Global Operations Management at Nestle Case Study

Global Operations Management at Nestle - Case Study Example With its main headquarters in Vevey, Switzerland, the company has hundreds of branches all over the world. It has around 283,000 employees in 86 countries. It has 6,000 brands of a wide range of products such as coffee, chocolate products, infant foods, ice cream, confectionery, pet food, seasonings, bottled water, healthcare nutrition products as well as frozen and refrigerated foods. Nestlà ©Ã¢â‚¬â„¢s objective is to â€Å"consolidate and strengthen its leading position at the cutting edge of innovation in the food area in order to meet the needs and desires of customers† (Vijaya, 2005). Due to the immense size of the company, in terms of market share and market presence, the issue of operations management is very important to the company. Its global success is dependent on how well operations are carried out to ensure that resources are well utilized and customers are pleased with the company’s products (Schwarz, 2002). Since Nestle deals with different suppliers in different locations, supply chain management is perhaps the most important aspect of operations management for the global company. Supply chain management is an important aspect is creating high-quality products in the most cost-effective way for the benefit of both the organization and the customer. Supply chain management is concerned with the oversight of information, materials, and finances used in the production of goods and services, right from the supplier, manufacturer, wholesaler, and retailer to the consumer. The process of supply chain management involves the coordination of and integration of this flow within and among companies. Assuming that the required products are available when needed then the ultimate goal of proper supply chain management is the reduction of inventory (Mentzer, 2001). Supply chain management can be divided into three main types of flows: product flow, information flow, and financial flow.