BUS 100 Operations Management

Automation

Replacing human operation and control of machinery and equipment with some form of programmed control.

Baldrige National Quality Program

A national program to encourage American firms to focus on quality improvement.

Computer-aided design (CAD)

Drawing and drafting software that enables users to create and edit blueprints and design drawings quickly and easily.

Computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/ CAM)

A combination of software that can be used to design output and send instructions to automated equipment to perform the steps needed to produce this output.

Computer-aided engineering (CAE)

Software that enables users to test, analyze, and optimize their designs.

Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM)

Software that takes the electronic design for a product and creates the programmed instructions that robots must follow to produce that product as efficiently as possible.

Computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM)

A combination of CAD/ CAM software with flexible manufacturing systems to automate almost all steps involved in designing, testing, and producing a product.

Critical path method (CPM)

A project-management tool that illustrates the relationships among all the activities involved in completing a project and identifies the sequence of activities likely to take the longest to complete.

Critical path

The sequence of activities in a project that is expected to take the longest to complete.

Effectiveness

Using resources to create value by providing customers with goods and services that offer a better relationship between price and perceived benefits.

Efficiency

Producing output or achieving a goal at the lowest cost.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP)

Software-based approach to integrate an organization’s (and in the sophisticated versions, a value chain’s) information flows.

Goods

Tangible products.

Immediate predecessors

Activities in a project that must be completed before some other specified activity can begin.

Inventory

Stocks of goods or other items held by organizations.

ISO 14000

A family of generic standards for environmental management established by the International Organization for Standardization.

ISO 9000

A family of generic standards for quality management systems established by the International Organization for Standardization.

Just-in-time (JIT) production

A production system that emphasizes the production of goods to meet actual current demand, thus minimizing the need to hold inventories of finished goods and work in process at each stage of the supply chain.

Lean production

An approach to production that emphasizes the elimination of waste in all aspects of production processes.

Offshoring

Moving production or support processes to foreign countries.

Operations management

Creating value by managing the activities that produce goods and services and then distributing them to customers.

Outsourcing

Arranging for other organizations to perform supply chain functions that were previously performed internally.

Poka-yokes

Simple methods incorporated into a production process designed to eliminate or greatly reduce errors.

Process

A set of related activities that transform inputs into outputs, thus adding value.

Robot

A reprogrammable machine that is capable of manipulating materials, tools, parts, and specialized devices in order to perform a variety of tasks.

Services

Intangible products.

Servicescape

The environment in which a customer and service provider interact.

Six Sigma

An approach to quality improvement characterized by very ambitious quality goals, extensive training of employees, and a long-term commitment to working on quality-related issues.

Total quality management (TQM)

An approach to quality improvement that calls for everyone within an organization to take responsibility for improving quality and emphasizes the need for a long-term commitment to continuous improvement.

Value chain

The network of relationships that channels the flow of inputs, information, and financial resources through all of the processes directly or indirectly involved in producing goods and services and distributing them to customers.

Vertical integration

Performance of processes internally that were previously performed by other organizations in a supply chain.