Operations strategy and analysis of competitive criteria: a case study of a food business

Abstract

This study proposes an alternative way to access customer priority information on competitive criteria that a food industry company needs to take into account. Based on this approach, it is possible to identify a consistent set of information that assists in the decision-making process at an operational strategy level, such as investments in dedicated or shared production lines, quality programs, and cost reduction. This study is a single embedded case study. Data were collected through interviews with ten customers of each business unit (BU). Descriptive statistics of the results were performed to analyze data: mean central tendency, standard deviation, and coefficient of variation. The Fleiss Kappa Index was then used to analyze the agreement between respondents' answers. Finally, a new statistical analysis was performed. This analysis was weighted considering the representativeness of each customer in the company's billing. The results show that there are differences among competitive priorities of each BU. In addition, the proportionality of participation of each BU in the company influences the order of preference of competitive criteria.

Vehicle Routing Problem with time and path flexibility an approach with GIS-T

“…Thus, the methodological approach was developed through 4 steps (Fig. 1), based on the principles: characterization, modeling, simulation and analysis of results (Miguel, 2007, Lohmann et al, 2019, Hina et al, 2020. In addition, a georeferenced map of the region to be served was used.…”

Production strategies of a dairy industry in Uruguay

“…In the second stage, resources are defined, which are the structural and infrastructural elements, such as productive capacity, facilities, human resources, process technology, among others. In the last stage, the development of new production strategies is sought, based on the selection of options that satisfy competitive priorities (Lohmann et al, 2019).…”

“…In this sense, the organization has quality as the main competitive priority of production, be it the quality of milk, as a basic raw material, or of its final products. Flexibility and delivery are emphasized as secondary competitive priorities, given that the organization supplies products to several markets, both national and international (Lohmann et al, 2019). The following subsection deals with specific decisions in the production area, which cover structural and infrastructural aspects.…”

“…Oliveira, Maya e Martins (2006) analyzed the production strategy alignment with the development of cosmetics products, Guimarães et al (2014) aim to understand the content of the production strategy and its contribution to the competitive strategy of an auto parts industry company. Despite studies such as Lohmann et al (2019) and Reuber, Dimitratos, Kuivalainen (2017) that point out to the necessity of seeking the development of new production strategies and expansion in the market, based on the selection of options that satisfy competitive priorities, there is a lack of research in the agricultural sector, especially in the dairy sector, on the organizations' production strategies.…”

Aplicação de balanceamento de linha otimizado considerando previsão de demanda e redes neurais artificiais

“…Para tornarem-se mais competitivas no mercado, as empresas buscaram alternativas em processos e operações (LOHMANN et al, 2019), sendo que, um dos principais fatores de sucesso nos últimos 20 anos, de acordo com Vitorino (2012), foram as organizações que conseguiram pensar em um jeito rápido e barato de levar os produtos até as mãos dos clientes. Para isso, torna-se imprescindível para qualquer negócio, como ressalta Gonçalves (2013), calcular estimativas ou antever o comportamento do mercado em certo horizonte de tempo futuro, visando adequar recursos e estratégias operacionais, desta forma, faz-se necessário uma previsão de demanda eficaz.…”