Key areas for operational improvement

1. Executive Summary

This report highlights key areas for operational improvement at the Bath franchise of Domino's pizza. These improvements have been suggested based on in-store visits, data gathering and interviews with employees and managers. The improvements will allow the store to increase customer satisfaction and reduce production and delivery times inline with Domino's' core values.

The research was carried out to answer specific questions posed by the manager of the store. These were:

- How can the store reduce the production time of pizzas during peaks in demand (eg Tuesdays at 6pm-9pm)?
- In what ways can domino's integrate technology to more accurately and efficiently deliver pizzas to its customers?
- How can bottlenecks be reduced in the production line in order to increase production and make the working environment less stressful during peak times.

Two in-store visits were made; at both times of average and high demand. It was concluded that although the operation was generally highly efficient, there were areas for improvement, such as:

- Equip all delivery drivers with GPS devices, ensuring accurate deliveries and the ability for managers to track delivery times and identify inefficiencies. Currently GPS devices are not universally used.
- Introduce an automatic buzzer alerting kitchen staff when the oven is ready to be loaded with a new pizza.
- Making slight changes to the store layout to increase the process flow of pizzas through the kitchen. This will also have a side benefit of reducing delivery times.

These suggestions were further evaluated based on approximate cost and benefit.

2. Introduction

This report analyses the operational processes of the Domino's franchise in Bath, namely those from the point of customer order to delivery of the product. This report is the conclusion of team research, in-store observations, interviews with employees, personal experience and the application of theory and frameworks.

The report initially outlines the strategic objectives of Domino's PLC and determines how operational performance in the Bath store can enable the realisation of these objectives. Subsequently, following thorough observations of the process and interviews with the manager and employees, a detailed analysis of the operational design and efficiency was undertaken which employed multiple theoretical concepts, including a Product-Process Matrix, the Four Vs and process flow diagrams.

This analysis enables relevant and effective recommendations to be made with a view to enabling Domino's operations to better meet the company's core objectives and help further expand its business.

3 Overview of the Domino's

We felt that, before undertaking the observations and analysis of the operation itself, it was vitally important to understand Domino's Pizza as a business. This would enable us to better appreciate how the operation sets out to achieve the business' fundamental objectives and hence more effectively analyse and suggest improvements.

3.1 Organisational Structure

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Figure 1: The organisational structure of Domino’s Pizza LLC

With over 10,000 stores worldwide, Domino’s Pizza is one of the most recognised pizza delivery companies in the world (Domino’s plc, 2013). Rapid expansion from the three original stores in the US has been achieved through a franchise model, and at present more than 770 stores (sub-franchises) are run by the UK master franchise (DPG) .

Through innovation, rapid growth and strong brand recognition, Domino’s has positioned itself as a market leader in the food delivery market. Their core competencies have changed over time and have allowed it to become a trusted and profitable business.

3.2 Core Objectives

The company’s vision is “To be Number 1 in Pizza” (Domino’s, 2013). In order to achieve this, its core competencies and corporate objectives are based around:

- Providing excellent service
- Creating great quality pizzas
- Being perceived as better than the competition
- Being socially responsible within its community and fair to it's employees and suppliers

With this in mind, high quality operations are vital to the success of Domino's as a business. For example, providing excellent service to customers is impossible without an efficient and dynamic process to produce and deliver the product. Similarly, proficient operations are imperative in the consistent production of great quality pizzas. Moreover, to be perceived as better than the competition requires at least the achievement of the two aforementioned points (Rao, 2010).

We spoke with the manager of the Bath store, and he specifically asked us to focus on analysing how the following points:

- Identify and reduce bottlenecks along the production line
- Identify areas for improvement in reducing the production time of pizzas during peak hours (Tuesdays 6pm-9pm)
- Evaluate the possibility of using technology to increase delivery accuracy and reduce production time

3.3 Core Competencies and Source of Competitive Advantage

Domino's creates products and services for customers who require reasonably priced high quality food, delivered hot and quickly, with a service that is dependable and consistent. Domino's is renowned for operational innovation. It was the first ever company to use the internet as a method of taking and processing orders, and in more recent years has utilised mobile apps to allow customers to order their food and track, in real time, the preparation and cooking process of the food. Consistently monitoring and improving their operations efficiency has allowed the competitive advantage of their core competencies to remain a significant factor in the market. The use of their Operational Strategy, along with the Company Vision, has ensured that Domino's maintains its reputation for reliability and consistency - allowing them to standout in the market. By focussing on takeaway rather than the restaurant/takeaway hybrid model, Domino's has a strong competitive advantage, which requires efficient operations to be maintained and successful.

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