Operations Management

Résumé du document

"There have been many significant changes in operation management during the past few years, involving such aspects as quality, reduction in inventory and costs, improving delivery and lead times.? Indeed, Operations Management is in a continuous evolution, always adapting itself in order to run a business in the most efficient way possible, to meet the demanding and inconstant expectations of firms. We will dwell upon these changes, see where they come from, and understand their impacts on Operations Management from the era of industrialization to the present. Operations Management is one of the three core functions every organization (for profit or not, manufacturing or service) has. It is responsible for planning, coordinating, and controlling the resources needed to produce a company's product or service. It creates value transforming inputs (money, workers, material) into outputs (the product the company will sell). Operations Management has evolved a lot, and rapidly, following the evolution of companies and their expectations. Until the 1980's, the main objective was to minimize firms' costs. Adapting themselves to the demand, businesses then focused on the quality of their products, and entered the mass customization era in 1995.

Extraits

[...] He established a rational organization of work, which is divided into elementary tasks, simple and repetitive, consigned to specialized workers. The objective of this method is once again to obtain the best possible productivity of the workers. Its organization is entrusted to a Methods Office that breaks up the whole production process into elementary operations which are studied, measured and timed. Fordism is an organization of work, created by Henry Ford (1863 - 1947) and largely inspired of previously mentioned Taylorism, or scientific management. [...]

[...] Nevertheless, a lot of other aspects that firms try to reach have a direct impact on Operations Management. Among them, I will describe deeper some important ones. The search of quality Quality is nowadays a necessity for companies to stay competitive and to differentiate their products from their competitors' ones. This element has been developed in some methods of production, like I mentioned before within the Toyotism system or the Total Quality Management for example. Quality management, which is primary for OM and to succeed in continuous improvement, implicates several activities such as quality assurance, quality planning, or the quality control. [...]

[...] Conclusion Operations Management has changed a lot these last few years. Engendered by the genius of some men, or by society's evolution, improvements in the company's world permitted this discipline evolving and optimizing its way of proceeding. Several factors explain changes in Operations Management : companies, from periods to periods, focus on different elements and thus, have to change its organisation and its core functions. Because business' world is always changing, Operations Management, adapting itself, is in a continuous evolution. [...]

[...] What is Operations Management? II. The main causes of changes III. The Taylorism / Fordism : an example of change IV. Changes' consequences on Operations Management Conclusion Biography Introduction There have been many significant changes in operation management during the past few years, involving such aspects as quality, reduction in inventory and costs, improving delivery and lead times. Indeed, Operations Management is in a continuous evolution, always adapting itself in order to run a business the most efficiently possible, to meet the demanding and inconstant expectations of firms. [...]

[...] What is Operations Management? Operations Management is one of the three core function every organization (for profit or not, manufacturing or service) has. It is responsible for planning, coordinating, and controlling the resources needed to produce a company's product or service. It creates value transforming inputs (money, workers, material) into outputs (the product the company will sell). The questions an Operations Manager has to ask himself are: What : Which resources do we need to use ? When : He has to schedule the whole activity Who : Chose the best employees to do the work Where : The best place for the production How : Which is the best way to produce ? [...]