Operations management is the management of processes that transform inputs into goods and services that add value for the customer.

The Goal of Operations Management

The goal of operations management is to maximize efficiency while producing goods and services that effectively fulfill customer needs. Countless operating decisions must be made that have both long- and short-term impacts on the organization’s ability to produce goods and services that provide added value to customers. If the organization has made mostly good operating decisions in designing and executing its transformation system to meet the needs of customers, its prospects for long-term survival are greatly enhanced.

Key Points

• Operations management transforms inputs (labor, capital, equipment, land, buildings, materials, and information) into outputs ( goods and services ) that provide added value to customers.

• All organizations must strive to maximize the quality of their transformation processes to meet customer needs.

• Controlling the transformation process makes it difficult for competitors to manufacture products of the same quality as the original producer.

Key Terms

• output: Production; quantity produced, created, or completed.

• input: Something fed into a process with the intention of it shaping or affecting the outputs of that process.

• process: A series of events to produce a result, especially as contrasted to product.

In this course we will be discussing:

• Concept of Operations Management

• Scope of Operations Management

• Objectives of Operations Management

• Key Aspects of Operations Management

• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)

• Material Requirement Planning (MRP)

• Collaborative Planning Forecasting & Replenishment (CPFR)

• Total Quality Management (TQM)