expansion in South India while understanding the competing furniture giants in India such as Pace Furniture, Gothiya Furniture and Jayabarthan Furniture (Sunday Times, 2000). India can be considered as capitalisation of a global opportunity by DAMRO as

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population wise it is the second largest Chennai India. Once DAMRO expanded their outlets domestically and after became a household brand during past twenty odd years, it began the international operations by initiating an outlet and franchise operation in Chennai. This operation expanded so rapidly that within few years, it expanded to Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and other southern and northern parts of India (Daily News, 2002).

1.2 Expanding to Oceania region: Australia which is another country which lots of Sri Lankans migrate at present, DAMRO is aiming high for their future and plans to expand to the Far East as well. DAMRO’s early sensation extended to more than 80 showrooms diagonally the world and they currently have 40 showrooms Island field (Daily Mirror, 2002). According to statistics DAMRO has 5 branched in Australia. Hence Australia is a definite global opportunity which is a developed country with considerable high living standards. Hence the affordability of the population is obviously high where DAMRO can utilise the opportunity to growing Sri Lankan population to a mode of building their brand in global level. Approaching the domestic customer base in Australia while providing job opportunities this opportunity can to use as a gat way to enter to the European market.

1.3 Low cost strategy: Plastic furniture becoming a trend in the market where as customer has recognised it as an easy and durable product for usage. DAMRO already produces these type of products while ignoring the products which are made up of natural wood DAMRO was able to reduce its raw material and operational cost enormously by using locally obtainable raw material and low priced timber and locating the mass scale factory in Nittambuwa which is a remote area of the country as a initiation. The Penetration strategy of DAMRO was successful in via these low cost products in domestic arena as well as in India which it had penetrated the market while facing fierce competition from existing market players.

1.4 Electronic Home Appliances is one of the latest operation strategies of DAMRO in diversifying to different industries DAMRO has being identified as one of the projected competitor in the “Consumer Durable” market where “Singer Sir Lanka” leads the market and dominates form a longer period (Daily Mirror, 2013). The loyalty gained via DAMRO’s presence in domestic market for almost 30 years has become the most critical success factor. Hence DAMRO was able to market the DAMRO Washing machine, Inovex LED TV and other Home Appliances without hesitation. The product moved in the market along with the Advertising campaign carried out by DAMRO. The opportunity arises via this new product range of DAMRO enable the group to diversify its operations risk and also to become stronger as a top business profile in Sri Lankan economy (The Nation, 2012).

1.5 Fashion Retail: Although it was extraordinary for the Sri Lankan market leader in furniture retailer to venture into fashion retail, DAMRO took the move to launch its first fashion retail store naming ‘Diliganz’. The outlet stocks local and international clothing

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brands, furniture and electronics (The Nation, 2012). This is still in experimental stage as DAMRO group in not intending to open any showroom in this nature in near future. But it is quite visible that DAMRO group is operating with a strategy of utilising their existing customer base for its new venture of business and offering them more option through a different shopping experience.

1.6 Damro Group’s Marino Hotel being identified as US $ 40 M , 12-storey building with more than 400,000 sq feet by 2016 and this has being targeting Indian tourist in middle-class through DAMRO’s branch network and intends to attract 50,000 ‘new tourists’ to the country per annum (The Leader,2013). Recognition of clear potential of Sri Lanka which reached its target of 1 Mn tourist on August 2014 in the tourism, they expect growth accomplishment of 2.5 Mn tourist arrivals by 2016 (SLTDA, 2014). DAMRO group has taken another Strategic operational approach. This lasts diversifying operations strategy of DAMRO which added colour to Colombo sky line with this luxuries hotel consist of 12 story construction is a key step taken up by the management. The tourism industry is becoming more competitive with the international hotel chains which are about to start their operation in Colombo in the period of 2015-2016. These are world renowned hotel chains named Shangri-La Colombo, Hyatt Regency, Movenpick and Sheraton. The venture of the DAMRO group is an interesting approach in a context where the statistic clearly shows the augmentation of tourist arrivals to the country (Appendix 01).

2. Identify major business processes in the organization and elaborate them using standard process management tools and diagrams. Major business processes can be identified from the areas such as “Quality Management”, “Inventory Management”, “Customer Management”, and “Supplier Management”.

2.1 Production Processes

DAMOR currently provides standard product range which is cost effective and durable for the customers. Within DAMRO customization is not available. DAMRO Furniture’s without being reliable third party suppliers in getting the products via manufacturing in mass ordered delivered production done at the factory space. The strength of DAMRO HAS BECOME THE cost based strategy which drives its operations and readymade structure was its strategy form the being which catered to the customer at an affordable low cost (Figure 02).

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Figure 02: Furniture production “DAMRO”

2.2 Product Design and Quality

DAMRO Furniture on the other hand since they do not provide customization of products, the products are much more generic and consistent. Therefore, measures such as, Total Quality management could be used in manufacturing operations. DAMRO Furniture will look at a zero defect strategy in manufacturing their products in their production line but for Arpico’s customized products which is very labour intensive quality cannot be made consistent of all the orders being the same. Arpico’s furniture range is much more luxurious and consists of modernized furniture combined with high quality. Therefore, it creates a high quality perception in the market versus the rest of the players where as DAMRO is also renowned for its quality and durability.

2.3 Inventory Management

DAMRO Furniture goes with a no stocks policy of finished products so it does not invest in warehousing facilities. This cost too is saved in terms of the pricing policy that DAMRO Furniture charges its consumers. Whereas Arpico do not operate with no stocks but at a minimum quantity to meet consumer needs at a given time. So they do have stock management systems such as, reorder levels, minimum order quantities in monitoring stock levels (Appendix 02).

2.4 Customer Management, of DAMRO can be analysed via its operations management which intends to build loyalty via proving cost effective, durable products reaching the

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customers via its wide span of Show Rooms Island wide. This is understood b y the locations selection of DAMRO group as DAMRO Furniture has more limited spaces within their showrooms as well as branches are located in the main town areas island wide. DAMRO Furniture’s strategy is to penetrate to the entire country through their own showrooms located and their dealers (Piyestra) in order to obtain mass scale operations. However the nearest competitor of DAMRO , Arpico is strong in the bigger network as it is a diversified company and since they are looking at a trading model they look at very limited own showroom facilities and looks at reaching the market through the third party dealers (DAMRO About us, 2014).

2.5 Supplier Management & Distribution

The business was originally located in remote are in western providence and that is to approach the suppliers without any middle man. In terms of distribution, since DAMRO Furniture has a mass scale of production they do have extensive distribution in putting up their showrooms and their Piyestra which gives DAMRO Furniture even greater reach. This will need to be done since they are a manufacturer of furniture but whereas, Arpico the competitor of DAMRO does trading which is extensive distribution through their third party dealers. Therefore, it is evident that the operations strategy worked out by DAMRO is will differ as per the business strategy selected.

3. Critically analyze and propose the improvements/changes of the organization in the view of “Process innovation and improvement”. Support the answer with technology acquisition and automation.

3.1 Quality Management perspective, currently DAMRO is renowned for its quality and durability. The competitor of DAMRO which is Arpico is also in to Furniture, Home Appliances, and Fashion Retail etc. The currently perception of the market is that Arpico provides more quality products and it has win the loyalty of the customer via its long existence in the Sri Lankan market. DAMRO processes the QUALITY ASSURANCE in the factory level it is not clear whether operation are targeting a Continuance Improvement concept within DAMRO.

The group should introduce the Total Quality Management (TQM) which aims increase the efficiency of the operations of the organisation while diminishing the time hungry tasks which does not add value toward the end product. Also TQM aim on eliminating wastage. It is this approach to ensure that the organization functions with a devotion to continual improvement of quality and catering the consumer needs efficiently. With any change there will always count The slow road bumps can support DAMRO to strengthen the bottom line of the business in all sectors (Manufacturing, Fashion,

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Leisure etc.) enriching production via enhancing moral of its work force and also gaining general positive environment do business. The intense strain on the market competition will supports trade and to contend worldwide for new ideas explored.

3.2 Utilization of HR in Customer Management – selection & purchase of furniture is considered something intimate & special by customers. Therefore it is necessary that the customers are aided by competent & pleasant staff in their choosing of furniture to their household. However DAMRO Furniture allocates employees from rural backgrounds with no adequate training in their showrooms which may result is customer dissatisfaction in terms of quality of service. Hence it is essential l that DAMRO Furniture focus on training employees on customer etiquette which would allow them to improve their quality of service to expected levels.

3.3 Inventory Management: This goes with hand in hand with Suppler Management as Suppliers will provide the necessary raw material which is stored as raw material inventory and after the production the Finish goods inventory will be stored again. It is visible that Currently DAMRO does not practice any modern day inventory Management system such as Just In Time even though its main factory is situated in a area where the raw material is quite available, which in Nittambuwa and it has also situated the other factories in Pannala etc. In order to practice JIT the reliable suppliers should be located near to the factory which eliminates the inventory Management task as Suppliers will manage the inventory on behalf of business and provide the necessary inventory (raw material) at the point of which production starts. Since DAMRO does mass production which drives cost factor in high volume it is possible for them to practice JIT in order to be in line with the global best practice.

3.4 Supplier Management: This is the initiation sate for the production process. The suppliers who have ability to provide necessary material will ensure the inventory availability for a smooth production line. Even the Inventory Management task would not be efficient in a context where the suppliers are not reliable which make it tedious to meet the demand of the market. The materials supplied as part of the management and operation. Selection of suppliers based on quality, consistency of supply is critical in achieving business objectives. From the supply side it is visible that quality chain and to operate efficiently as a result of accomplishing company objectives. 

Maintain a sound association with suppliers is critical if DAMRO intends to implement JIT and only if they pay attention to requirement of the suppliers. Because if the providers are not necessary to supply raw materials such as plastics, textiles, DAMRO will not be able to participate but will only operate on the concept of “just in case”. Closely supervision and guidance ensure the bond with the supplier which leads to a long term health relationship.

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4. Describe the “New Product/Service Development” process in the organization. Benchmark the current practices with leading practices in the industry and recommend required changes

Process innovation in vital to an organisation as world is seeking in to new options/ aspects in terms of products as well as services.

4.1 DAMRO durable beds – The resent addition to the product portfolio of DAMRO which they advertise as a durable double bed with an attractive advertising which shows that it can hold the weight of up to 15 people. It is quite interesting who they demonstrate the strangeness of the bed. The concern is that current context of competition speed of delivery is an absolutely critical factor to attract new & retain customers. One primary weakness of DAMRO Furniture is its long product delivery time which may provide a competitive advantage to its competitors. Therefore it is vital that DAMRO Furniture improves its efficiency in all operational areas, possibly re-engineer its manufacturing process & initiate steps to lessen the time taken to deliver the final product to its customers. Since the competition in the market grows day by day the customer needs should be addressed given the sort period of time. Customers will engage with modern trends and the contemporary think is diminishing in the mind set of customers.

4.2 Differentiation - Furniture is an aspect intended to provide a differentiation to a residence which is a prime expectation of customers & therefore some customers prefer to have access to variety in their choices. It will also act as a competitive advantage for DAMRO over its rivals. However in terms of availability of varieties DAMRO Furniture lags behind its competitors. Though allowing flexibility would require an alteration of the current process of manufacturing it will enable DAMRO Furniture to improve its competitive position in the market, capture more market share & be consistent with the expectations of the customers as an entity operating in the furniture industry.

4.3 Customisation: Manufacture of furniture on to customer specification can be referred as “customisation”. Present day most of the organisations provides customised services as it became a global trend via computer industry (Dell computers, USA) while DAMRO’s domestic competitor Arpico follows. Production Programs should be made to maintain efficiency. Operation Management ensures that best raw materials and suppliers of outsourcing finest selected on the basis of assortment to manage customised orders. Hence the final product to ensure quality each time, the operational emphasize of which could further develop the production. 

4.4 Untapped Market – When considering the total furniture market based on raw material segregate, larger potion comes from wooden furniture which is 53%. Being the market leader for past many years DAMRO Furniture has never given any attempt to getting into wooden furniture market which is eccentric. Since there’s no big company in

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wooden furniture market, it is understood there’s a colossal opportunity hidden there to capitalize

4.5 Location layout – DAMRO cater to premium customer segments the ambience of a furniture showroom to these upper class segments expects it to be comfortable & spacious with room to manoeuvre between various products offerings. Since Arpico offer several different product categories within the same super centre, area allocated for furniture is limited with products clustered creating an inconvenience for customers. Therefore as a method for improvement Arpico in line with their corporate strategy of allowing many products under one roof, can construct their supercenters in the future by allocating more expanded area to furniture in their supercentres providing the comfort their target high class customers seek.

4.6 Distribution Strategy as a new service development – There are two Main distribution channels in consumer durable markets, which is company own showroom network & dealers. DAMRO Furniture has tapped both these markets with a very innovative strategy to minimize customer confusion and channel conflict. While promoting DAMRO Furniture products through their own showroom network, for the dealer market they came up with a new brand called Piyestra, which helps them to penetrate the market since Piyestra is a cost leader

CONCLUSION

Corporate objectives should drive towards in make the shareholders happy to direct to infection to be successful in the market. DAMRO’s Business objectives could be achieved by increasing revenue (more sales) and in the same time via production efficiency. Hence, the operating division is required to provide greater responsibility for their work in order to achieve corporate objectives in the loan run. DAMRO strategy should be “how the company boost profitability at least by 20% compared to previous year”. It has now diversified to Electronic Home Appliances, Fashion Retain ad also in to Leisure and Hospitality through the confidence achieved in Furniture manufacturing which was its inception. But that is not vigorous for DAMRO’s financial development. Reason being it could achieve long-term development with environmental focus .Thus, ethics and ethical development of innovative products is important. Social Responsibility (CSR) should become an imperative goal of the Damro group’s motion, which cannot be met without creating the best atmosphere for employees, offering ethical products for customers and society

Concluding the report, it is understood that DAMRO gained its’ success via the effective use of Operations Management in catering the domestic and international markets via penetrating

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which driven through its achievement in mass production enjoying Economies of scale. Additionally it is recommended that DAMRO to follow the recommendation provided in the re4port which are not yet addressed by the management in optimising its Operation Monument skill in reaching DAMRO’s potential.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Recommendations for future action in gaining more success and to answer the challenges.

Approaching potential markets:

Damro already approached the India market as well as Australian and UAE. Considering the population aspect in the world which exceeds 7 billion by now China holds almost 20 % (Appendix 03). Therefore it is an obvious success factor as population grows the family’s needs Household items such as Furniture, Home Appliances opens global opportunities to DAMRO. Also the boot in Fashion retail has a positive correlation ship with the population factor. Observing its success in India and the Success in Australia it is evident that Damro can gain clear success in other countries as same.

New product designs: The trend needed to answer by DAMRO as otherwise competitor will have a competitive advantage of lack of new products introduced by DAMRO. DAMRO needs to improve product design and supervision quality product. Internal and external audit is necessary to maintain quality.

Brand Awareness – Since DAMRO Furniture heavily spends on advertising this affected in the long run. The advertisement which targets the global market should be in international standards as it would alarm the global customer base the strength of the group and the confidence on the products which are exported.

Venturing in to new industries: Globalisation provides opportunities to grow as well as threats through crisis which may initiate in a corner and expand throughout the world due to the connectivity in economies. Hence diversifying Operational and Financial Risk is a wise decision made by the management of DAMRO group. Further it may diversify the business in to the industries such as Hospital and Education form the

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learning obtained from the existing business. E.g.: Since DAMRO is already approached the Hotel industry via its USA 40 Mn investment in Marino Hotels (The Leader, 2013), they could use the experience in Hospital service to understand the Hospital operations which has similarities such as high Overhead cost and 24 hours service.

Deficient focus - However it is imperative that the Furniture segment is given high attention along with all other segments since the customer will benchmark the quality of DAMRO Brand from all its product & service offerings. Effort must be made to ensure that the Furniture segment of DAMRO is at minimum parallel in terms of quality & service with its competitors. They loyalty created through almost three decades should not be vanished in a poor performance in any of the segments. There is a risk of failure in Electronic Home Appliances sector due to the inherent nature of the industry. There is a fair question asked as “how durable and reliable the brands such as “Preethi”, the Indian mixer and Grinder”. One sector failure will negatively affect the others sector as customer buy goods or services with trust they have in the previous experience.

Convenience – allowing the customer to access the product desired with relative ease has become a critical element in current market dynamics. However lacks a wide network of showrooms therefore has to rely on the loyalty of customers to generate revenue since it requires effort to locate show rooms.

Technology:Employment of technology in operational procedures is essential to develop top quality products in an efficient manner. DAMRO lacks their own state of the art technology utilized by other competitors such as Arpico Furniture. Investing in state of the art manufacturing technology may enable DAMRO to acquire long term benefits from its Furniture division. Technological enhancement eliminates the

Provide adequate training: This should be carried out in a gradually basis ensuring that staff absorbs the training in a proper manner. The trainings should be carried out focusing the aspects such as Quality, LEAN and Six Sigma. These are essential where as the employee’s understand the value of operations effectiveness and how to eliminate inefficiencies. Encouraging employees to take part in the training and assessing their capabilities ensures the enrichment of skill levels. The work force should understand the requirement of the management via these training with convey the message of goal congruence ultimately across organisation.

Quality Audits to ensure that everyone in educated on actions. 

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While carrying out the debate of quality in the organisation the control check should be strength in terms of audits. These audit controls will ensure the necessary gaps are filled and appropriate actions are taken and communicated to the individual in a timely basis. All the controls need to be governed by appropriate responsibilities and the individuals who are responsible needed to be delegate with authority. Frequent quality audits should be carried out and result should be share among the necessary individuals enabling them to “Learn from their mistakes”.

Take corrective measures and monitoring procedures: 

Building a culture of Proactive action within the organisation is vital. Corrective actions and measure should de designed in operations which always provide solution in a failure. Failure Mode Analysis (FMEA) enables to understand possible failure in operations and the effect of the failure. Also it allows understanding the risk and available option to correct the failure. DAMRO needs to inculcated the practice of corrective measure as in is now moving in to service sector with its strategic moment in to Leisure and Hospitality (Sri Lanka Equity Forum, 2013). The importance of the corrective measure in the service industry is huge as the response time for failures is very less than producing goods. Customers are directly interacting with the work force and enjoy the service in a faster rate than consuming a good. Therefore best industrial practices needs to be followed in a context where DAM RO group moves in to service industry and by the time they are in business by 2016 as planned, the Hotel industry should be in a peak, adding more competiveness while converting in to a fierce situation.

Promoting Loyalty cards:

By now DAMRO has ventured in to several industries which are having inter connectivity, it is a high time for DAMRO to introduce a Loyalty card. This convey the vital message to the market and to the customers to connect to the DAMRO as it has recognise the customers as loyal factor and it has carried DAMRO’s customer to a level which allows the customer to enjoy benefits via DAMRO. In an other hand it will ensure that once a DAMRO customer will again become a customer in the same sector or in another sector boosting sales of the group. Also they will attract more and more customer as currently DAMRO group is able to facilitate most of the requirements of a domestic family. Arpico has already launched the “Privilege Card” scheme to its customer which helps them to retain their customer while proving benefits for its customer whenever they do business with Arpico. For now DAMRO lack any service as such which provide a competitive edge to other players to garb DAMRO customer via promotions towards them.

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25. Barnes, D., (2008), Operations Management: An International Perspective, Thomson Learning, London

26. James, T., (2011), Operation Strategy

27. Stevenson, W., (2002), Operations Management

APPENDIX

01. Tourist Arrivals – the growth in Sri Lankan Tourism industry

Source: SLTDA 2014, statistics

02. Inventory Management

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03. World Population – By country

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Source: Efergy - http://efergy.com/blog/world-population

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