MAINTENANCE ANALYSIS

Starbucks maintains its physical assets with the help of specific teams of personnel who are
trained in the upkeep of facilities and equipment, as well as third-party maintenance
companies. Local enterprises that conduct equipment tune-ups for Starbucks cafés are among
these third parties. Furthermore, the corporation maintains its human resource capacity
through training and retention initiatives that include competitive pay. As a result, Starbucks
involves café employees, dedicated repair teams, and third-party service providers in this
decision area of operations management.

Productivity of Starbucks Coffee

Starbucks' operations management use a variety of productivity metrics depending on the

department. The following are some of the company's key productivity measures:

Average order filling duration (Starbucks café productivity)

 Per time, the weight of coffee beans processed (roasting plant productivity)
 Repairing equipment takes time (maintenance productivity)

They will service their machine once every two to three months because they use machines to
process the coffee beans. They will be closed for maintenance on that day. They will perform
maintenance on the automatic packing machine once every two weeks.

For its many business activities, Starbucks employs both automated and human scheduling
methods. Flexible schedules are also used by the organisation for managerial personnel. This
decision area of operations management is relevant to Starbucks in terms of the company's
goal of simplifying processes while allowing for some flexibility across managerial roles.

The activities involved, from coffee production to roasting, are carried out outside of the
corporation. They may include a small coffee producer, a processor, an exporter, a broker,
and an importer, among others. Starbucks manages these efforts in a variety of ways to
optimise them, highlighting its commitment to ethical coffee sourcing, fair-trade, and global
responsibility. Starbucks works directly with farmers and cultivates relationships with
growers and distributors. It offers high prices in order to ensure that poor coffee farmers can
afford their production costs as well as their family's requirements. It employs purchase
agreements with fixed prices to restrict its price exposure and purchase future contracts to
give price protection.

Furthermore, Starbucks sources beans from several geographic areas to disperse the
company's risk associated with weather, political, and economic difficulties. Starbucks'
commitment to ethical sourcing (it launched the C.A.F.E. programme – Coffee And Farmer
Equity in 2004) allows for higher product quality, greater supply chain visibility, and
improved relationships with farmers, all of which help the company achieve success and
profitability, and thus generate wealth.

Internal aspects of the supply chain include activities ranging from roasting through
distribution to the consumer. Manufacturing, planning, inventory, transportation, and
distribution are only a few of the operations involved. Setting up an integrated supply chain
operating system focused on managing flows is critical for Starbucks to achieve success and
profitability. DRP (Distribution Resource Planning) and TRP (Transport Resource Planning)
are used to control material flows (Transportation Requirement Planning). They also place a
premium on information flow management in order to communicate important data and
identify supply chain opportunities at various levels.

Starbucks realised early on that mishandling actions in the supply chain may rapidly degrade
the quality of the coffee that reaches customers' hands. Starbucks had to manage its own
supply chain in order to maintain process quality. Simply said, if a farmer does not receive a
fair price for his green coffee beans, he will not invest in fertiliser or the other costs
associated with producing high-quality coffee beans (Schultz and Jones, 1997; Wikipedia II).
It's possible that the coffee is under- or over-roasted. Coffee beans become stale if they
remain on the shelf for too long, so having the correct amount of inventory is vital, which is
linked to supply chain management success. The coffee's flavour will be influenced by the
water used to create it. The flavour of coffee is changed if it is brewed incorrectly. Coffee is
no longer considered fresh if it has been sitting in a pot for more than 20 minutes. Serving
high-quality coffee in ceramic cups increases the flavour but is inconvenient for take-out
orders.

Starbucks prefers to manage its own supply chain and open company-owned outlets as a
result of these circumstances, and has opposed franchising for fear of losing control over
supplying a high-quality product. Because coffee was Starbucks' main service, the purchasing
department was not outsourced. When only coffee beans were sold, the experience originated
from the initial owners of Starbucks. The coffee was purchased by businesspeople who were
quality coffee enthusiasts with many years of "coffee" experience. Customers were taught
about coffee as a result of this experience, and it became a value-added service at Starbucks.
The more a customer understands about how coffee is grown and prepared, the more loyal
they become and the more willing they are to spend for a good cup of coffee.'
 RECOMMENDATION

Starbucks' expertise in shop design and innovative coffee products has put it to the forefront
of the coffee retail industry. Starbucks is more than just a place to get a good cup of coffee.
Starbucks is about people's enthusiasm for their souls, high-quality products, exceptional
customer service, and knowledge of the coffee culture. The 4Ps (Product, Price, Place, and
Promotion) of Starbucks will be examined in the following paragraphs, followed by
marketing strategic recommendations.

First is product, Starbucks has an evident competitive edge in terms of quality, especially
when compared to competing generic coffee products. Despite strenuous efforts to build
Starbucks on every corner, there are still more supermarkets than Starbucks bars in terms of
convenience. Recognizing the potential of this convenience segment of the coffee industry,
Starbucks should actively pursue substitutes that compete in these areas, such as pre-
packaged drinks or offering tea in its stores as a preventative step against any teahouse
attempting to poach coffee drinkers.

Outsiders may incorrectly perceive Asia as a single culture. It may be accurate in some ways,
but it isn't enough to be successful in the region. When it comes to culture, values, religion,
and tastes, Asian countries are vastly different. Many Asians prefer tea, particularly in China,
which has a large population of tea users who do not like coffee. Starbucks should develop
unique ideas and techniques for each market in order for the Starbucks experience to become
ingrained in the local culture.

Starbucks can operate locally to accommodate local tastes or preferences, for example, by
providing alcoholic beverages for a specific happy hour set in some nations or regions. Korea
and China are traditionally heavy drinkers of both alcohol and coffee. Starbucks may be able
to better match local tastes and preferences by increasing the profit margins on beer, wine,
and cocktails.

Second is Place, customer loyalty cannot be stretched or transferred to a new product or

channel in a short period of time, based on past experiences. Starbucks should anticipate a
shift in its customers' purchasing power and habits over time. Customers' perceptions of
mass-market brands may change as a result of the Internet. However, that transformation will
take years to complete, and firm leaders will need to manage it expertly. As a result,
Starbucks' present e-commerce approach needs to be tweaked.

The following are some suggestions for improving Starbucks retail store operations:

• Attract a diverse range of customers. Starbucks customers were found to be connoisseurs,

well-educated, somewhat affluent, well-traveled, digitally aware, cultural, and interested in
the arts, according to early study. Other profiles must be considered and catered to as a result
of Starbucks' global, mass-marketing strategy.

• During busy periods, improve housekeeping.

• After noon, offer a wider variety of roasted coffees.

• Create different light roast coffees to attract customers who would otherwise shun Starbucks
due to the "bitter taste" of the coffee.

• Increase the number of nutritious pastries and light sandwiches available.

For starters, it may increase the value of its value chain by using its website as a
communication tool to connect its various stakeholders, including consumers, suppliers,
management, and staff. Second, strengthen the public relations department. Starbucks.com
serves as a portal not just for conducting online transactions, but also for enhancing the
company's image and reputation. Third, focus your online business on core products while
continuing to diversify your product range as a long-term strategy that you may apply by
progressively adding new products one at a time. Last but not least, to form strategic alliances
with.com companies in order to expand its sales channels.

Starbucks might build up an online chat room to help its stakeholders communicate more
effectively. It may also offer free email accounts in order to increase company visibility and
strengthen consumer loyalty. It can also gradually add indirect coffee-related products, such
as coffee machines, to its online sales collection. It might also introduce some online coffee
tour packages that provide low-cost trip excursions or hotel accommodations. Starbucks may
form partnerships with.com companies to market its products in order to improve sales. For
example, sign a sell contract with Yahoo.com to carry Starbucks' products.

Next is Promotion, Starbucks can boost its public relationship with overseas markets by
participating in or supporting local events, assisting education in poor nations, or
participating in community activities. Once it is viewed as a true partner or caretaker in most
Asian markets, its growth plan may work similarly to that of the US market.

And the last one is Price, The fact that Starbucks takes pride in providing a "Starbucks
experience" for customers indicates that the company is primarily customer-oriented, which
results to a strong customer base. However, the greater the value of a product's quality or
services to customers, such as in the case of coffees, the less price sensitivity the purchasers
have. This means that as long as Starbucks provides high-quality items and excellent
customer service, individual customers will be unable to exercise their purchasing power. As
a result, it's beneficial for Starbucks to keep its current high-end coffee costs.