intro to business chap 9

production management

all the activities managers do to help their firms create goods

operations management

a specialized area in management that converts or transforms resources (including human resources) into goods and services

form utility

value producers add to materials in the creation of finished goods and services; ex. transforming silicon into computer chips

process manufacturing

part of the production process that physically or chemically changes materials

assembly process

puts together components to make a product

continuous process

a production process in which long production runs turn out finished goods over time

intermittent process

a production process in which the production run is short and the machines are changed frequently to make different products

computer-aided design (CAD)

use of computers in the design of products

computer-aided manufacturing (CAM)

use of computers in the manufacturing of products

computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM)

uniting of computer-aided design with computer-aided manufacturing

flexible manufacturing

designing machines to do multiple tasks so they can produce a variety of products

lean manufacturing

production of goods using less of everything compared to mass production

mass customization

tailoring products to meet the needs of a large number of individual customers

materials requirement planning (MRP)

a computer-based operations management system that uses sales forecasts to make sure that needed parts and materials are available at the right time and place

enterprise resource planning (ERP)

a newer version of materials requirement planning that combines the computerized functions of all divisions and subsidiaries of the firm (ex. finance and human resources) into a single integrated software program that uses a single database

program evaluation and review technique (PERT)

a method for analyzing the tasks involved in completing a given project, estimating the time needed to complete each task, and identifying the minimum time needed to complete the total project

critical path

in a PERT network, the sequence of tasks that takes the longest time to complete

Gantt chart

a bar graph showing production managers what projects are being worked on and what stage they are in at any given time