Managing Operations and Supply Chains

These flashcards summarize essential concepts from the lecture on managing operations and supply chains.

Operations Management (OM)

The development and administration of activities involved in transforming resources into goods and services.

Manufacturing

The activities and processes used in making tangible products, also known as production.

Production

Activities and processes used in making tangible products, often used interchangeably with manufacturing.

Operations

Activities and processes used in making both tangible and intangible products.

Inputs

Resources such as labor, money, materials, and energy that are converted into products.

Products

Goods, services, and ideas that result from the conversion of inputs.

Transformation Process

The process through which inputs are converted into products.

Quality in Operations Management

A critical aspect where companies must create desired quality products using resources efficiently to stay competitive.

Supply Chain Management (SCM)

Connecting and integrating all parties or members of the distribution system to satisfy customers.

Logistics

The planning, execution, and control of the movement of goods and services in the supply chain.

Procurement

Processes to obtain resources to create value, which includes sourcing and purchasing materials.

Quality Control

Processes that maintain the established quality standards inside an organization.

Total Quality Management (TQM)

An organization-wide effort to improve quality, focusing on customer satisfaction and continuous improvement.

Benchmarking

Measuring and evaluating the quality of the organization's goods, services, or processes against top-performing companies.

Standardization

Making identical, interchangeable components or products to enhance production efficiency.

Modular Design

The creation of products in self-contained units that can be combined or interchanged.

Customization

Making products to meet a particular customer's needs or wants.

Just-in-Time (JIT) Inventory Management

An inventory management technique that reduces waste by delivering materials just in time for use.

Economic Order Quantity (EOQ) Model

A model that identifies the optimal number of items to order to minimize the total costs of inventory management.

Material-Requirements Planning (MRP)

A planning system that schedules the precise quantity of materials needed to make a product.

Outsourcing

The contracting of manufacturing or other tasks to independent companies to increase efficiency.

Inventory Control

The process of managing and keeping track of inventories of raw materials, components, and finished goods.

Quality Assurance

A way to guarantee that products meet quality standards throughout the production process.

Statistical Process Control

A system for monitoring the production process to identify and correct quality problems.

International Organization for Standardization (ISO)

An organization that sets quality management standards like ISO 9000 and ISO 14000 for companies.

Customer Contact

The degree of interaction between a service provider and customers during the service delivery process.

Capacity Planning

Determining the production capacity needed by an organization to meet changing demands for its products.

Facility Layout

The arrangement of resources within a facility to optimize the production process.

Continuous Manufacturing Organizations

Companies that use continuously running assembly lines to produce standardized products.

Flexible Manufacturing

The ability to adapt production processes to accommodate varying product types and volumes.

Robotics

The use of robots in manufacturing and operations to perform tasks efficiently and safely.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The simulation of human intelligence in machines to perform tasks that typically require human intelligence.

Sustainability in Operations

Conducting operations to ensure minimal negative impact on the environment while maintaining profitability.

Service Characteristics

Factors defining the nature of services, including intangibility, perishability, inseparability, and variability.

Customer Satisfaction

The degree to which companies meet or exceed customer expectations regarding products and services.

Supply Chain Disruptions

Issues affecting the normal flow of goods and services within a supply chain, often impacting availability.

Logistical Management

The management of the flow of goods, information, and services to meet customer demand.

Third-Party Logistics (3PL)

The use of outside firms to manage logistics services more efficiently.

Risk Management in Supply Chain

Strategies employed by companies to mitigate risks associated with supply chain disruptions.

capacity

the maximum load that an organizational unit can carry or operate.

fixed-position layout

a layout that brings all resources required to create the product to a central location. 

project organization

a company using a fixed-position layout because it is typically involved in large, complex projects such as construction or exploration.

process layout

a layout that organizes the transformation process into departments that group related processes.

intermittent organizations o

organizations that deal with products of a lesser magnitude than do project organizations; their products are not necessarily unique but possess a significant number of differences.

product layout

layout requiring that production be broken down into relatively simple tasks assigned to workers, who are usually positioned along an assembly line.

computer-aided manufacturing (CAM)

manufacturing that employs specialized computer systems to actually guide and control the transformation processes.

computer-assisted design (CAD)

the design of components, products, and processes on computers instead of on paper

computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM)

a complete system that designs products, manages machines and materials, and controls the operations function.

purchasing

the buying of all the materials needed by the organization.

inventory

all raw materials, components, completed or partially completed products, and pieces of equipment a firm uses.

routing

the sequence of operations through which the product must pass

scheduling

the assignment of required tasks to departments or even specific machines, workers, or teams.