OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT EXAM 1

chapter 1

what is operations?

the part of. abusiness organzation that is responsible for producing goods or services
oprations management- the management of systems or processes that create goods and or provide services
supply chain - a sewuence of avctivties annd organzations involved in producing and derlievring a good or service
role of the operations manager
the operations function consists of all activties directly related to rpoducing goods or providing services
a priamry function of the opertions manager is to gudie the system by decision making
system design decisons: system deisgn
- capacity
- faciltiy location
- faciltiy layout
- product and service planning
- aquaistion and placement equipment
  system opreaton: generally tactical and operational decisions
  - management of personnel
  - inventory management and control
  - sheuduling
  - project management
  - quality asssurance
    key issues for oeprations managers today
     Economic conditions
     Innovating
     Quality problems
     Risk management
     Cyber-security
     Competing in a global economy
  - the need for supply chain managemnt
    - oscillating inevntory levels
    - inventory stockouts
    - late deliveries
    - quality problems
  - Historical evolution of Operations management
    - industrial revolution
    - scientifc management
    - human relations movement
    - decision models and managment science
    - influence of Japanese manufactures

chapter 2

businesses compete using operations

Product and service design
Cost
Location
Quality
Quick response
Flexibility
Inventory management
Supply chain management
Service
Managers and workers

why some organzations fail

1 Neglecting operations strategy
2. Failing to take advantage of strengths and opportunities
and/or failing to recognize competitive threats
3. Too much emphasis on short-term financial
performance at the expense of R&D
4. Too much emphasis on product and service design and
not enough on process design and improvement
5. Neglecting investments in capital and human resources
6. Failing to establish good internal communications and
cooperation
7. Failing to consider customer wants and needs

define the terms mission and stragety and exaplin why they are important

mission: the reason for an oraganzations existence

strategy: a plan for achieving organzational goals

serves as a roadmap for reaching the organzational desitinations

order qualifers

minmium standard of accepabiltiy for a product or service to be considered as a potential for purchase
order winners
good or services that cause it to be perceived as better than competition
define the temr producifvity and explain why it is imporant to organzations
producitvity a measure of the effective use of resources, usally expressed as the ratio of of output to input
High productivity is linked to higher standards of living
 As an economy replaces manufacturing jobs with lower
productivity service jobs, it is more difficult to maintain high
standards of living
 Higher productivity relative to the competition leads to
competitive advantage in the marketplace
 Pricing and profit effects
 For an industry, high relative productivity makes it less
likely it will be supplanted by foreign industry
factors affecting producivity
- method
- capital
- technology
- qaulity
- management
chapter 3
Features Common to All Forcasts
1. Techniques assume some underlying causal system
  that existed in the past will persist into the future
2. Forecasts are not perfect
3. Forecasts for groups of items are more accurate than
  those for individual items
4. Forecast accuracy decreases as the forecasting
  horizon increases
forecasts are not perfect
becasue random variation is always present, there will always be some residual error, even if all other factors have been accounted for.
Elements of a Good Forecast
 Should be timely
 Should be accurate
 Should be reliable
 Should be expressed in meaningful units
 Should be in writing
 Technique should be simple to understand and use
 Should be cost-effective
Steps in the Forecasting Process
1. Determine the purpose of the forecast
2. Establish a time horizon
3. Obtain, clean, and analyze appropriate data
4. Select a forecasting technique
5. Make the forecast
6. Monitor the forecast errors

four qaulative forecasting techinques
Forecasts that use subjective inputs such as opinions from consumer
surveys, sales staff, managers, executives, and experts
Executive opinions
 A small group of upper-level managers may meet and collectively develop a
forecast
Salesforce opinions
 Members of the sales or customer service staff can be good sources of
information due to their direct contact with customers and may be aware of
plans customers may be considering for the future
Consumer surveys
 Since consumers ultimately determine demand, it makes sense to solicit input
from them
 Consumer surveys typically represent a sample of consumer opinions
Other approaches
 Managers may solicit 0pinions from other managers or staff people or outside
experts to help with developing a forecast.
 The Delphi method is an iterative process intended to achieve a consensus
reverse engineering
- dismantling and inspecting a competitors product to dicsover product improvements
- the 3rs are redue, resue, and recyle
- quality function deployement (QFD) is structured approach for integrating the voice of the consumer into the product development process
  
  what does product and service design do?
  Translate customer wants and needs into product and
  service requirements
  2. Refine existing products and services
  3. Develop new products and services
  4. Formulate quality goals
  5. Formulate cost targets
  6. Construct and test prototypes
  7. Document specifications
  8. Translate product and service specifications into process
  specifications
  9. Involve inter-functional collaboration
- strategic producrt and service design is the essennce of an organzation is the goods and services it offers

key questions of product and design

is there a demand for it?
can we do it?
what level of quality is appropriate?
does it make sense from an economic standpoint?
reasons for design and redesign
economic
social and demogrpahic
political, liability, or legal
competitve
cost or availability
technological

reverse engineering: dismantling and inspecting a competitors product to discover product improvements
legal and ethical product and services
- product liability
- ligitation
- legal and insurance costs
- settlement costs
- costly product recalls
- reputation effects
- unifomrm commerical code
ethical considerations
- deisgners are often in. stress
- these pressures force trade off decisons
- human factors
- cultutral factors
- global deisgn

cradel to grave assessment

aka life cycle analysis: the assessement of the enivromentla impact of a product or service throughout its useful life
standardization: extent to which there is an absence if variety in a product, service, or process
kano model, basic quality ( customer requirments that have only limited effect on customer stastifaction), performance quality ( customer requirements that generate satisfaction or dissatisfaction), excitement quality ( feature or attribute that was unexpected by the customer and causes excitement)
- concurrent engineering: bringing engineering design and manufacturing personnel together early in the design phase
- key issues in service design- degree of variation in service requirements, degree of customer contact and involvement
  phases in service design process
  1. Conceptualize
  • Idea generation
  • Assessment of customer wants/needs
  • Assessment of demand potential
  2. Identify service package components needed
  3. Determine performance specifications
  4. Translate performance specifications into design
  specifications
  5. Translate design specifications into delivery
  specifications
The well-deisgned service system
 Consistent with the organization mission
 User-friendly
 Robust if variability is a factor
 Easy to sustain
 Cost-effective
 Has value that is obvious to the customer
 Has effective linkages between back- and front-of-the-
house operations
 Has a single, unifying theme
 Has design features and checks that will ensure service
that is reliable and of high quality