What are Operations and Operations Management?

 

Operations convert the designs into actual products through the processes designed to produce.

They are the make-it-happen, get-it-done people. They plan the quantities to be produced, negotiate rates and  dates for deliveries and coordinate the suppliers, internal operating departments, distribution channel partners and customers.

Continuous improvement of the process is part of their responsibility. They also suggest improvement to products to improve operations performance in productivity/cost, quality, flexibility and delivery.

The goal of operations management is wealth creation for organization and the society.
It is done by supplying quality goods and services effectively and efficiently

Role of Industrial Engineering in Operations Management

Industrial engineering contributes to operations management by increasing the efficiency of operations.

In wealth creation round 1, important role is played by scientists, inventors, product designers, process designers and facilities designers (planners). In wealth creation round 2, operations managers, production engineers, supervisors (foremen) and operators play the important part. Wealth creation round 3 is done by industrial engineers in operations systems as they improve systems in operation by incorporating new technology and modifying elements of work stations or SOP based on the analysis of data developed through records, observations,  specially conducted industrial engineering studies and work group discussions about improvement.

Wealth creation is continuously done everyday by Shopfloor operators and their managers based on the designs and plans created by operations managers and industrial engineers.

Based on the Chapter 1 Introduction to the Field by Chase, Jacobs, Aquilano 12 Edition

The essence of operations management: creating great value to the customer while reducing the cost of delivering the good or service.

In the context of this book, "operations" refers to the processes that are used to transform the resources employed by a firm into products and services desired by the customers. "Supply" refers to how materials and services are moved to and from the transformation processes of the firm.

Great operations and supply management is essential to the success of the firm doing business in goods or services.

This subject will provide you knowledge of concepts and tools to be  employed by companies around the world to craft effective and efficient operations. Efficiency means doing something at the lowest possible cost.  We can also say the goal of an efficient process is to produce a good or provide a service by using the smallest input of resources.  Effectiveness mean doing the right things to create the  most value for the company. Managers are responsible for effectiveness first. They have to find what customers want and then make arrangement for producing those items. Effectiveness in enhanced by understanding customers' needs and designing products that are acceptable to them.

A business education is incomplete without an understanding of modern approaches to managing operations. Because every business has a product or service to offer. They have to be produced and supplied based on the inputs from number of suppliers. Operations management (OM) provides a systematic way of examining organizational processes. OM presents interesting career opportunities and the concepts and tools of OM are widely used in managing other functions of a business.

While marketing uncovers needs of people in general and uncovers needs of people at a particular point and books orders for the goods and services, it is the operations function of a business firm that develops goods and services and produces and delivers them to customers at the place where they desire the delivery.

Other Explanations of Operations Management

MIT's Explanation of Operations Management.

Operations Management deals with the design and management of products, processes, services and supply chains. It considers the acquisition, development, and utilization of resources that firms need to deliver the goods and services their clients want.

http://mitsloan.mit.edu/omg/om-definition.php

University of Strathclyde, Glasgow

Operations management is a value-adding area of an organisation concerned with innovation, production and distribution of goods and services to customers whilst ensuring that the use of organisational resources remains efficient and effective.

http://www.strath.ac.uk/siom/whatis/

Chase, Jacobs, Aquilano - Earlier Editions

In this chapter in the book, the time frame of management decisions is discussed along with the different types of transformation processes. Services are compared to goods production with emphasis on the primary inputs, resources, the primary transformation functions, and the typical desired outputs in a variety of service and operations examples. Value-added services are also discussed along with their benefit to external customers.

Operations management is identified within the organizational chart and its role in the organization is defined. Chapter one presents a concept map and outlines the textbook chapters. The chapters are grouped by the key themes of strategic planning, project management, decision analysis, quality, supply chain management, and e-commerce.

The historical roots of the development of OM are traced from scientific management through the moving assembly line, the Hawthorne studies, and on to today's current manufacturing topics including supply chain management and e-commerce. This chapter concludes with current issues facing OM executives including effectively consolidating the operations resulting from mergers, developing flexible supply chains to enable mass customization of products and services, managing global suppliers, production, and distribution networks, increased commoditization of suppliers, achieving the service factory, and achieving excellent service from service firms.

What is Operations Management?

Operations managemetn (OM) is defined as the design, operation, and improvement of the systems that create and deliver the firm's primary products and services.

Operations management is a functional field of business with clear line management responsibilities. OM is frequently confused with operations research and management science (OR/MS) and industrial engineering. While all three are fields of management, both IE and OR/MS are staff management disciplines while OM is line management field. Operations management uses the tools of IE as well as OR/MS directly as well as indirectly through the project reports prepared by specialists, OM's role is distinct from these two disciplines.

Companies around the world desire effective and efficient operations. Operations managers design and operate the operations systems effectively and efficiently.

What is the difference between effectiveness and efficiency? 

Effectiveness mean doing right things that customers want to the specifications finalized by the organization. This effectiveness can be a daily issue in an organization producing custom products as the customer can keep on changing his requirement. The operations managers have to listen to the customer and agree on the specification and communicate the same to people in their works. Then they have to control the activity so that what is desired is getting produced. Effectiveness activities take significant time of managers. In production shops, a staff activity production planning and control helps production managers in ensuring the delivery of right product in right quantity at right time. So even in effectiveness activities, operations managers use staff specialists.

Efficiency means doing something at the lowest possible cost. Operations managers have to supply the agreed product at the lowest possible cost. They have the responsibility to make their operations efficient. So operations managers have to learn efficiency techniques and methods. Frederick Taylor emphasized efficiency along with effectiveness in his famous paper "Shop management". Industrial engineering is the discipline that emerged to take care of efficiency dimension of operations as a staff management discipline.

In operations management, three categories of decisions are taken.

Strategic (long-term) decisions
Tactical (intermediate-term) decisions
Operational planning and control (short-term) decisions

Strategic issues include:
What product (service) shall we make?
How will we make the product? (technology decision)
Where do we locate the facility or facilities?
How much capacity do we build?

Intermediate decisions can be thought of as annual plans, material purchase policies, staff levels adjustments and working capital support requirements for inventory financing.

Operations decisions are daily machine dispatching decisions.

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT ALONG THE SUPPLY CHAIN, 6TH ED

Robert S. Russell, Bernard W.Taylor-III

John Wiley & Sons, 2008 - 804 pages

This introduction to operations management keeps pace with current innovations and issues in the field. It presents the concepts clearly and logically, showing readers how OM relates to real business. The new edition also integrates the experiences of a real company throughout each chapter to clearly illustrate the concepts. Readers will find brief discussions on how the company manages areas such as inventory and forecasting to provide a real-world perspective

https://books.google.co.in/books?id=m92f103i63wC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=true

Tools and Tactics for Operations Managers (Collection)

By Randal Wilson, Arthur V. Hill, Hillel Glazer · 2013

https://www.google.co.in/books/edition/Tools_and_Tactics_for_Operations_Manager/FUqbH_nDK-MC

Ud 11 August 2021

Pub 10 Sep 2020