Executive Summary
BlueScope is Australia’s largest steel manufacturer, and Australian Steel Products manufactures and distributes flat steel products with a vital need for higher-value, branded commodities for the worldwide construction sector. The companies of BlueScope have different strategic opportunities and challenges in connection to their respective local sectors. The company aims to achieve these goals by utilizing BlueScope’s corporate capabilities to help scale and accelerate solutions both worldwide and across businesses. Strong governance is a crucial aspect of BlueScope’s culture. The company has established accountability mechanisms for the oversight and implementation of its sustainability duties as part of its commitment to sustainable governance, which starts at the top. A regression analysis of the company production data shows a complex relationship with a p value=0.465697307 between the units produced and the subsequent cost.
Business Understanding
With offices across Asia, North America, Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific Islands, and Australia, BlueScope is a supplier of cutting-edge steel materials, solutions, and construction technology. With a comprehensive portfolio of companies operating in some of the biggest and fastest-growing economies in the world, BlueScope has established a solid basis for development over a long period of time (McKenzie, 2018). The purpose charts the road for BlueScope and provides its members the bravery and assurance to do what is essential to communities around the globe, as well as to draw in and keep the most outstanding talent necessary to get there.
The strategy directs the attention and depends on change and expansion while meeting the current fundamental expectations of the stakeholders. Over the following years, the company’s crucial investments in carbon reduction technology, service, and product development, and safe, welcoming workplace diversity will provide sustained results. The attempts to streamline operations, increase efficiency, and develop the capability the organization requires in accordance with sectoral trends are all centered on transformation (BlueScope 2022a). They remain focused on producing good returns for shareholders via careful capital allocation even as they investigate and invest in new technology (McKenzie, 2018). The portfolio of BlueScope is focused on increasing long-term shareholder value and returns. The firm is creating an organization with the skills to create strength along the steel value chain in the coming years as it develops and evolves.
Data Understanding
After analyzing the data collected from the table, people can say that BlueScope has directed all its efforts to diversify its production; this type of diversification is called concentric. The collected indicators show that the company is running its efforts on all kinds of products related to its display based on monthly demand and trends (Daulay, 2019). The competitive edge that made the firm popular in the first place mostly deteriorates as a result of diversification. The company data shows a diversification in the product quantities and a varying cost over the specified days.
The P-value of 0.465697307 (which is way above the standard 0.05, with a 95% confidence), implies that an increase in the units would translate to a direct increase in the overall costs. Concentric expansion occurs in the purchase of a new company that is closely tied to the acquiring firm in terms of its essential resources, such as markets, technology, distribution routes, resources, or goods. The various company benefits from the development in strengths and a decrease in faults; growth is conducted based on current strengths and weaknesses. Most firms diversify improperly from their primary business, which prevents them from achieving long-term profitable development (Daulay, 2019). In line with concentric diversification, companies must first identify their vital assets if they are to prosper. For instance, they need to know who their clients are, what they can do, what they sell, how it is distributed, and what other comparative advantages they have, including positions, brands, and inventions.
BlueScope, over its long history of existence, has defined its goals in such a way that its production does not go beyond the canonical framework, namely the production and preparation of steel. The company was able to occupy a niche market in time in many countries, which led to the fact that it has local success (BlueScope, 2022b). Analyzing the given data, BlueScope spends from 41 to 48 thousand dollars on production; however, every month, the quantity of the produced goods changes in abundance, following specific orders or local market trends.
Modeling
The unit of the process model is a way to figure out how much an asset’s worth depreciates over time. When an asset’s value is more closely correlated with the number of units it creates than the duration of time it has been in use, it becomes productive. This strategy frequently leads to more depreciation payments being made in years when the property is highly used, which can then balance out years when the technology is not being used as much. For this kind of equipment, the department of production approach may be used to assist a company keep track of its earnings and losses more precisely than a timeline of events method like straight-line degradation. The data was split in the ratio 80:20 for training and testing in that order. The resultant intelligence is used to forecast the costs for October, November and December. Although the only data provided is on the total production cost and the units of specific models, there is great leverage to compute statistical models on it. This begins by establishing the relationship between the total number of units produced as presented in the following sections.
Evaluation
Table 1. Summary of regression analysis on the total units produced per day.
Table 1 presents a summary of the regression analysis on all products and the cumulative cost. The evaluation begins by exploring the regression analysis of the total number of units produced over the study period. The multiple R represents the strength of the linear regression and is proportional to its absolute value. The value, in this case, is 0.424060588, which presents a weak relationship between the production cost and the overall production. However, this approach is countered by the significant P-value of 0.465697307. Usually, a null hypothesis is accepted if the P-value is below 0.05. This applies when if the confidence level is 0.95 (95%). Table 2 presents a summary of the P-value and Multiple R values for respective products.
Table 2. Summary of data analysis.
Handrails, portal frames, and balustrades have the greatest contribution to the overall production cost. The company should hence, pay more attention to the supply chain of these products to harmonize the costs. BlueScope has a strong emphasis on working with suppliers in order to bring down total costs. This is because of the nature of its relationships with them, its business operations, and its national risk. A supplier ecosystem, social, and economic evaluation is often required of chosen sellers twice a year in order to assess their standing in the market. Their supplier segmentation approach, which explains the majority of organizational units’ spending, includes suppliers.
Steel is expected to continue to be a vital market product for a very long time since it enables the pivotal shift required for many sectors (Masouman & Harvie, 2020). Because they believe that design’s fundamental features will benefit society and economic sustainability, people are still searching for methods to improve design applications. The company contributes to the prosperity of the communities in which it operates by having a financial influence on those areas as it continues to invest and expand via long-term asset development. The preponderance of the substantial business benefits the company generates are reinjected into the countries in which they operate, with a sizable amount going to neighboring local people, frequently as payments to vendors and employees. These payments total the company’s manufacturing cost for each item produced.
First, the nature of the data provided creates a starting point for the determination of the analysis tools to be used. The cost of products depends on a number of factors such as raw materials, energy, regulation and levies, supply chain effects, and labor. As a result, optimization is necessary for the company to achieve optimal cost and profitability. The costs sum up from the acquisition of raw materials to marketing, inclusive of all transactions the company carries in between them. The contribution of different products can be assessed by reviewing the P-values of the regression analysis of each against the cost.
Even as it makes a concerted effort to shift to cleaner energy in its operations, the company is thrilled about the position its goods serve as a critical input for a future based on renewable energy. Climate change is gaining more attention. As the industry transitions to a digital one, demand for steel-intensive e-commerce structures, such as warehouses, distribution centers, and server firms, is rising and offering a solid basis for all of its businesses (Masouman & Harvie, 2020). Recent financial and diplomatic instability has further highlighted the value of the local utility grid and autonomous production capabilities, which is compatible with BlueScope’s strategy of focusing on its own markets. The US steel business has evolved, and integration and simplification have strengthened supply-side constraints. Significantly encouraging developments include China’s efforts to reduce exports and rein in increased production and pollution. Positive acts and negative signs both influence productivity, though.
Deployment
The deployment focuses more on what should be done with the information from the analysis. The corporation should be careful about what to cut back on and what to ramp up, keeping in mind that all goods, albeit to varying degrees, contribute to the total forecast cost. Handrails, portal frames, and balustrades have proven to be the biggest contributors to the total operating costs and must be acted upon accordingly (BlueScope, 2022). The company should p[ut measure in place to regulate the operation costs.
Table 3. Cost predictions for remaining months of 2022.
Table 3 shows the cost predictions for October, November and December. Depending on the demand for the products, the company can opt to ramp up the production of cheaper items. The company should also adjust its marketing strategies to ensure the products reach the market at as low prices as possible. With the aid of data analysis, partners may agree on the needs of the firm. Therefore, this permits the team to provide genuine recommendations to fulfill those needs, positioning the company to move forward with the most outstanding collection of recommendations. Teams may create a path from the current state to the desired state with the help of business analysis. A corporate data analyst ought to have operational and sectoral expertise, as well as in-depth comprehension of the importance of data and the development of enterprises. An expert must be capable of bridging the divide between business and technological players in order to successfully interact with them.
The need for statistical, quantitative, logical, information retrieval, and deep learning algorithm abilities to be able to find data sources, produce data interpretations, carry out experimental research, and select the optimal model for the data depending on business objectives (Evans, 2021). Strong visualization abilities are also essential for stakeholders to comprehend data-driven conclusions and change ideas. Before the change can be carried out and the complete process handled once it has been approved, multiple parties must interact and provide their approval.
The cost of essential aspects can be reduced by using a single source. Institutions are purchasing from a single supplier, usually at a reduced cost, therefore this might lead to scaled economies. Due to the removal of large exchanges from the financial reporting, also enables lower expenditures. The company must also there are backup sources to act as a security net in the event that one of its suppliers is unable to fulfill its demands. A tried-and-true way to reduce costs is by switching suppliers, although there could be certain risks involved (O’Brien and Burrows, 2019). When choosing a new supplier, the institution must make sure they provide consistent performance and suitable service, and that there are safeguards in place to protect against price increases. The company must extensively research a potential supplier’s background and make sure that its business practices are appropriate for the needs of the organization before switching vendors for important merchandise.
References
Daulay, M. T. (2019). Effect of diversification of business and economic value on poverty in Batubara Regency.KnE Social Sciences, 388-401.
Masouman, A., & Harvie, C. (2020). Forecasting, impact analysis and uncertainty propagation in integrated regional models: A case study of Australia. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 47(1), 65-83.
McKenzie, R. (2018). BlueScope Steel Limited (BSL).Equity, 32(3), 11-12.
O’Brien, M., & Burrows, S. (2019). Assessing the effectiveness of regional policy responses to mass redundancies: The case of the Illawarra region, Australia. Economic Papers: A Journal of Applied Economics and Policy, 38(2), 144-155.
Evans, A. J. (2021). Economics: A Complete Guide for Business. Do Sustainability.
BlueScope (2022a). BlueScope production data from September 2018 to September 2022. Unpublished internal company document.
BlueScope. (2022b). In Wikipedia.