6.10 OVERALL OPERATIONAL PLAN

The overall operational plan gives the final directions for the production and marketing. It contains information on:

      building production capacities and inventories,
      organising selling and promotion
      organising financial controls,
      full-scale introduction,
      post-launch evaluation.

The different activities in the operational plan are shown in Table 6.2.

Table 6.2 The operational plan

Building production capacities and inventories       Complete production facilities and organise raw materials       Organise warehouses, stores and shipping patterns       Determine inventory levels       Ensure production is operating to specification       Ensure quality assurance is operating to specification       Produce and distribute the required volumes Organising selling       Organise the market area       Organise the selling method       Set targets for areas and individuals       Decide on approach to buyers       Train the sales people       Make introductory visits Organising promotion       Finalise promotion design       Book television and radio time       Prepare television films and radio sound tracks       Design and print in-store promotional material       Design newspaper and magazine advertisements       Negotiate space in newspapers and magazines       Distribute final material to merchandisers and media Organising finance and financial controls       Organise capital investment funds       Organise working capital       Set cost targets       Set price targets       Set sales revenue       Set profits       Set returns on investment Full-scale introduction       Organise sales meetings       Introduce generally to trade       Introduce to specific retailers by sales people       Deliver stock to retail stores and ensure it is displayed correctly       Start advertising and promotions       Release the product Post-launch evaluation       Quantitative targets       Qualitative targets