Executive Summary
Operations management is a vital aspect of management, which is attributed to monitoring, designing as well as redesigning business operations in goods and services production. Huawei is among performing global provider of communications and information technology. Huawei was founded by Mr. Ren Zhengfei, whose vision will be the first-class telecom facility industrialist in the world in just two decades. However, Huawei attained this dream in 2012, overtaking Sweden’s Ericsson, and became the largest telecom gadget manufacturers in the world. Prioritizing first its customers is essential of Huawei in its key to success in corporate strategy, as stated from from the Economic Forum in world. The core values of the company, some of this company scheme of the customer centricity being mirrored.Improve quality, best practices, and benchmarks for operation spanning across, development, research, supply chain, and production has been implemented by Huawei. Huawei has always been partnering with elites in the industry for the design of products. To ensure an effective and efficient manufacturing process and also to meet the estimated timeframe of manufacturing smartphones, Huawei has a clearly defined product lifecycle encompassing several incorporated processes. To retain its competitiveness, Huawei has to focus on delivering high quality and also reliable products progressively. It is essential that operation strategies are affiliated to corporate task and dream as well as to get the whole company to get inspired towards achieving a common goal.
Introduction
Operations management is a vital aspect of management, which is attributed to monitoring, designing as well as redesigning business operations in goods and services production. Operations management plays the role of assessing whether business operations are done in a sufficient and effective way and emphasized on customers’ needs and requirements (De Toni, 2012). Huawei is among performing global providers of communication and information technology.Currently, Huawei Company has its branches in more than 170 nations comprising of a total of 180,000 employees, 16 Research Centers worldwide as well as 36 Joint Innovation Centers. At the initiation of Huawei in 1987, the company primarily focused on competing on volume and also price (“Corporate Information,” n.d.). Huawei was founded by Mr. Ren Zhengfei, whose vision is being telecom – fist class facility industrialist in the world in just two decades. However, Huawei attained this dream in 2012, overtaking Sweden’s Ericsson, and became the largest telecom gadget manufacturers in the world (“Corporate Information,” n.d.). Currently, Huawei remains competitive in the telecommunication industry and continues to grow and expand worldwide and into smartphones. It is believed that Huawei’s top performance is due to its strategic objectives and operation strategy. Therefore, this paper will assess Huawei’s operation strategy as well as its key operational performance objective.
Operation strategies of Huawei Company limited
Prioritizing first is essential of Huawei in its key to success in corporate strategy, as stated in Economic Forum of the world. In core values of the company, some of this company strategy for the customer centricity being mirrored. This are essential part for Huawei in supervision of market and sales from its actions (Berning, 2019). Some of the features, such as wants and needs of the market and capabilities and the capital possessed by the organization depend highly on an operation strategy.
Customers’ needs in externally are aligned in Huawei strategy that is customer-centric. To understand customer’s wants and unique requirements on every local market, research was done laboriously by Huawei’s team of operation. These study responses then flow into their service and product design. Groundbreaking undertakings for Huawei international were undertaken responsively and more efficiently. Huawei possesses a gradual and splendid diversification strategy that conforms to market requirements that are specific (Micheli & Carrillo, 2016). Internally, Huawei has been responding to customer’s constant requests for quality and innovative products. It encompasses quality and innovation after shifting operation strategy from cost-efficiency. Huawei spending year 2016 reached 76.4 billion Yuan, and this shows innovation commitment. The world-leading creators of property that are intellectual are Huawei Company.
In order to improve value, best practices, benchmarks for operation spanning across, development, research, supply chain, and production has been implemented by Huawei. Huawei has used more than $100 million on German engineers group and IBN consultants to assist in improving and standardizing processes of production (Jiang, 2016). Quality strategy and customer-centric innovation for Huawei Company has been successful. It is a powerful competitor to Apple and Samsung in some of its business in smartphones and has the largest telecom equipment company in the world.
Product and service design
Huawei produces both types of equipment for telecommunication and smartphones. These are two different products, the first targeting the latter businesses (B2B) and targeting the consumers (Li Sun, 2009). Some of the competitors for Huawei in telecommunication are Nokia Company and Ericsson. Furthermore, it competes with other rivals like worldwide contenders like Samsung, apple and Oppo, which are local rivals.
Huawei is structured around three business subdivisions.
1 Business enterprise for delivery of services, software, and equipment to customer’s enterprise, including solutions for the government.
- Carrier telecom networks that build telecommunication webs and facilities for Telco’s like Vodafone and British telecoms
- Smartphones and smart watches are devices that manufacture electronic communication
In segments one and two, it focuses in sales of Telecom B2B and primary sales of B2C smartphone. It is a big challenging when marketing these two suits products that are distinctive. One targets corporate customers while the other targets consumers of the product. Huawei spent a large sum of money on channel building for its smartphone and marketing in 2016 (Micheli & Carrillo, 2016). It requires to showcase new models of smart phones at some of the exhibitions internationally and try’s to engage some popular celebrities and come up with high profile campaigns to increase awareness and ensure there is a convenience for the consumers who require smartphones. When compared to equipment’s telecom B2B, it leads in all nations It uses customer-centricity, innovation, positioning user benefit strategies, with value-based control some of the customers enterprise.
Success of the consumer’s products to improve, the design is important, especially smartphones. Huawei has always been partnering with elite’s companies in the industry for the plan of products. For example, it partners with iconic camera makers, Leica Company, by improving the capabilities of the camera, thereby receiving reviews that are favorable for the P series smartphones (De Toni, 2012). Furthermore, consumers are engaged by Huawei for improving their needs and work in a strategic manner with suppliers to come up with better innovation for some of the components such as LCDs and Batteries, this has contributed to the best new designs of models in smartphones.
Process Design
It most takes approximately one year and a half for manufacturing a Huawei smartphone. To ensure an effective and efficient manufacturing process and also to meet the estimated timeframe of manufacturing smartphones, Huawei possess clearly stated lifecycle of a product encompassing several incorporated procedures (“Corporate Information,” n.d.). Creating a smartphone goes through the following stages:
R&D and Design
The company has 16 strategic R&D centers in the United States, Japan, China as well as Europe, which are tasked with regular analysis of the customers’ needs and wants including ways that the modern technologies are capable of filling the gap in consumer desires. The results obtained from R&D assessments are integrated into the design center of Huawei in Shanghai, China(Li Sun, 2009) (“Corporate Information,” n.d.). At the design center, it employees some veteran designers resulting in over 200 designers worldwide takes to create new and unique smartphone designs.
Prototyping and Testing
The process of prototyping and testing usually starts with developing newly designed, customized as well as suitable components such as memory, camera and also battery components, whereby Huawei takes their experts to join other experts in other locations to work hand-in-hand to produce these components. At the point whereby some of the components get prepared, assembling of phones that are prototype is done to undertake few experiments in advance letting model that’s new to undergo through large production. Essentially, few tests for components such as the Bluetooth, camera, apps as well as GPS are spontaneously undertaken for some trial product simultaneously for 1,000 hours encompassing 10,000 different scenarios (H. D. Zhu & Jones, 2014). The Huawei smartphone gadgets also go through test for protocol communication, audio tests, bend and drop experiments as well as treatment tests. Each test is carried out under strict controls as well as a sample phone has to must conform to the experiment prior to being scheduled for production.
Production
Huawei arrays Oracle’s distinct manufacturing structure alongside with its eKanban planning as well as the execution module. Specifically, the system substantially enhances productivity as well as the shop floor visibility and also control. The production procedure of a smartphone from the initial stage of loading the blank logic boards on belts, joining the contact points, to the assembling of various parts and packaging of the devices are quite standard (B. Zhu, 2008). Although, Huawei integrates robotics automation in its production process as well as coordinating with Dassault with the aim of achieving manufacturing digitization by means of a cloud-based solution, whereby the whole manufacturing line can be summarized to be “real-time, on-demand, all online, DIY as well as social,” (ROADS). Consequentially, it will connect IT, the design, as well as manufacturing operations. Currently, Huawei is embracing and incorporating expedient advanced technologies to improve its process design progressively. Today, it only takes fifteen minutes to reconfigure a production line so as to develop a new smartphone with nearly 1,000 parts.
Sample Tests
Huawei also has a device reliability lab located in Shenzen drawing samples randomly for several tests, which involves some ordinary industry tests such as the tumbling barrel and also connector durability tests (“Corporate Information,” n.d.). Moreover, there are other tests such as solar radiation simulation and shock tests, among others, which make sure that smartphone batches supplied to the market are in good condition.
Quality Management
Presently, Huawei is the top telecom equipment manufacturer in the world as well as the second-largest manufacturer of smartphones. To retain its competitiveness, Huawei has to focus on delivering high quality and also reliable products progressively. Huawei has placed more emphasis on policies, measurements, and also tools in enforcing strict quality controls (“Corporate Information,” n.d.). The quality policy of Huawei asserts that the company is always considerate of the quality as being the Huawei’s foundation that it survives on and is the greatest reason that customers choose Huawei.
Quality problem diagnostic process with robotics
It is one of its core functions for Huawei to diagnose problems in its products in the stage of prototyping in a series of stress tests presented ton a smartphones’ torture chambers. The majority of these tests are undertaken by robotics, which tends to be fully automated. Such quality measurements validate the product’s reliability, durability as well as security. Several smartphones cannot go through every test (“Corporate Information,” n.d.). Essentially, Huawei established the torture chambers test measurement for measuring Huawei’s products against other mobile phone brands from its major competitors such as Apple and Samsung.
Moreover, the quality management of Huawei also is based on the responses from the customers. Based on the customers’ feedback, Huawei diagnoses quality issues related to its products and services. With regard to Huawei’s quality policy, it vividly states that they communicate the expectations and requirements of its customers to the whole Huawei’s value chain in an accurate manner to establish quality together.
In every organization, quality strategies are preceded by achievements and objectives. In order to attain its quality objectives, Huawei had applied IBM’s end-to-end product process development in 1998. It also started a Six Stigma quality measurement in its manufactures, production line, and R&D in 2002. This measure is vital since it thrives for near perfections. This approach is highly disciplined, and a data-driven method for eradicating flaws in manufacturing procedure to transactional procedures and also form equipment to services (H. D. Zhu & Jones, 2014). Additionally, the TL9000 Quality Management System (QMS) for Huawei gives a manageable environment whereby abilities can be progressively advanced and shared. It can be attained through best practices’ Knowledge Management Sharing, to make sure the best probable operational performance, a supple resource base as well as a less transformation risk. Every functional as well as management systems of Huawei are on the basis of international credibility standards and also best practices. Therefore, Huawei has ensured that all these apply to all Huawei centers worldwide (“Corporate Information,” n.d.). Consequentially, most of the European customers were impressed and satisfied by Huawei smartphones.
Supply chain
For Huawei to survive, it should have a strong supply chain. The company came up with an asset-light business model that necessitates building an ecosystem business by which all the participants share resources and create value and benefits (“Corporate Information,” n.d.). Purposes of the supply chain are interpreted based on the key advantages of the asset-light strategy. It focuses on reducing physical resources and to make actual usage of what remains in increasing the profits of the company.
Sustainable supply chain
Huawei’s supply chain objectives are to control a self-sustaining supply base fixed in an innovative, proactive, as well as instinctive commitment. Its policies and strategies clearly show a shift from risk administration to efficiency administration that is joined with a supply chain that is more sustainable (Li & Cheong, 2017). Huawei came up with its quality strategy, as well as sustainability is the primary component in this approach. Strict requirements and standardization should not be compromised from the following in order to have a lasting and effective supply chain:
- Purchasing decision making
- Materials and suppliers Qualification
- Suppliers performance appraisals
Risk Ranking, Auditing and Security
S Suppliers are categorized on annual basis by Huawei Company basing on how they comply with the organizations requirements in three categories. This are high, low and medium (Yu & Guo, 2018). In their process key indices such as relationship, locations, division and material being evaluated in addition to manufacturing procedures, sustainability performance, business volume, risk management and environmental jeopardy.
(Chief Security Officer of Huawei Technologies USA, 2015)
Supplier Performance Management
Huawei appreciates its suppliers tactful with regards to their performance. Some fundamental aspects entail safety standards, managements systems, business ethics as well as labor.
Industry cooperation
Cooperation of Huawei with other main industries suppliers is better for competitive advantage over its rivals (“Corporate Information,” n.d.). It address sustainability challenges as well as opportunities by means of dialogues. Huawei incorporate knowledge and gains to improve competitiveness from this collaborations.
Procurement strategies
Value-oriented procurement was initiated by Huawei to help on recognizing a persistent competitive advantage is unavailable minimization of cost and the way procurement assist the firm in providing more value to its clients. Suppliers have their own mission and strategies as foreseen. Others focuses on skills and speed while others focus on efficiency. There are some factors that affect Huawei, this are efficiency, supplier responsiveness, raw material cost, and demand ration both from demand and supply side (Alden & Davies, 2006). To avoid some of the risks, Huawei has some set of rules on choosing the right supplier. Huawei works with the suppliers to recognize some of the risk and share ideas to know some of the opportunities for advancement of products and innovation.
Supply Chain Technologies
Upon entering the western market in 1998, Huawei could hardly qualify for the necessities to be among the top international telecom service providers. Mr. Ren, Huawei’s founder, made a decision for implementing standardization as well as best practices at every level of management in the company. The company went ahead to implement the best management systems, which include the Integrated Product Development, Integrated Supply Chain utilized within the management of the supply chain (“Corporate Information,” n.d.). The Integrated Supply Chain covers planning, ordering, logistics, and procurement. From that time, Huawei has maintained its performance by upgrading the supply chain to embrace contemporary technologies, which have significantly facilitated its supply chain. For instance, Huawei Supply and Logistics Center located at Songshan Lake.
Conclusion
To sum up, Huawei has attained a lot in a very short time. Huawei surpassed Ericsson at the top telecom equipment facility. It is currently ranked as the best smartphone developers worldwide. Its success is attributed to an innovative, customer-centric, and quality strategy that is encrypted in the operations of Huawei. Therefore, it is essential that the operation approaches are affiliated with the corporate vision as well as to get the whole company to get inspired towards achieving a common goal.