Operation planning, and control are essential for a business with a high level of competition and standard. These steps ensure everyone makes better decisions and improves work quality across the business lines and departments.
All good businesses need operational planning, best described as translating a strategic plan into tangible actions that will be done within specific periods to achieve the business goal. However, it is usually shorter than the strategic plan, covering months and even years.
Good operational planning considers the team members’ abilities, responsibilities, resources, and challenges based on the goal. However, it should have several milestones within specific periods. It helps team members and leaders/managers to evaluate every stage and adapt or adjust their strategies.
Operation planning, and control are critical in the food and beverage industry to makes sure that team members have a practical guide to executing their parts in the operation. The program creates accountability where everyone’s actions can be reviewed based on a guide.
Operational planning is also a part of quality management. By following a well-established plan, team members and their leaders/managers can detect weaknesses, review losses, and perform inconsistent way. This is especially important in the food and beverage industry, known for having strict standards.
When creating operational planning in the food and beverage industry, make sure you cover these six crucial aspects.
Preparation in an F&B business can vary depending on the type of establishment. However, it generally involves the team members (numbers, responsibilities, SOPs, skill sets), stocks, costs, ingredients or products, and tools. It would help if you also prepared additional time and costs when dealing with new employees, who usually require extra training.
Marketing planning in the digital era requires the ability to use various media. Aside from traditional marketing (printed ads, brochures, flyers), marketing in the modern F&B industry uses websites, social media, online ads, and other digital platforms.
Human resources play significant roles in operation planning, and control in the F&B industry. It is important to make sure that everyone follows all the standards precisely, such as meal preparation, food storage, service, housekeeping, cleanliness, employee grooming, etc.
Smooth logistics is the key to running a reputable F&B business. Ensure to communicate with suppliers to ensure consistent shipping, and create alternatives if your usual suppliers fail to deliver on time.
To make your business operations run efficiently, utilizing a workflow automation tool like Nimbly is necessary, it can be used for your logistics process, inventory, daily checklist, marketing, and even analyzing your competitor. You want to be able to monitor your store remotely and in real-time, this will give you the ability to take preventive measures and actions if needed.
Costs are essential in every business-related planning, and they include financial limits. Be careful in creating every aspect of planning so everything is still financially reasonable. However, it should not force you to cut corners on essential things, such as health and safety standards.
Operational planning can fail because you neglect essential factors. Here are things to avoid when conducting operation planning, and control in the F&B industry.
Communication is essential to ensure smooth operation. Poor communication causes workers to misunderstand assignments or fail to report problems properly. It can also cause misunderstanding between different departments, creating hard-to-fix chaos.
Operational planning without a solid strategic focus risks waste in resources and time. This weakness prevents the team from achieving the goals efficiently, especially when facing challenges.
Strategic decisions must align with your primary goal, finances, SOP, and cooperation with all the involved departments or team members. Lack of alignment causes the strategic choices to suffer from clashes, resource waste, and lack of motivation among employees.
Many F&B Businesses fail because they face obstacles they never thought of in planning. Operational costs suddenly swelled, piling up operational issues, or decreasing product or service quality. Therefore, to ensure that your operations are always in accordance with the SOP, you need to take preventive measures. Try using Nimbly to monitor all your activity and operating problems. Many well-known large companies in SEA have proven how efficient and effective their operations are by using Nimbly. In addition, one Nimbly user has successfully automated their processes and managed to save up to 74% of costs.
Digital management tool like Nimbly is a great assistance for all managers or team leaders wanting to create an excellent operational plan. With features like a digital checklist and issue tracker, Nimbly ensures that every strategic step you have planned is ticked.
One great benefit of Nimbly is its transparency. The digital checklist, issue tracker, and data analytics can be accessed from the dashboard. You can easily share them with the other employees, managers, or team leaders responsible for the operation. This ensures transparency and the ability to review better and evaluate the entire program. The food and beverage industry is the field where operational planning is necessary for results and control. Try out our FREE consultation session to support more transparent operation planning, and control in your business.
English 
Indonesian 
