Group6 Operation Management 1
Group6 Operation Management 1
ASSIGNMENT FOLDER I.
Grade
(Office Use Only)
Signature………………………….. Date………………………………………
Page 1
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
REPORT
Page 2
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
TABLE OF CONTENT
I. INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................................... 4
II. OPERATION MANAGEMENT MODEL................................................................................ 5
1. Operation management model:................................................................................................................................... 5
2. Reliability:.......................................................................................................................................................................... 10
VIII. RECOMMENDATION................................................................................31
IX. REFERENCES..........................................................................................32
Page 3
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
I. INTRODUCTION
This report aims to evaluate the operations of Highland coffee shop in Hanoi and suggest a few
recommendations for improvement based on direct observation and research of the group. From
love for Vietnam and passion for coffee, in 1999, the Highlands Coffee brand was born with the
desire to elevate Vietnam's long-standing coffee heritage and spread pride, a harmonious
connection between transmission system with modernity.
Starting with packaged coffee products in Hanoi in 2000, Highland coffee has rapidly developed
and expanded into a famous coffee shop brand name and has continuously expanded domestic
and foreign operations since 2002.
Over the long haul, Highland Coffee has constantly brought delicious coffee products,
comparable in a comfortable and polite space. Our coffee cups are not only familiar drinks but
also carry on a cultural mission that reflects a part of the modern lifestyle of the Vietnamese
people.
Up to now, Highlands Coffee has maintained the manual coffee classification to select the best
quality coffee beans, roast new every day, and serve customers with a bright smile on their lips.
Our secret to success is this: great space, excellent products, and attentive service at the right
price.
Page 4
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Throughput: Output:
Input: transforming Customer
Input: Customer
process satisfaction
Customers of all ages are the transformed inputs of the operations. Target customers that
Highlands Coffee targets at all ages strata in society such as the middle the office and the young.
Drinking coffee here makes customers feel like an upper class. Or the customers of the upper
classes cannot drink coffee at an ordinary restaurant, they will choose Highlands coffee - which
has a brand name, partly to assert their level.
Facilities are the coffee shops including furniture. The signboard of the highlands coffee is a
mixture of red and white, Western-style colors. The space inside the restaurant such as tables,
chairs, or staff uniforms is coordinated in red-black tones to create a warm feeling. This is a pure
East Asian color tone. These inputs are transforming inputs. Shops located at busy streets where
customers can easily find and have spaces for relaxing HC focuses on the rental costs of
locations, mainly in busy urban areas and commercial centers.
Page 5
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
The customer service process is the process of ensuring customers gets feedback and timely
help. The customer is seen as an important input of the process and the output will be the
customer's reflection on the quality of products and services.
Process 1: Customer orders drinks. As soon as customers intend to step into Highlands,
employees will have to identify and welcome customers. In the case of crowded stores, customers
will have to wait in line for their turn. After that, customers will choose a drink right at the
counter.
Process 2: Customer pays for the order. After ordering, customers will make payment at the
cashier. Customers can choose to pay in many ways such as cash, card, QR codes, etc then the
customer will hold the vibrating card.
Process 3: Production of products - coffee. Upon receiving the orders, the staff will immediately
proceed to prepare coffee or drinks based on customer requirements. At this step, the customer
has to wait for the staff to make the coffee. Therefore, highland coffee always has spacious and
airy space for guests to wait in the most comfortable way. Customers can enjoy the space of the
Highland and choose the ideal seat to continue chatting with friends or watching books.
Process 4: Delivery to customer. And customers will serve themselves by going to the bar to get
their drinks. After the beverage is finished, the Highlands waiter will press the call transmitter,
immediately the device vibrates. The drink in the customer's hand will vibrate at the same time
with a bell, and the customer will go to the counter to pick up and return the card. By bringing the
GP-206RT self-service device into customer service, Highlands Coffee has created a strong
resilience, bringing its brand to excel with nationwide chain stores.
Process 5: Service, Complain Settlement, and Cleaning. During the service, customers will have
other requirements such as paper towels, drinking utensils, or even complaining about drinks.
After the customer leaves Highlands, the staff will clean the tables and chairs to welcome new
guests.
Page 6
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
After enjoying the services at Highland coffee, customers can throw their trash into the
designated trash cans at locations in the store. If not, customers can ask highland staff to clean up.
The cleanup and treatment of plastic waste is a big problem for Highland coffee. "Highlands
Coffee still serves plastic to customers as a "natural" thing: Many people shake their heads in
disgust, "Why must it not change"? - According to Kenh14. Highland. Therefore, plastic waste
after use should be treated properly so as not to affect the environment.
Regarding service consumption, the Highland Coffee shop system is divided into 2 types: indoor
and outdoor. Indoor space is luxurious and cozy for those who like privacy and quiet. The genre
of music that often appears in this space is JAZZ music. The outdoor space has a different style,
many trees are in harmony with nature, suitable for active people who like the bustle.
Output
The last step is the output, this progression is compelled to finish the output in the process is
consumer loyalty. In the wake of appreciating the administration and nature of the shop,
customers will have the evaluation of the merchandise that decides their image faithfulness.
Effective feedback, both positive and negative, is very helpful.
Feedback is valuable information that will be used to make important decisions. When Highlands
Coffee receives feedback from customers, if it is good feedback, Highlands Coffee will promote
its existing values, if it is a bad response, Highlands Coffee will quickly learn and verify the
incident to know the cause and give the solution.
According to statista.com, Vietnam is currently ranked 21st on the list of countries revenue in the
F&B global market with 464 million USD. This shows the very high prospect of development in
the food and beverage industry which leads to great competition from domestic and foreign
brands. Especially in the context of the open economy, Vietnam is a member of many coalitions
and associations with huge FDI capital, the competition on management is a vital issue for
businesses.
Page 7
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
According to the latest data on the consumption behavior of Worldpanle and Kantar in the first 6
months of 2019 in Ho Chi Minh City, milk tea is still the most popular drink after coffee. The
average number of 1 person buys milk tea in every store, with a frequency of 2 weeks / time.
In particular, the current milk tea business model is divided into 3 main groups:
The first group: Vietnamese brands with franchise policies such as Bobapop, TocoToco...
The second group: milk tea brand from other countries or the popular level of about 50 stores
nationwide such as DingTea, The Alley, Gongcha, Phuc Long ...
The third group: is the small and medium-sized group, take away...
If domestic milk tea brands mainly follow the price management method, the second group
brands pay special attention to quality and product innovation management methods thanks to the
professional management system and rich experience. For example, Starbucks mainly focuses on
quality and service management to bring satisfaction to the customer.
About Highlands Coffee operates with a popularizing strategy. In order to carry out this strategy,
the goal for Highlands Coffee's operational managers is to minimize costs, improve service
quality and deliver customer service in the fastest time.
The first objective of this operation is cost. Specifically, the cost of staff, supply chain, and
inventory because costs will influence the decision on product prices, reducing costs, make the
profits of businesses increase.
The second objective of this operation is service quality. The beverage industry is developing
strongly with many big brands such as Starbucks, Coffee Bean, The Coffee House, etc.
Therefore, Highlands needs to improve the quality of coffee service, focus on the friendliness and
time delivery of the service (Sander et al., 2012) to create a competitive advantage.
Besides, timely delivery is also important in operational management. Customers often take time
to wait at the stage of ordering drinks and wait to make drinks after ordering. The more limited
the stand-by time, the higher the consumer loyalty.
Specifically, the brand implements the strategy by streamlining the design, aiming to be compact
and offering the right product group, pushing investment costs to the lowest. These include
reducing the selection in the menu, converting Western food into Vietnamese bread, the old
leather upholstery furniture has been replaced by wooden furniture and the sitting distance is also
narrower. On the other hand, Highlands Coffee also understands the tastes of users to make
decisions to increase revenue as well as expand the market.
Page 8
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Therefore, Highlands Coffee needs to focus on service quality management, supply chain
management, inventory management, and staff scheduling management.
Service
Produced and
Sold consumed at the
Page 9
same time
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Whereas goods are first produced, then stored and finally sold and consumed, services are first
sold, then produced and consumed simultaneously.
Fogli (2006, p.4), defined service quality as “a global judgment or attitude relating to a particular
service; the customer’s overall impression of the relative inferiority or superiority of the
organization and its services. Service quality is a cognitive judgment”.
Intending to sustain long-term relationships with their customers, requires that Highlands Coffee
both measure customer requirements for service quality, capture customer satisfaction or
dissatisfaction, and properly adjust the quality of their customer service measure and
appropriately adjust the quality of their customer service. Service quality is a major influence on
customer satisfaction as customers buy products or services. Service quality management
assessments will help Highlands Coffee capture and collect feedback from customers to improve
and develop service quality.
2. Reliability:
Reliability refers to the ability to provide accurate, on-time, and reputable services. This requires
consistent in-service performance and honoring commitments and promises to customers.
Page 10
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
between the staff in the process of serving customers has been observed by the team, they
know how to divide the work without having to stand or sit (the number of guests at this
time is moderate and not too crowded). The wait staff is quick, smiling, and polite. However,
when asked "What are the ingredients of the ingredients? " staff can't answer all. Often a
manager goes to observe and check the operation status of customers as well as their staff.
Fast service time (about 10 minutes for 4 drinks). Does the staff member ask the customer
“Do you want anything more?” when seeing that the customer's drink has run out.
Evaluate the quality of drinks as committed: Hygiene, delicious compared to the evaluation
of the drinker and consistent with the service quality of the store.
Evaluation of the product as advertised: according to the price on the homepage of
Highlands Coffee highlandscoffee.com.vn is the same as the price at the shop.
Evaluation of product images and quality according to advertising: the image is about 90%
similar to the advertisement, the taste is delicious compared to the reviewer's enjoyment,
and about 80% of the product description information about the taste.
The photo review of the store: the layout from the parking lot, patio, and inside of the store
is the same as the pictures posted by the highlands Coffee homepage and review sites.
Review of the latest promotion: From June 25, 2020 to July 3, 2020 at Highlands Coffee
nationwide, when buying many products, customers receive direct incentives on the total
combo price, detailed for each product. Combos customers receive pictures at the order
counter or on the official fan page of Highlands Coffee.
Page 11
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Page 12
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Specifically:
a. Product quality:
Highland coffee has never stopped bringing delicious coffee products from premium coffee
beans that are grown from Vietnam highland. All of them are carefully selected and are
processed in the traditional style of Vietnamese. Highland coffee is not only a familiar drink
but also carries on a cultural mission reflecting a part of the modern lifestyle of the
Vietnamese.
The quality of drinks at Highlands Coffee first depends on the bartenders. Because Highlands
Coffee's bartenders work in shifts and each person creates a beverage product according to his or
her ability and under the specific conditions of that time of preparation (due to the emotions of
the staff, due to the machinery, etc.). There is a problem. So, the product has a difference even
though it follows a certain formula. Besides, the quality of drinks also depends on the perception
of each customer, some customers perceive such drinks as medium and full of taste; but some
customers find it a bit sweet, a bit bitter, ... Therefore, to overcome the above situation, Highlands
Coffee needs to recruit and select employees carefully; instructing, communicating, and training
in a methodical and detailed way for new employees on how to serve customers, how to prepare;
regularly test the bartenders on how to prepare, if the bartender is wrong, they should be retrained
immediately to ensure that customers always have a great experience and highest satisfaction.
b. Service quality:
The service process is how the service is created and the steps to achieve the expected
result. Because service is the result of an interactive process between customers and
employees, it is difficult to identify. When businesses want to check the quality of their
services, check the service skills of employees in the company, it is impossible not to build a
service process. The service process helps customers visualize the benefits they will receive
when using your services, which leads to buying behavior, and then helps customers to test
Page 13
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
the productivity of the process. Whether the process meets the requirements of the
contract between the two parties. For employees in the company, that service process helps
employees to be trained and improve their work productivity, by the standards set by the
company.
Below is a diagram showing the service process of Highland Coffee:
Step 1: Personal preparation: each staff member is well dressed, the uniform is ironed, hair
is neat, makeup is light and not flashy, do not wear bulky jewelry, too eye-catching. And
especially each individual will start work with a positive spirit and attitude, full of energy,
and joy. Work: working locations, tables, and chairs, equipment, preparation tools are all
cleaned, operated and arranged in accordance with regulations.
Step 2: Welcoming guests Each guest coming to Highland Coffee is politely welcomed by the
staff, caring and supporting, advising, and guiding the appropriate location. Friendly
attitude smiling and communicating with guests with the saying "Highland Coffee hello
you".
Step 3: Approach, record request and receive payment from customer:
Many first-time customers may not be familiar with the drink names here or want to enjoy
a certain type according to the customer's wishes. After receiving the order from the
customer, very quickly, the bartender will receive the information and start mixing. On the
customer side: they will always pay at the counter, the staff will receive the money, say
thank you, and when the shop is too crowded, the staff will give you an automatic vibrating
card. will come to receive the goods. Receiving a card or using a card will be guided by the
staff so that customers do not feel difficult.
Page 14
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
During the waiting time, customers can drink cold filtered water "different from normal
coffee shops, drinking water is usually iced tea, here Highland Coffee is cold filtered water,
very pure, European style. Staff always observe and care when customers need it. For
example, while enjoying drinks, customers with any request can call staff not far away at
any time. Once done, the staff will guide you to make the payment in the fastest and most
convenient way.
Step 5: Goodbye and cleanup The receptionist smiled and said goodbye to the guest and
they said “Highland thank you!” and then their staff comes and cleans the table, ready to
serve the new guests.
Every time customers come to Highlands Coffee, they will feel the dynamic, friendly, and
professionalism of the staff. Regarding enjoyment space, it combines luxurious and cozy
blank for indoor space and many trees in harmony with nature bring bustling dynamic for
outdoor space. All the above factors bring the best service for customers when comes to
Highland coffee.
c. Hygienic conditions:
The whole system of Highlands Coffee applies the standards of food hygiene and safety which to
be issued by the Ministry of Health and it also has been granted certificates for the whole system.
Highlands Coffee's employees get a certificate about health standards and they still update
constantly about international food safety standards. Applying closed process, Highlands brings
the products also meet food safety standards for customers, do not contain toxic chemicals to
affect the ealth of clients.
However, there are still some incidents such as in the cake with baby mice, "shoot back the
expiry date " for 31,000 coffee cans, which has a great influence on the brand. In the hearts of
customers, there will be many questions about how Highlands manages quality?
As follows:
The incident in the cake has a baby mouse.
The incident happened on the afternoon of October 5, 2008 (Sunday) when the customer was the
wife of Dr. Dietmar Kieunhofer, General Manager of Sheraton Hotel. After eating a piece of cake
bought from Highlands Coffee at Highland the Manor - the headquarters of Highlands, belonging
Page 15
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
to Viet Thai International Group - this woman discovered a baby rat lying inside the cake and
fainted at the place. The incident was quickly spread on the high media, the press caused a stir in
public opinion. Through this incident, although the truth is not known, it will seriously affect the
brand of Highlands. In the hearts of customers, there will be many questions about how
Highlands manages quality? Will there be other ingredients in the cake such as toxins, unhealthy
additives? ... And of course, not only the number of customers coming to Highlands the Manor
but also the number of customers coming to all Highlands coffee shops will decrease
significantly.
Immediately, the Highlands Coffee side made a clear statement to the public and settled with the
customer to minimize damage to the brand's reputation.
According to Mr. Thai, at Highlands 's cake production facility, the dough is thoroughly cooled
through a 0.1 mm decanter and transferred to a mixer, beaten for 25 minutes, and then placed in
the oven. The whole process of mold, oven, finished product decoration is carried out in a closed
manner at the factory and there is a product quality check sheet for each batch of cakes. All
unsatisfactory finished products are rejected before moving on to packaging and shipping.
Between these stages, there are also handover and receipt forms.
According to the owner of Highlands Coffee, rats are unlikely to appear at the company's cake
production facility. Because every two weeks, Rentokil Company is hired to spray insecticides at
the Highlands' production sites and cafes. Particularly for the production area, all kitchen areas
are wrapped and sealed for 12 hours to organize spraying of disinfectants.
Highlands has set up an inspection team to review the production stages.
The inspection board of Viet-Thai Joint Stock Company concluded that there was no rat's neck
inside the cake during the production process. Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Han, Marketing Director - Viet
- Thai Company said, this incident has been settled well by the leaders of Viet - Thai Company
and Mr. and Mrs. Dietmar. Mr. and Mrs. Dietmar and his wife have sent a letter to thank Viet-
Thai for enthusiastically solving this case and Mr. and Mrs. Dietmar and his wife have no
intention of holding Viet-Thai responsible for this issue anymore.
After this incident, it can be seen that Highlands Coffee has handled the crisis very well. They
have trained staff to apologize and take the incident very seriously to investigate and clarify the
matter in front of customers and the media. But this is also a lesson for Highlands Coffee to have
a strong brand, it can take dozens, even hundreds of years to build, but killing a brand is much
Page 16
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
simpler. In the work of food safety and hygiene at the processing stages, Highlands Coffee needs
to affirm the image of a safe and perfect brand in each product put on the market, should not let
such incidents happen. to avoid damaging the brand.
The incident of "shoot back the expiry date" for 31,000 coffee cans.
On May 11, 2011, information from the Market Management Sub-Department of Hanoi said that
this unit had just discovered and seized 31,000 canned coffee products of the famous Highlands
Coffee shows signs of "shoot back the expiry date". An official from the Hanoi Department of
Information Management said: Outside of these coffee cans, the date, month of manufacture, and
expiry date (first printed) have been erased but are still blurred, not clean, next to them. it's the
date of manufacture and the new expiry date. And Highlands Coffee has also admitted to "shoot
back the expiry date". According to them (the people of Highlands Coffee - PV), because the
quality of these products is still good, they have extended the life of these products (!?). This
"shoot back the expiry date" is done at the factory in the South, then the goods are transported to
the North for consumption.
RECOMMENDATION:
Thus, the food hygiene and safety is an important criterion that Highlands Coffee need to care
and reviewed more carefully. Highlands Coffee minimizes the risk of this problem by identifying
the areas with the highest unsafe risk. Then, Highlands Coffee decides on the regular inspection
densities of the control department for the operations of the personnel in those areas that have
been designated as regulated. Strict inspection of production stages, transportation processes; In
particular, the production area should be sprayed with disinfectants and insecticides regularly.
This monitoring program will provide immediate feedback on performance status in areas of high
risk, which will help to ensure better hygiene and safety. Besides, Highlands Coffee continues to
train their employees about this issue. The staff must always ensure hygiene at the store; organize
a random inspection of each facility; introduce strict sanctions if employees make mistakes on
food safety and hygiene such as fines or possible dismissal. The food safety culture grows that to
be learned in all the management as well as the staff to lead to the food safety standard will
become a habit and have great significance for business activities. Besides, the current Highlands
Coffee could employ a strong quality management program such as TMQ, Six Sigma, to identify
Page 17
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
the brand performance reliability of the coffee products and the durability of its services. It could
help Highlands Coffee improving the existing operational services.
RECOMMENDATION:
However, during peak hours like from 9 am to 12 am, 12 am to 3 pm, and especially in that from
7:00 p.m to 10:00 pm to avoid long queues waiting for orders at the counter makes them feel
uncomfortable, crowded and takes a long time. Therefore, the solution to overcome the above
situation is to use PARTEAM & OEMKIOSKS self-service kiosks. The customer selects what
they want, chooses the products at the kiosk, pays with the desired payment method, and receives
Page 18
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
the invoice with an order number. And once the order has been accepted, it goes into
“preparation” mode, and the information is available to the customer. As soon as the order is
completed, the coffee shop operator presses the “ready” button on the tablet or smartphone, and
the customer is automatically notified through the monitor that your drinks can be collected.
Optionally, when the order is “ready” and the customer has chosen to be notified via SMS, the
system sends an SMS directly to the customer so he can go to the coffee shop and pick up the
order.
As follow:
CASHARMOUR – The automation system of payment processes and receipt
CASHARMOUR is an automatic payment management system designed by PARTTEAM &
OEMKIOSKS. One of the features of this system is the automation of all money management
processes without allowing access to unauthorized people. Ideal for Highlands Coffee shops, this
solution aims to improve business efficiency, staff productivity, and customer service.
This solution also allows several payment methods (MB Way, mobile, cards, cash, among
others), and integration with any POS or platform is possible. At the vanguard of automation,
CASHARMOUR not only receives and collects customer payments but also gives change and
automatically balances cash at the end of the day and/or shift. CASHARMOUR Dash can also be
fulcral for coffee shops, as it enables the analysis of statistical data and transactions that are being
made in real-time.
Trestle – Portable Kiosk
But other digital and dynamic solutions exist, such as the Trestle – Portable Kiosk, from
PARTTEAM & OEMKIOSKS, through which menus content can be disseminated in a versatile,
fast, and mobile way. This solution, in addition to being portable and easily transportable by one
person, was developed with cutting edge technologies (with the possibility of the upper surface
being entirely in glass); can be used with SAW (Surface Acoustic Wave), infrared, or even
ProCap (Projected Capacitive Technology) displays, and it can use high-brightness screens to
produce a readable image even in sunlight. In the case of Highlands coffee shops, this turns out to
be the perfect solution, as it disseminates menus and other useful information more attractively
and interactively than the traditional one, improving communication with clients (or potential
clients).
Page 19
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Thus, as the reputation for fast and effective service grows, so does the customer base, which
generates more revenue. Reduce delivery time in service, offer more commodity to the customer
lead to upgrade Highlands coffee shops.
RECOMMENDATION:
When customers are too crowded, there are not enough tables to serve guests. When this is the
case, Highlands should reserve several tables and chairs to serve guests. If guests enter too much
with a large number of shops unable to serve, avoiding the case that keeping customers waiting
for too long will leave a bad impression rather than being willing to say there is not enough room
and then introduce guests the nearest Highlands coffee shop has space to serve, and at the same
time must give discounts to customers so that they don't go to competitors' coffee shops. Regular
warranty and maintenance of machines and equipment. If the computer is not working, the
Page 20
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
cashier needs to be flexible to handle it, for example: instead of counting money by machine, it
can be calculated by handwriting on the bill give to the guest. Keep track of the best-selling
drinks to be prepared in case of overload. The cafe can rely on the sales of the previous months to
make forecasts about when will have the most number of customers, customers like to choose
which drinks are most likely to be prepared in bottles and cups when customers visit the call for
better service. On the balance of human resources, management will have the task of dividing all
employees into shifts made during the day and transferring shifts into peak hours to meet the
urgent need. In addition, each Highland store has a separate inventory, and raw materials are
processed after each shift to avoid material shortages in the next shift. If there is a shortage of raw
materials, the store will borrow temporary material from the nearest Highlands stores to solve the
problem immediately. Circulation and borrowing of raw materials is a great idea in handling the
temporary shortage of materials problems in the Highlands, which few other coffee chains use by
synchronizing the entire supplies of materials of food and drinks for all stores of Highlands
coffee chains, not individual stores.
One problem that customers often complain about is that when Highlands Coffee has discount
programs, the staff and management still have many shortcomings in service and management.
Therefore, to improve the above situation, when Highlands Coffee launched sales and promotion
programs to the stores, the managers and staff will be guided 1-2 days to understand clearly about
these programs then start a trial run of 3 to 5 days before the program is officially launched. It
means that before these programs are put into practice, they have had a period to run for trial and
if it is rated as good and successful, the programs will be applied. Running for trial before
application indicates that the programs applied in the promotion and raising revenue are mostly
suitable for all customers.
3.4. Listen to customer feedback:
Understanding exactly what customers expect is the first and most important step in
delivering quality service. First, it can be affirmed that Highland Coffee is one of the most
successful coffee shop chains in Vietnam. To do that, the chain's management must have a
vision and understanding of the customers they choose. Each customer who comes to the
store has different personalities and different attitudes, however, Highlands Coffee has
found common ground and serves those common points with a wholehearted customer as
well as his ability. To research its customers, the management has also conducted very
Page 21
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
thoughtful and careful research. Conduct actual surveys on customer reviews and
satisfaction about service quality through actual customer surveys that come to the store,
and in the form of an online survey. Not only that, Highlands Coffee regularly conducts
surveys, learns the steps of competitors to take the most reasonable steps to attract more
new customers and retain the store's patrons. There is always full communication between
customers and store managers through phone numbers, emails, in person, or through social
networking sites. Receive customers' opinions to promote the strengths and overcome the
limitations of the store through many information channels.
RECOMMENDATION:
Highlands Coffee needs to pay special attention to each customer, can give them free cakes
or drinks on their special day or birthday, can print meaningful messages on the bottom of
each cup of coffee or simply remember the customer's name, smile when meeting the
customer, etc. These things mean a lot mentally to them.
supply high raw materials and ensure low cost. The coffee shops like Highlands have many
suppliers such as coffee suppliers, milk and sugar suppliers, coffee equipment suppliers.
Supply chain management in Highlands faces the quality problems of raw materials like
near or out of date, spoiled in the transportation process. Not at all, the suppliers can supply
a lack of quantity of products, not delivery products on time like agreement, highly cost
input raw materials. To reduce the risk of the supply chain, Highlands will consider
choosing suppliers carefully. The supplier’s Highlands attach special importance is raw
materials suppliers. Highlands make decisions to choose suppliers base on three criteria:
The first criteria are the quality of raw materials. The raw materials in Highlands include
coffee beans, milk, and tea. Highlands Coffee is an reputation brand coffee so the quality of
coffee always putting in first. Highlands choose the specialized farms in Buon Ma Thuot,
Dak Lak which produce the coffee beans for the best quality, suitable for climate and soil
conditions. All coffee beans have to achieve the quality standards of Highlands. With fresh
milk, Highlands chooses the suppliers DaLat Milk which uses organic ingredients. That is
completely safe for consumers' health. Regarding tea, Highlands chooses COZY tea - the tea
brand of VN - to produce the freshest, safest teacups.
The second criterion is price. The price of raw materials has to guarantee the lowest cost,
consistent with the service quality and cost source of the Highlands. Highlands also create
relationships with suppliers to reduce cost and ensure the quality of raw materials.
The third criterion is on-time delivery. Because a coffee shop like Highlands will face the
problems of time delivery transportation. It affects directly the process of service quality for
the customer. If there do not have materials, Highlands cannot make final products as
customers needs. It leads to reduce Highlands reputation and satisfaction of customers. So
Highlands is very focused on choosing the suppliers who deliver the raw materials
according to the agreement and take remedial measures when the quantity cannot be
delivered on time.
Not only manage the suppliers but the organization of the warehouse also are focused by
Highlands. Highlands control the quantity and quality of raw materials export and import
the warehouse very strictly to ensure the supply chain operations efficiently and not have
an interruption. The necessary materials used in the process of making finished products
Page 23
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
will be returned to the store twice a week. That helps the store: minimize excess inventory,
easily track and preserve the quality of goods, save investment costs in terms of storage
space and the space of an unnecessary large warehouse. The Highlands staff check quantity
of raw materials in the warehouse every day by checklist tools, check the date of all
products or any materials spoiled. If there have any problems, Highlands will contact
suppliers to ensure raw materials in a warehouse.
RECOMMENDATION:
To improve the supply chain management, in this report, we will offer some
recommendations.
Firstly, Highlands needs to develop supplier relationships. In the book Operations
Management by R. Dan Reid Nada R. Sanders (5th edition), purchasing role has attained
increased importance since material costs represent 50-60% of the cost of goods sold. So if
Highlands want to reduce cost, increase the profit and improve the quality in input raw
materials, they have to make a strategy to develop suppliers relationship. Another aspect of
supply chain management this report wants to concern that Highlands will build a close
relationship with the selected strategic supplier to find the characteristics that can boost
the relationship while developing operations business based on mutual benefit and create
new sources of profit. Choosing a good supplier and managing it is a condition to get the
desired quality products and services at a reasonable price, competitive enough in the
market, get the support of the suppliers. To manage the supplier’s relationship, Highlands
should provide cooperation regulations that are beneficial to both parties, share expertise
and resources, plan with suppliers to make them feel respect.
Secondly, when make decisions to choose suppliers, Highlands have to positioning the
products and cost of product want to bring for customers to choosing suitable suppliers.
Highlands need to pay attention when check the quality materials in warehouse to ensure
the quality of products for customers, avoid food safety incidents. Not at all, in the contract
with suppliers Highlands need to dealing time delivery and permissible level of deviation
when breakdown happen.
Page 24
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Last but not least, Highlands should apply more technology such as tools, app for managing
the warehouse organizations.
Page 25
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
jelly tea because of ran out "- feedback from customer. They will choose other products instead
of remaining loyal to Highland coffee "Compared to Highland coffee, I think Starbucks is still
better"- customer feedback.
Spoilage costs-perishable inventory at stock can rot or spoil if not sold in time, so controlling
inventory to prevent spoilage is essential. Raw materials such as milk, coffee need to be
preserved and see the expiry date to avoid incurring this cost." Spoilage not only costs money but
also means you fail to realize a return on your initial investment" - according to the unleashed
article.
Page 26
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
For Highland coffee, inventory management must ensure customer needs while preserving raw
materials. If the inventory is too large and not used up for a long time, food safety problems can
arise. "Don't know where the restaurant bread comes from. Or, from day to day, I eat bread and
drink a cup of lotus tea there in the morning, but I can't eat, drink, and have diarrhea all day." -
Review from Trangnguyen at Highland coffee website. Or "The blueberry mousse tasted like raw
gelatin with green berries. Maybe because it took too long. Overall, very disappointed with
Highlands Coffee" Review from Cristina on the Highland Coffee website. Therefore, it can be
seen that food safety issues are a gap for Highland coffee.
Page 27
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Check and ensure standard goods in stock. Track the quantity of imported and exported goods.
The quantity of goods in stock is also extremely important. Highland coffee needs to store as well
as manage the number of goods so as not to be short in peak hours as well as redundant on off-
peak days. "We had to choose milk coffee instead of jelly tea because of ran out "or "I was so
disappointed with Highland coffee when I ordered bread on Now but the shipper called again to
say the store was out of stock."- Some customer feedback at Highland coffee. Monitor inventory,
ensure goods are always at the minimum inventory level. To calculate the number of goods in
stock, Highland coffee used Netsuite software and the FIFO (first in first out) method to track the
number of goods in stock. FIFO method with the principle of first in-first out. The consignments
that enter the warehouse first will be released first to ensure food safety. Accordingly, fresh or
dry ingredients such as milk, coffee, and plastic cups imported first will be exported first Balance
between reasonable import and export of goods with sufficient quantity, avoiding the fact that
imported goods are too little to sell or import too much leading to a backlog of old goods. In
addition, in order to ensure safe goods of high quality, to help save costs and avoid inventory
stagnation. Thereby helping to ensure the continuity and stability of goods during the operation of
the store. And the warehouse import and export process was formed.
RECOMMENDATION:
The management of Highlands coffee reserves is very focused. It brings a strategic scope for
businesses to implement other management goals. The balance of goods in the warehouse helps
Highland coffee to operate the apparatus to operate faster and more efficiently. To achieve that,
Highland coffee needs to apply many inventory management software. In addition, inventory
managers need to be trained in inventory management skills. In addition, it is possible to apply"
centralized warehouses", moving goods between facilities faster. Using a "centralized
warehouse" will bring many advantages to the store as well as save money on warehouse costs.
Inventory management is extremely necessary. When the inventory is well managed, the
operation of the store will not be interrupted and develop better.
employees to get the most out of it, it's important that all consideration and care must be
put into good employee management. Recruiters perform jobs such as recruiting and
arranging jobs, assigning jobs to employees. They examine and resolve complaints, test and
combine principles to provide the necessary intervention, and deliver a pleasant customer
experience.
2. Apply in Highland Coffee:
Facing is that there are many employees in a shift, and each employee is only trained to
stand in a fixed position, during peak hours. And conversely, there are some positions
where the work is overloaded such as the bartender, the receiver position, some positions
are idle leading to extended waiting times. Two main problems are encountered here, one is
that employees are idle and do not help colleagues because they think it is not their
responsibility, the other is that some staff members are overloaded due to the
characteristics of their work. Both of those things lead to customers waiting for a long time,
not bringing absolute satisfaction to customers, affecting the store's revenue.
a. Staffing shortfalls:
During normal hours, such as opening or early afternoon, the staff usually perform the work
regularly, but during peak hours, the number of customers increases gradually, so the order
staff is the first department to fail to work timely. Next is the preparation because the
orders are constantly coming, sometimes it is not difficult for customers to come across
cases of error in the desired cup size or the wrong amount of flavor when mixing, it may be
too sweet or too pale, it is up to bartenders work in a hurry to create. But they won't get
help from other staff because the cashier or the waiter don't have the skills to do that job.
As a result, the customer is the recipient of the long waiting time, then they feel the goods
Page 29
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
not as good as expected. And next time they won't choose this as a coffee shop to come. The
last consequence is from a decrease in arrivals of the customer and then a decrease in
revenue. It's about people not interested in each other's work, lack of teamwork. Highlands
Coffee is increasing idleness for employees, wasting time and labor costs.
b. Redundant staff:
The same thing happens when employees in each area do not perform their jobs in time and
other areas are idle, causing customer service to drop. The store is not always crowded,
there will be peak hours of crowded customers, but when customers have to wait in long
lines to order water until they sit at the table and wait for a long time, it makes them feel
uncomfortable when they see if the staff is crowded but still don't see the signal to receive
their water, customers will feel like they are not served well and waste their time waiting.
Everything that affects the quality of customer service is reduced, the number of visitors to
Highlands is reduced because they have so many better choices and are better served. That
makes businesses both costly and not able to buy customer satisfaction. To solve the above
problems, Highlands plans to arrange a working time for workers as follows:
Full time:
Shift A (6:00am-14:00pm)
Shift B (14:00pm-22:00pm)
Part time:
Morning shift: 7:00-11:00
Afternoon shift: 11:00 - 15:00
Evening shift: 15:00 - 19:00
Night shift: 18:00 - 22:00
Work shifts require a minimum of 4 people (1 leader and 3 employees) or (2 leaders and 2
employees). Each month, employees are entitled to 3 days off and 1 Sunday off. When
changing shifts, workers will freely exchange with each other most suitably. However, in
special cases such as female employees with children under 1-year-old, employees who are
Page 30
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
sick or busy with unexpected work, etc., the division of shifts to satisfy the employees'
wishes and aspirations is completely reasonable. And still have to make sure that they have
someone is ready to replace, even if it's the manager. This is the work schedule of part-time
staff for 1 day
RECOMMENDATION:
The first is Part-Time employees for some organizations, customer demand is higher during
certain times of the day and lowers at other times. For example, demand is high at 9am-
12am, and 6pm-10pm —and lower during the rest of the day. Instead of hiring employees
for a full eight-hour shift, the organization uses its capacity more effectively by hiring part-
time employees. At the weekend, it's a time when you need more staff than usual. Highlands
needs about 5-6 part-time employees to take care of the jobs: waiters, bartenders, cashiers,
kitchens, security guards... And needs about 3-5 full-time employees for these positions:
bartenders, cashiers, personnel management, supervision, ... for the peak time. During
lower demand, it is possible to reduce staff by using only full-time employees or only using
part-time employees.
The second is Taking advantage of available human resources, managers and current, and
current employees participate in training as instructors. At the same time, new and existing
employees are also participants in improving training and working methods. Change from
increasing the number of training sessions for each employee in the store to the staff will be
fully trained in every part of the store, for example: bartending, ordering counters, service
counters, delivery counter.
Page 31
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
The third is to find two consecutive days off for each employee, satisfy staffing needs, and
minimize excess capacity. Since most companies define the starting day and ending day of
their pay week, we will use Monday as the first day of the week. Thus an employee cannot
be off on Sunday and Monday since those are not two consecutive days during the same pay
week.
The last is that we cannot deny the benefits that technology brings. Based on the software,
restaurant owners know which employees are active. For each bill and job is which
employee is performing. In particular, restaurant owners can manage their restaurant
chains on remote devices. It helps you to manage your employees and all activities at any
time. Nowadays there are many reliable software such as Mona PMS, Bamboo HR, OOC
digiiHR, … Employee management will become easier with the help of these software.
Aiming to improve and increase customer satisfaction by shortening waiting time for
service and staff being always ready to respond to requests from customers. At the same
time, improving the shortage of human resources when the stores are at peak hours, the
number of customer increases suddenly but there are not enough human resources to
handle it. Besides, there is the redundancy of human resources when the work is not evenly
divided in different positions. From there, towards the goal of solving the problem
mentioned above and in the long run, helping to increase the store's reputation by
emphasizing a dedicated and dedicated service attitude.
VIII. RECOMMENDATION
This report presented many challenges that Highlands Coffee need to change to improve the
quality of products and services. The main problems that this report give are service quality
management, supply chain management, inventory management and schedulling.
In order to improve Highlands Coffee's service operations, we would like offer some
recommendations in each practices to manage operations efficency. Addition to that, we
want to give some other recommendations for Highlands Coffee to increase services and
make customers satisfaction.
Page 32
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Firstly, Highlands Coffee can change the use of plastic cups when customers use drinks at
the store. Instead of using disposable plastic cups to serve customers, they can use glass and
porcelain cups. This measure will help Highlands significantly reduce the amount of plastic
waste discharged into the environment every day. Not at all, Highlands can encourage
customers to use personal water bottles. When using personal bottles to buy drinks at
Highlands stores, customers will get free size ups. How to encourage customers to use this
personal water bottle will apply to both store drinkers and customers takes away. This is a
solution that both customers and shops protect the environment together and score points
in the hearts of customers.
Secondly, Highlands can launch more types of products in menu, give for customer try to
evaluating. Providing the services to meet the needs of customers also an idea to make them
satisfied such as create a play area for children when accompanied by an adult. Besides,
Highlands should apply the promotions to attract customers and operations in store such as
offering a preferential card to customers who regularly use Highlands Coffee products and
services, discount when customers use coffee in combo or link with others brand to give
presents for customers, free Coffee Phin when customers buy regular powdered coffee at
the shop.
In brief, services operations in Highlands Coffee are highly appriciated and they can
improve to achieve better service quality
Page 33
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
IX. REFERENCES
https://www.highlandscoffee.com.vn/vn/highlands-coffee-tu-hao-sinh-ra-tu-dat-viet-
1999.html?
fbclid=IwAR0u3dWg6QLPgAFQSFCSenFvZhsgtkXx72bG0b8mvG___93Tv_leTzEc-Ns
Diallo, M. F., & Seck, A. M. (2017). How store service quality affects attitude toward store
brands in emerging countries: Effects of brand cues and the cultural context. Journal of
Business Research: https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v86y2018icp311-320.html
Doanh, D. (2016, 11 22). Higlands Coffee plans to go public in 2019. Retrieved from
vneconomictimes.com: http://vneconomictimes.com/article/business/higlandscoffee-
plans-to-go-public-in-2019
Ecall. (2017, 05 18). Khá m phá bí mậ t thà nh cô ng củ a Highlands Coffee. Retrieved from
Ecall.vn: http://ecall.vn/kham-pha-bi-mat-thanh-cong-cua-highlandscoffee-nd,24195
style, B. (2016, 04 15). Highlands Coffee milestone: 100 coffee shops in Vietnam. Retrieved
from bstyle.vn: http://bstyle.vn/en/event/942-highlands-coffeemilestone-100-coffee-
shops-in-vietnam.html
Trầ n, T. (2016, 07 04). Khô ng phả i Trung Nguyên hay Starbucks, Highlands mớ i đang là "bá
chủ " chuỗ i cà phê ở Việt Nam. Retrieved from CafeBiz: http://cafebiz.vn/khong-phai-trung-
nguyen-hay-starbucks-highlands-moi-dangla-ba-chu-chuoi-ca-phe-o-viet-nam-
20160704104134262.chn
Trầ n, T. (2017, 05 15). "Bình dâ n hó a" - Chiến lượ c phá t triển củ a Highlands . Retrieved
from brandsvietnam.com: http://www.brandsvietnam.com/12380-Binh-dan-hoa-Chien-
luoc-phat-trien-cua-Highlands.
wikipedia. (2017, 09 3). Highlands Coffee. Retrieved from wikipedia.org:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highlands_Coffee
Vinamilk (2016, 08 06). Bí quyết đả m bả o quả n sữ a tươi luô n thơm ngon. . Retrieved from
Vinamilk.com.vn: https://www.vinamilk.com.vn/sua-tuoi-vinamilk/vi/dinh-duong/bi-
quyet-bao-quan-sua-tuoi-luon-thom-ngon/
Customers feedback. Retrieved from Highlands Coffee website:
https://highlandscoffee.com.vn/
Melanie. ( 2917,05 07) Controlling inventory cost- ordering, holding and shortage cost. .
Retrieved from unleashed sorfware.com:
https://www.unleashedsoftware.com/blog/inventory-costs-ordering-holding-shortage
T.D ( 2019, 08 27) Highlands Coffee vẫ n phụ c vụ đồ nhự a cho khá ch như mộ t điều "tấ t
nhiên": Nhiều ngườ i lắ c đầ u ngá n ngẩ m "Vì sao nhấ t định khô ng thay đổ i"?. Retrieved from
Kenh14.vn: https://kenh14.vn/highlands-coffee-van-phuc-vu-do-nhua-cho-khach-nhu-
mot-dieu-tat-nhien-nhieu-nguoi-lac-dau-ngan-ngam-vi-sao-nhat-dinh-khong-thay-doi-
20190826160437245.chn
https://bota.vn/chien-luoc-de-tro-thanh-ba-chu-cua-highlands-coffee/?
fbclid=IwAR16gv_3jurqLd21nzK3bP3divooChpZxuYAu1zALlvsdKTGML68_5FLdgQ
Page 34
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
https://xemtailieu.com/tai-lieu/cong-nghe-cai-tien-highland-coffee-he-thong-thong-tin-
quan-ly-1738145.html?
fbclid=IwAR16gv_3jurqLd21nzK3bP3divooChpZxuYAu1zALlvsdKTGML68_5FLdgQ
https://tallyfy.com/guides/operations-management/?
fbclid=IwAR1tADVVrO02gpwcgxkgDNKJdEZKQk24BXBgfZQAy3eztDlwMI-_mmGZ7QU
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/sustainability.asp
https://amber.edu.vn/dao-tao-nhan-vien-highlands/?
fbclid=IwAR1pS4sjSBAxU8WSwHa7QZSFDKcwMHs62nFaDNruWmsgcWzEJ5KS8mMTXsM
https://cafef.vn/nong-thuy-san/ca-phe-highlands-ban-lai-han-su-dung-31-nghin-san-
pham-2011060305263139.chn
https://vnexpress.net/nghi-van-ve-banh-cua-highland-coffee-co-chuot-chet-2110028.html
https://www.highlandscoffee.com.vn/vn/combo-uu-dai-thang-6-dam-chuyen-cung-nguoi-
thu.html?fbclid=IwAR0zIa0jkZIMqZ_h5TvGjgK9tinBChJtIB-heE1jbWJNruwPy-Lh_yFaIP4
Group: 6
What proportion of the group work did you contribute, in % terms?
Group members Management issue studied Contribute to Note
overall content
Pham Huyen Trang Operation management model 25 Active
Inventory management
Recommendation
Ngo Le Hoai Dieu Operation management 25 Active
Page 35
OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
Page 36