6.6 and 8.

3:

6.6: Production strategies:

DGrade aims to establish itself as sustainable business model that produces high-quality, eco-friendly

products at affordable prices. The company predicts its long-term costs to fall by 29 percent with the help

of eco-product operators, for example relying less on fossil fuels and shifting to solar energy. Apart from

lowering costs by employing the 3R’s (reduce, re-use and recycle), the company could also gain

subsidies, tax cuts and grants from the government as such eco-friendly are increasingly being

encouraged and appreciated by governments. DGrade must go through and align its future prospects with

the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s Green Marketing and the Australian Consumer

Law (Queensland Government, 2021). The company employs an eco-friendly strategy where it sells

‘Green Products’ from recycled bottles to preserve the environment. The company, in some ways, also

uses the Just-in-time manufacturing as its entire production process depends upon the number of bottles

collected that will turn into polyester to produce shirts, active wear, caps etc. (Gartenstein, 2019). This

helps the company reduce its inventory cost as this method is directly related to the demand levels hence,

the company produces and operates according to the demand patterns. This also requires great amount of

forecasting and analysis of market fluctuations to predict future sales (Gartenstein, 2019). Therefore, to

keep the entire supply chain consistent, DGrade must have reliable vendors so that the there is no lag in

the production process and that the same vendors are contracted in Australia too.

8.3: Contingency Plan

A contingency plan is like a reactive measure that a company must have beforehand so that when

something unusual happens it is prepared to deal with it. Like any other plan, this also requires a great

deal of research to develop an accurate and a well devised plan (Hughes, 2018). Therefore, DGrade must

first identify and list its most crucial set of resources and then prioritize them from most valuable to least

valuable (Hughes, 2018). Secondly, the company must take on board all the stakeholders to figure out
what kind of events could disrupt the production process and which resources might be compromised as a

result (Hughes, 2018). And then lastly, a contingency plan must be drafted against each risk identified.

Contingency Plan for DGrade in times of Covid-19:

1. There has been an overall demand shock within sectors such as tourism, hospitality, public

entertainment etc. hence, the number of plastic bottles collected by DGrade reducing significantly

as it had mainly partnered with these industries to ensure the supply of bottles. The company

must find alternatives to plastic bottles, such as other reusable plastic materials through polyester

could be made.

2. Must check and be fully aware of the Australian policy in times of Covid-19- shall not make any

biding financial transactions as the current situation is still very unpredictable with Australia

closing its borders to all foreigners.

3. Shall take assistance provided by the UAE government for small business to help support them

and recover the disruptions caused by Covid-19.

4. Should start producing eco-friendly masks as the current demand for masks stands high and by

producing masks made of out recycled plastic bottles would be very impactful.

Bibliography

Gartenstein, D., 2019. The Advantages of Just-in-Time Inventory Systems. [Online]

Available at: https://smallbusiness.chron.com/pros-cons-operational-efficiency-jit-manufacturing-

34208.html

[Accessed 04 July 2021].

Hughes, K., 2018. How to Make a Contingency Plan. [Online]

Available at: https://www.projectmanager.com/blog/contingency-plan

[Accessed 10 July 2021].

Queensland Government, 2021. The benefits of an environmentally friendly business. [Online]

Available at: https://www.business.qld.gov.au/running-business/environment/environment-business/

benefits

[Accessed 8 July 2021].