Nokia is a global technology company with a presence in over 120 countries and over 123,000 employees. The result is a very wide, global, and complex logistics management system. The company ensures quality and logistical success through various strategies. Quality through customer focus is one of them and a core principle of quality management (Goudin, 2010). By placing its focus on the customers, the company can concentrate on the end-user and be specific on meeting their expectations. “Quality in logistics management demands that every member of the supply chain pays attention to the needs and expectations of the backward users” (Venkataraman, 2008).
The operational techniques used in Nokia’s logistics management are to sustain the quality of the same in the company. Using such techniques is intended at attaining quality and keeping it monitored at all times. Quality assurance is a big part of Nokia’s operations, evident by the market share they command today and the loyalty they enjoy from their customers.
Logistical management in Nokia is made possible through the company’s commitment to quality. It is through quality that Nokia can have a competitive edge, especially in such a changing, competitive and wide market. For such a big organization, handling information can be hectic and inaccurate without proper quality and organization. Knowing when products have been released and when they are due for delivery may be challenging without real-time information, which can only be made through logistics management that assures quality.
Quality gives Nokia an avenue for cost reduction through proper utilization of resources and tasks being done to completion. When raw materials and finished products are where they are supposed to be at the right time, production and supply become consistent. Finished products are available to the consumer when they need them, which promotes sales and reliability of the company. It saves the company costs incurred due to insufficient stocks in a market. Delivering low-quality products to the market can cost the company a lot of money in transporting them back to the manufacturer, as well as customers loyalty.
Quality in Nokia’s logistics management has been made possible through leadership. “Planning and systematic action that is necessary to provide adequate confidence that a certain business tool will satisfy given requirements for quality in the business is fully in use in Nokia” (Nokia Corporation, 2010). By hiring the best talent in the market, the company has a team that ensures quality and consistency in the way their logistics are managed. Nokia’s logistical positions are open to candidates from all over the globe, ensuring that the business gets the best in the market.
Nokia ensures quality through logistics management by involving people. Actual quality in the company is through a collection of employees’ commitment. Organized employees and systems ensure that processes are in operation as they should and products are finished on time and with high quality. When each employee undertakes their responsibilities accurately and on time, logistical challenges are minimized and quality is assured.
It is also through process management that quality and logistics management are integrated into the company. Each process in the company has an independent program and is expected to fulfill specific objectives. Logistics management ensures that materials needed for the processes are available on time, proper schedules are set and therefore, the objectives can be met on time. Furthermore, employees work with organized programs, creating a sense of consistency and accuracy.
Continual improvement is a big part of Nokia’s culture. It is one of the focuses of Nokia’s modern research projects (Nokia Corporation, 2010). The company seeks to continually improve its products’ quality while reducing the cost of doing so. Being in such a competitive industry, customer satisfaction is on top of the business’ priorities. It is made possible by ensuring quality assurance through continuous improvement. Logistics play a major role in quality assurance by ensuring supplies are available and are handled with proper care during transportation and storage.
Another important factor for Nokia’s quality assurance is a factual approach to decision-making. Such an approach can only be made possible if there is enough accurate information for the company’s decision-makers. Logistics management is in place to ensure that information collection, storage and recovery are available to the executive organ in the company. It is through market and customers information that the company can sustain a mutually beneficial relationship with its clients, who provide the company with the needed feedback about their products and services.
“In Nokia, logistics management is more than a measure of quantitative throughput or output” (Nokia Corporation, 2010). It is a mechanism that Nokia has put in place to ensure that the needs of different operations in the business are met. When the mechanism lacks quality, many other operations in the business are affected. For this reason, quality has been paramount in Nokia’s logistics management and we can conclude that it has been fully integrated into the organizations’ logistics process.
Reference list
Goudin, K.N. (2010). Global logistics management: A competitive advantage for the 21st century. Malden, Mass [u.a]: Blackwell.
Nokia Corporation (2010). Nokia in brief. Web.
Venkataraman, R.R. (2008). Cost and value management in projects. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons.