The Bottling company under consideration is assumed to have the following characters;
• It receives the concentrate of soft drink from another company.
• The company procures raw materials – bottles, sugar and water from outside.
• The Production process is a Line form on the PP matrix
A Soft Drink Bottling Company would have the following departments:
1.PURCHASE DEPARTMENT
The purchase department is responsible for procurement of raw materials i.e. bottles, sugar, concentrate and water. The management of inventory of all these items and cost control are also the job of this department. They have to synchronise activities with the production and finance department as well.
2.PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT
The Production Department is involved in Mixing of the Concentrate received along with sugar and water in appropriate amounts. Then the resultant mixture is carbonated to get the final soft drink. This drink is then poured in exact amounts in bottles through machines. These bottles are then mechanically capped. The production process ends here.
3.PLANT AND MACHINERY
The plant and machinery department procures the requisite Machinery required in the bottling process. It maintains the heavy machinery and regularly repairs and upgrades the Machinery.
4. PERSONEL DEPARTMENT
The personnel department estimates the requirement for various types of labour and employees required. It then hires the requisite labour from various sources at least costs. It is also responsible for handling conflicts and reconciling interests of management and labour. 5. MATERIAL HANDLING AND DISTRIBUTION
Throughout the purchase, production and distribution process quality che3cks are needed at different steps. The quality of materials, the quality check on the final drink and the bottled product that is ready to be dispatched are all performed by the quality inspector. The final distribution of products to the warehouse or markets as the customer may direct is also performed.
6. FINANCE DEPARTMENT
The finance department estimates the funds required for working capital and capital budgeting. Then arranges for these funds from various sources.
7. SALES DEPARTMENT
The sales department is the interface of the company with the client company. It procures orders and does order processing.
b) What could be the challenges of such a company.
ABC may face the following challenges:-
• Heavy dependence on a single client. If the client’s sales fall or the client shifts to another bottler, it may pose serious problems.
• High cost of quality control due high pressure from society and related publics.
• Poor quality of ground water may lead to variances from standards and consequent rejection.
• Changeover time when switching between different drinks and different sizes of bottles reduces productivity.
• Uneven demand due to seasonal variations leads to problems in capacity planning and labour management.

c) What measure could be used to manage the operations of this company?
To manage the operations of this company and increase efficiency, the following measures can be used:
1. Raw Material
• Reduce : Using less material in the packaging, to conserve natural resources and reduce cost.
• Reuse : Increasing use of reusable packaging and increasing the amount of recycled material in the packaging.
• Recycle : Designing packaging for recycling and developing biodegradable and compostable packaging solutions.
• Remove: Eliminating environmentally sensitive materials and processes from the packaging.
• Renew : Increasing use of renewable resources.
2. Reduce the changeover time between different drinks to be bottled. This will increase the productivity greatly.
3. The water purification plants should be properly maintained and upgraded to prevent any action from the government and social groups.