Author: tyler30111f14

Tis the season

Posted on by tyler30111f14

When owning a business how do you estimate what your sales for the future will likely be? Forecasting is one of the most important things in any business today. One of the largest industries is the packing and mailing industry. The major holiday seasons are approaching and companies such as FedEx, UPS are getting ready for the holiday season where they receive tremendous amounts of packages because of online shopping.
According to Bloomberg.com, “UPS is hiring as many as 95,000 seasonal workers along with FedEx taking on an additional 50,000 workers.”  Last year UPS ran into some problems costing these companies large amount of money. Many of these problem could have been prevented if these shipping companies would have been prepared for the large amount of business they were going to receive over the holidays. Shipping companies always expect their “peak” seasons to be crucial when it comes to delivery because most people pay for rush shipping.

This year these companies are being proactive in getting ready for the upcoming busy season. This year UPS is trying to convince retailers to get rid of all free overnight-shipping offers on December 23. They hope that this will cut down on some of the overwhelming workloads they dealt with last year. Many last minute shoppers will have to be practical this year if they want their items delivered on time. Retailers this season are working with these packaging companies to give them updates on how large they are expecting shipments from there stores to be. According to wsj.com Macy’s is offering an in store pick up option this year to help provide the FedEx and UPS with one stop instead of having to go to each individual home. FedEx and UPS have also been meeting with large retailers in hopes of them promoting special deals for customers who order earlier on in the holiday season.

Another strategy these companies work on is the process strategies. How can UPS and FedEx provide a service that meets or exceeds the customer’s expatiations? Having your Christmas items delivered on time is very important to customers. Many parents do these delivery methods because most families, both parents work and they rely on shipping companies to make Christmas happen. Imagine your child or loved ones not receiving their gifts because of some error in transit? While trying to keep all customers happy, these companies have to keep in mind the cost and goals for the company. Efficiency and professionalism go hand in hand When these major companies are keeping cost in mind. Also, they want to make sure all drivers are taking the most efficient routes while still meeting delivery dates during this busy time. During the busy season these companies have to keep in mind quality, making sure all of the items that are supposed to be delivered are in good condition and not broken or damaged from being in the truck. This also goes back to how efficient the trucks are packaged you have to make sure that everything is packed safety and efficient so the drivers can easily get to the packages when at each stop. Loaders (package handlers) usually get around 1,500-2,500 packages that need to be loaded into their designated trucks. On average, handlers have about three to four trucks at most and are required to package their trucks in about four to five hours. As long as everyone works together, everyone can be happy around the holiday seasons.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-17/fedex-joins-ups-preparing-for-holiday-e-commerce-surge.html

http://online.wsj.com/articles/ups-fedex-want-retailers-to-get-real-on-holiday-shipping-1412273998

Gymnatics and Operations

Posted on by tyler30111f14

There are so many different aspects that go into operating and maintaining sufficient revenue in order to successfully run a gymnastics facility. I have coached gymnastics for eight years and I can personally say it’s something that takes a lot of time to learn and teach, but I have a strong passion for the sport. The amount of time that it takes to successfully coach and demonstrate students is both physically and most of  all, costly.

Some of the strategic decisions that need to be considered when owning or working at  gymnastics gym that relate to what we talked about in class  is: location, scheduling, customer service and maintenance.

            When planning to open a gym you want to make sure when setting up the layout of the facility you set it up in a way that will benefit the classes that you’re going to have running. You want to make sure other classes are not needing the equipment the same time as another class. Also it’s very important that you schedule your class times so they are not over lapping with others. One of the other decisions you have to make is inventory. Gymnastics equipment is thousands of dollars so you want to make sure you’re efficient in what you buy so you don’t have an expensive piece of equipment not being used. Along with having the equipment the maintaining that also has to be done which can happen often because the equipment is so heavily used.

Since Gymnastics is an extracurricular activity that is quite costly, many families will tend to cut those activities first. In class we talked about Forecasting and how it can affect someone’s business. In gymnastics, you need to make sure that there is going to be enough space for the amount of students you will have in the gym each session. You don’t want to rent a space that is too big or to small so you need to have somewhat of an idea of the demand before going into the business so you’re not wasting space, money and time finding such important locations.  Along with space you can’t occupy or use,  it’s also important to keep your classes at a size where teaching can still be done one-on-one but still make it affective for you and your students. It is very important to have the right amount of staff (other coaches) so that the parents and students are happy with what they are learning.

            Who knew how much was involved in running a gymnastics facility? Who can remember the closest gymnastics facility that is near you in your hometown? Location is key. When I was taught gymnastics, my parents drove me two hours to practice and two hours back home because we had nothing like that back home. If you have love for gymnastics and coaching others, it’s worth the time, energy and dedication.