The Nature of Operations Management • Operations Management – The set of managerial activities used by an organization to transform resource inputs into products, services, or both. • The Importance of Operations – Efficient and effective management of operations is necessary for competitiveness and overall organization performance. – Operations management creates value and utility through the production of products and services.
The Nature of Operations Management (cont’d) • Manufacturing and Production – Manufacturing • A form of business that combines and transforms resource inputs into tangible outcomes that are then sold to others.
The Nature of Operations Management (cont’d) • Service Operations – Service organization • An organization that transforms resources into an intangible output and creates time and place utility for its customers.
The Nature of Operations Management (cont’d) • The Role of Operations in Organizational Strategy – Operations management has a direct impact on competitiveness, quality, productivity, and effectiveness. – Operations management and organizational strategy have reciprocal effects on each other. – Strategic goals cannot be met if there are deficiencies and insufficiencies in operations resources.
Designing Operations Systems • Determining Product-Service Mix – Involves deciding how many and what kinds of products to offer in the marketplace. • Capacity Decisions – Involve choosing the amount of products, services, or both that can be produced by an organization. – Can be high-risk decisions due to uncertainty about future product demand and the significant costs of additional, possibly excess, capacity.
Designing Operations Systems (cont’d) • Facilities Decisions – Facilities are the physical locations where products or services are created, stored, and distributed. • Location is the physical positioning or geographic site of facilities. • Layout is the physical configuration of facilities, the arrangement of equipment within facilities, or both. – Types of layouts • Product layout • Process layout • Fixed-position layout • Cellular layout
Organizational Technologies • Manufacturing Technology – Technology • The set of processes and systems used by organizations to convert resources into products or services. – Automation • The process of designing work so that it can be completely or almost completely performed by machines. – Computer-assisted manufacturing (CAM) – Computer-aided design (CAD) – Computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) – Flexible manufacturing systems (FMS)
Organizational Technologies (cont’d) • Manufacturing Technology (cont’d) – Robot • Any artificial device that can perform functions ordinarily thought to be appropriate for human beings. – Robotics • The science and technology of the construction, maintenance, and use of robots. • Service Technology – Services are rapidly moving toward automated systems and procedures (e.g., automated teller machines).
Implementing Operations Systems Through Supply Chain Management • Supply Chain Management – The process of managing operations control, resource and inventory acquisition and purchasing, and thus improving overall efficiency and effectiveness. • Operations Management as Control – Operations management can be used as a control by coordinating it with other organizational functions to insure that the system focuses on the elements that are most crucial to goal attainment.
Implementing Operations Systems Through Supply Chain Management (cont’d) • Purchasing Management (Procurement) – Controlling the buying of the materials and resources is at the heart of effective supply chain management. • Inventory Management – Inventory control (Materials control) • Managing the organization’s raw materials, work-in-process, finished goods, and products in-transit. – Just-in-time (JIT) method • An inventory system than has necessary materials arriving as soon as they are needed (just in time) so that the production process is not interrupted.
Managing Total Quality • The Meaning of Quality – The totality of features and characteristics of a product or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated or implied needs. – Quality is both a relative and absolute concept. – Quality is relevant to both products and services. • The Importance of Quality – Malcolm Baldrige Award • Named after a former secretary of commerce, this award is given by the Commerce Department to firms that achieve major quality improvements.
Managing Total Quality (cont’d) • The Importance of Quality (cont’d) – Competition • Quality has become one of the most important competitive points in business today. – Productivity • Quality enhancement programs decrease the number of defects, reduce resources dedicated to rework, and reduce the need for inspectors as employees become responsible for quality. – Costs • Improved quality reduces costs from customer returns, warranty, and lawsuits for faulty products, and lost sales to future customers.
Managing Productivity • Productivity – An economic measure of efficiency that summarizes the value of outputs relative to the value of the resources used to produce them. • Levels of Productivity – The unit of analysis used to calculate or define productivity. • Aggregate productivity • Industry productivity • Company productivity • Unit productivity • Individual productivity
Managing Productivity (cont’d) Forms of Productivity
• Total factor productivity • Labor productivity
– An overall indicator of – A partial productivity ratio how well an organization that uses only one uses all of its resources category of resource (i.e., labor, capital, (labor) to gage the materials, and energy) to organization’s create all of its products productivity in utilizing and services. that resource. Outputs Labor Outputs Productivity = = Inputs Productivity Direct Labor
Managing Productivity (cont’d) • The Importance of Productivity – It is a primary determinant of an organization’s level of profitability and its ability to survive. – It partially determines people’s standard of living within a particular country. • Productivity Trends – The U.S. has the highest level of productivity in the world, although the gap is closing as other countries become more productive. – Manufacturing productivity growth continues to exceed that of the service sector.
Managing Productivity (cont’d) • Improving Productivity – Improving Operations • Spending more resources on research and development helps identify new products, new uses for existing products, and new methods for making products. • Reworking transformation processes and facilities can boost productivity. – Increasing Employee Involvement • Increased employee participation can increase quality and productivity. • Cross-training of employees allows the firm to function with fewer workers. • Rewards are essential to the success in improving productivity.
Key Terms (cont’d) • Malcolm Baldrige Award • total quality • value-added analysis management (TQM, • benchmarking also called quality • outsourcing assurance) • cycle time • ISO 9000:2000 • ISO 14000 • statistical quality control (SQC) • Six Sigma
