Operations management

Operations management is an area of management concerned with designing and controlling the process
of production and redesigning business operations in the production of goods or services. It involves the
responsibility of ensuring that business operations are efficient in terms of using as few resources as
needed and effective in terms of meeting customer requirements. It is concerned with managing the
process that converts inputs (in the forms of raw materials, labor, and energy) into outputs (in the form of
goods and/or services).[1][2] The relationship of operations management to senior management in
commercial contexts can be compared to the relationship of line officers to highest-level senior officers in
military science. The highest-level officers shape the strategy and revise it over time, while the line officers
make tactical decisions in support of carrying out the strategy. In business as in military affairs, the
boundaries between levels are not always distinct; tactical information dynamically informs strategy, and
individual people often move between roles over time.

Ford Motor car assembly line: the classical example of a manufacturing production system.
Post office queue. Operations management studies both manufacturing and services.

According to the United States Department of Education, operations management is the field concerned
with managing and directing the physical and/or technical functions of a firm or organization, particularly
those relating to product development, production, and manufacturing. Operations management programs
typically include instruction in principles of general management, manufacturing and production systems,
factory management, equipment maintenance management, production control, industrial labor relations
and skilled trades supervision, strategic manufacturing policy, systems analysis, productivity analysis and
cost control, and materials planning.[3][4] Engineering management is a highly specialized area that overlaps
significantly with operations management.

Production systems

In a job shop machines are grouped by technological similarities regarding transformation processes, therefore a
single shop can work very different products (in this picture four colors). Also notice that in this drawing each shop
contains a single machine.

Flexible Manufacturing System: in the middle there are two rails for the shuttle to move pallets between machining
centers (there are also FMS which use AGVs), in front of each machining center there is a buffer and in left we have a
shelf for storing pallets. Usually in the back there is a similar system for managing the set of tools required for
different machining operations.
Production systems
A production system comprises both the technological elements (machines and tools) and organizational
behavior (division of labor and information flow). An individual production system is usually analyzed in
the literature referring to a single business, therefore it's usually improper to include in a given production
system the operations necessary to process goods that are obtained by purchasing or the operations
carried by the customer on the sold products, the reason being simply that since businesses need to design
their own production systems this then becomes the focus of analysis, modeling and decision making (also
called "configuring" a production system) .

A first possible distinction in production systems (technological classification) is between continuous

process production and discrete part production (manufacturing).

 Process production means that the product undergoes physical-chemical transformations and lacks assembly
operations, therefore the original raw materials can't easily be obtained from the final product, examples
include: paper, cement, nylon and petroleum products.
 Part production (ex:cars and ovens) comprises both fabrication systems and assembly systems. In the first
category we find job shops, manufacturing cells, flexible manufacturing systems and transfer lines, in the
assembly category we have fixed position systems, assembly lines and assembly shops (both manual and/or
automated operations).[28][29]

Delivery lead time is the blue bar, manufacturing time is the whole bar, the green bar is the difference between the
two.

Another possible classification[30] is one based on Lead Time (manufacturing lead time vs delivery lead
time): engineer to order (ETO, purchase to order (PTO), make to order (MTO), assemble to order (ATO)
and make to stock (MTS). According to this classification different kinds of systems will have different
customer order decoupling points (CODP), meaning that work in progress (WIP) cycle stock levels are
practically nonexistent regarding operations located after the CODP (except for WIP due to queues). (See
Order fulfillment)

The concept of production systems can be expanded to the service sector world keeping in mind that
services have some fundamental differences in respect to material goods: intangibility, client always
present during transformation processes, no stocks for "finished goods". Services can be classified
according to a service process matrix:[31] degree of labor intensity (volume) vs degree of customization
(variety). With a high degree of labor intensity there are Mass Services (e.g., commercial banking bill
payments and state schools) and Professional Services (e.g., personal physicians and lawyers), while with a
low degree of labor intensity there are Service Factories (e.g., airlines and hotels) and Service Shops (e.g.,
hospitals and auto mechanics).

The systems described above are ideal types: real systems may present themselves as hybrids of those
categories. Consider, for example, that the production of jeans involves initially carding, spinning, dyeing
and weaving, then cutting the fabric in different shapes and assembling the parts in pants or jackets by
combining the fabric with thread, zippers and buttons, finally finishing and distressing the pants/jackets
before being shipped to stores.[32] The beginning can be seen as process production, the middle as part
production and the end again as process production: it's unlikely that a single company will keep all the
stages of production under a single roof, therefore the problem of vertical integration and outsourcing
arises. Most products require, from a supply chain perspective, both process production and part production
 Production and Operations Management
 
Production (or Operations) management is an umbrella term which encompasses a gamut of ideas within
the jingoistic managerial circles, mostly exemplified by the varied literal definitions of these terms based
on the source. But we’ll confine ourselves to straightforward (and understandable) definition to answer the
basic question – ‘What is operations management?‘
 

Definition:

Production / Operations Management is defined as the process which transforms the inputs/resources of
an organization into final goods (or services) through a set of defined, controlled and repeatable policies.

By policies, we refer to the rules that add value to the final output. The value added can be in different
dimensions, but the industrial set-up is mostly concerned with the duo of quality and throughput.
 

Difference between Production and Operations Management

Production and operations management are more similar than different: if manufacturing products is a
prime concern then it is called production management, whereas management of services is somewhat
broader in scope and called operations management (because manufacturing services sounds absurd,
right?).

The line between products-based and services-based organizations is blurring rapidly as well— car
manufactures need to service their cars and the retailers manufacture their own brand labels.

We will be referring to them jointly as POM from here on in this article, for the benefit and convenience of
all the parties involved.

Management
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Manager" redirects here. For other uses, see Management (disambiguation) and Manager
(disambiguation).

An organization chart for the United States Coast Guard shows the hierarchy of managerial roles in that
organization.

Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it be a business, a not-for-

profit organization, or government body. Management includes the activities of setting the strategy of an
organization and coordinating the efforts of its employees or volunteers to accomplish its objectives
through the application of available resources, such as financial, natural, technological, and human
resources. The term "management" may also refer to the people who manage an organization.

Management is also an academic discipline, a social science whose objective is to study social organization
and organizational leadership. Management is studied at colleges and universities; some important degrees
in management are the Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com.) and Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.)
and, for the public sector, the Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree. Individuals who aim at
becoming management researchers or professors may complete the Doctor of Business Administration
(DBA) or the PhD in business administration or management.

Definitions management

Views on the definition and scope of management include:

 According to Henri Fayol, "to manage is to forecast and to plan, to organise, to command, to co-ordinate and
to control."[1]
 Fredmund Malik defines it as "the transformation of resources into utility."
 Management included as one of the factors of production - along with machines, materials and money.

Supply chain management

In commerce, supply chain management (SCM), the management of the flow of goods and services,[2] involves the
movement and storage of raw materials, of work-in-process inventory, and of finished goods from point of origin to
point of consumption. Interconnected or interlinked networks, channels and node businesses combine in the
provision of products and services required by end customers in a supply chain.[3] Supply-chain management has
been defined [4] as the "design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of supply chain activities with the
objective of creating net value, building a competitive infrastructure, leveraging worldwide logistics, synchronizing
supply with demand and measuring performance globally."[5]
The Difference Between Effectiveness and
Efficiency Explained
What is the difference between effectiveness and efficiency? They are two buzzwords that are popularly
used by CEOs and Sales VPs in charting the course of their organization. Yet, they are also commonly
misused and misinterpreted, not just in the lexicon of business-speak but also in daily use. For all intents
and purposes, let’s begin by defining efficiency and effectiveness in general terms, borrowing from
Dictionary.com:

Effective (adj.) – Adequate to accomplish a purpose; producing the intended or expected result.

Efficient (adj.) – Performing or functioning in the best possible manner with the least waste of time and
effort.

The difference between effectiveness and efficiency can be summed up shortly, sweetly and succinctly –
Being effective is about doing the right things, while being efficient is about doing things right.

What is the difference between short-term,

intermediate, and long-term outcomes?
One difference could be the length of time between the program intervention and the measured outcome,
however the most important difference is the effect the intervention has on the outcome. Short-term
outcomes can be directly tied to the intervention, while long-term outcomes can be less directly attributed
to the program. In general, short-term outcomes are measured at the end of the program or soon after the
program has finished. Short-term outcomes refer to changes in knowledge, attitudes, or behaviors and can
include reports of behaviors that participants intend to change or motivation to change. Intermediate
outcomes are usually measured within several months after the end of the program and include actions by
participants based on what they learned. Long-term outcomes are measured a year or several years after
program completion and include changes in conditions, policies, or organizational structure. For example, a
short-term outcome for a smoking prevention program for teenagers could be the number of teens who
report that they do not plan to start smoking. An intermediate outcome could be the number of teens who
report not smoking at six months, and a long-term outcome could be a reduction in the smoking rate
among teens in a city, county, state or region. Short-term, intermediate, and long-term outcomes are
related and build on each other.