Scope of Production and Operations Management A.

General Phase The Production / Operations Manager should be aware of the general environment that surrounds the production / operations unit. The immediate environment comprises of i)Customer ii)Competitors iii)Suppliers iv)Government regulations v)Technology vi) Economy. The immediate environment has a deep impact on the operations system. 1. Operations Management

Input

Conversion Transformation process

Output

Operations Management is the process of planning, organizing, directing and controlling a set of those conversion / transformation activities that tends to make available goods and services that the customer wants. The input to any operation units are as given the below Diagram:-

(Input

Conversion / Transformation
Environment :- *Customer * Competitors *Suppliers *Government regulations * Technology * Economy

Output)

Input Transformed Resources Material Infor mati on Customer

The Transformation Process Physical Properties Informational Properties Possession Location

Storage/Accommodation

Output Good or Services

Input Transforming Resources Facilities Staff

Physiological State Psychological State

Volume Variety Variation Visibility

Monitoring & Control

C1 - 14

The primary input for Maruti is Materials. The primary Input to Amity / JIMS is customers (students). The primary input to bank headquarters is information.

The transformation Activities takes place in Facilities along with staff and machinery on the primary inputs. The operations manager has to oversee the process of transformation / conversion. The Output from any operation unit are a mixture of goods and services. The output of any unit also vary as per the 4 Vs ( Volume, Variety, Variation in demand & Visibility). The Volume and Variety has a profound implication on the way the operation are managed. 2. Strategic Roles Strategy ( 5 Performance Objectives)

Strategies is all about knowing what to do and how to do it. Every operations unit has to chalk out a strategy or a coarse of action, and they need to manage such things as capacity, layout, technology, job design, integrate planning, Quality etc. to operationalise the strategy. To chalk out the strategy the operations manager must know that there are 5 performance objectives (Quality, Dependability, speed, flexibility and cost) the operation manager must control these variables so that the organization excels in all the 5 performance objectives. B. Design Phase Designing is not just about design of a product or service. It is also related with designing the process and the network that shall deliver the product or service. 3. Design of Product and Service :- The operation Manager plays a key role in design of product and service along with R&D department and the Marketing Department. Generally a structured methodology is followed to design product and services. Such as Quality Function Deployment (QFD), Value Analysis / Value Engineering (VA/VE), Taguchi Methods, Design For Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA). Out of several product design one of them is finally chosen which will be manufactured on a large scale. Design of operations network :- when a new product is designed we may need to design the entire process that will make the product or service. In case a new course is designed or a new model of car is launched the operations manger has to decide if there is sufficient Capacity (Capacity Decision) to cater to the new product / service. If there is not then may be an additional facility (Capacity) may be taken up somewhere. The natural question then is where this additional facility be (Location Decision). How should the layout of the additional facility be (Layout Decision). Apart from this the operation manager needs to design the entire network of suppliers and logistics network (Supply Chain Decision).

4.

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6.

Process Technology :- The operations manger has to choose from the vast array of Processing Technology available. Hardware such as Machine Centers, Flexible Manufacturing System(FMS), Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV), Robotics. Software system such as CRAFT, Internet Services, Decision Support System, Expert System etc. Job Design and Work Organisation :- The final activity in designing is designing the elements of the JOB i.e. who will do the job when, where and how? And the compensation associated with the job.

C. Planning and Control Phase :- In this phase the manager is associated with carefully running the show that has been designed previously. 7. Capacity planning and control :- here the operation manager have to manage( with fixed capacity) the medium range and short term changes in Capacity. He may use some strategies such as Overtime, shift change, outsourcing / sub-contracting, hire and fire workers. Inventory planning and Control:- Careful planning of inventory has to take place because a lot of working capital is tied up in inventory. Supply chain Planning and Control :- Day to Day Co-ordination with suppliers and customers. Material Requirement Planning:- is a Push system of manufacturing where by time schedules are created for completing the job in a specific period of time and in desired quantities. Quality Planning and Control :- The Operations Manager has to design a frame work of managing quality which may include making SQC Charts, Acceptance Sampling, Determining process capabilities, Applying six sigma. Project Planning and Control:- are unique Network based Methodologies to manage large scale projects. We use techniques such as, Programme Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT) and CPM (Critical Path Method), Resource leveling, Resource scheduling and control of project costs. Just in Time (JIT):- is a pull system of manufacturing. This philosophy usually envisages as minimum inventory as is possible in the system. Therefore work is done just in time.

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D. IMPROVEMENT PHASE :- Even after calculated planning and control things are bound to go wrong so an operations unit must develop a procedure for failure prevention and recovery. 14. Failure prevention and Recovery :- Human error and machine error all need to be checked. Machines need to be maintained properly. A strategy of Total preventive maintenance may be used which includes authorizing workers to carry out maintenance them self.

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TQM ( Total Quality Management) :- TQM is a philosophy which over sees the implementation of quality programmes in not only the production department but in the entire organization.

E. OPERATIONS CHALLENGES :- In a world that has shrunk into a global village there are immense challenges for the operations managers. The effect of globalization and environment protection have to be kept in mind. There are social responsibilities for an operations managers. Technology is changing at a very fast rate. When to bring in new technology and how to use it is a key decision area (Technology Awareness). Everyday there is a learning by the operations department because they are directly involved in making the product and service. The knowledge so gained has to be managed. For e.g. America will never part with its nuclear enrichment technology however it may be ready to part with its technology to control Oil Slick. The operations manager has to deeply understand various government laws and the industrial safety and security acts which apply to an organization such as Factories Act, Compensations Act, Labours Act, Boilers Acts.