TOPIC 1 OPERATIONS
Role of Operations Management
- strategic role of operations management - cost leadership, good/service differentiation
- goods and/or services in different industries
- interdependence with other key business functions
Influences
- globalisation, technology, quality expectations, cost-based competition, government policies, legal regulation, environmental sustainability
- corporate social responsibility
- environmental sustainability and social responsibility
Operations processes
- inputs
- transforming resources (human resources, facilities)
- transformation processes
- sequencing and scheduling – Gantt charts, critical path analysis
- technology, task design and process layout
- monitoring, control and improvement
- outputs
- warranties
Operations strategies
- performance objectives – quality, speed, dependability, flexibility, customisation, cost
- new product or service design and development
- supply chain management – logistics, e-commerce, global sourcing
- outsourcing – advantages and disadvantages
- technology – leading edge, established
- inventory management – advantages and disadvantages of holding stock, LIFO (last-in-first-out), FIFO (first-in-first-out), JIT (just-in-time)
- quality management – control – assurance – improvement
- overcoming resistance to change – financial costs, purchasing new equipment, redundancy payments, retraining, reorganising plant layout, inertia
- global factors – global sourcing, economies of scale, scanning and learning, research and development