Operations Management is the core of the manufacturing company. It is a combination of various disciplines.

Presented by Jay Heizer and Barry Render (2005). Operations management or often called production management includes ten things. 1. Design of goods and services. Associated with quality and human resources. 2. Quality. The quality or product quality must be maintained during construction process products (goods or services). 3. The design process and capacity. Designing processes and capacities related to the quality, human resources, inventory, scheduling and maintenance. 4. Site selection The choice of location associated with supply chain management. 5. Design layout. The design layout is done after the design process and capacity. 6. Human Resources (HR) and Design work. HR factors include safety, health, job description, work environment and wages. 7. Supply chain management. Supply chain management is influenced by site selection and product quality. 8. Inventory. Inventory decisions are influenced by design processes and capacity, human resources, and design layout. 9. Scheduling. Scheduling decisions are influenced by the design process and capacity, layout and HR. 10. Maintenance. Maintenance associated with maintaining the quality or qualities.

Issues in Operations Strategy In forming a strategy to achieve a stated mission, a manager should consider Research What researchers have identied as successful characteristics of operations management strategies. Preconditions Things that must be understood before a strategy is formu-lated. Dynamics How to deal with change as the strategy is confronted withchanges in the operating environment.Each of these topics will be discussed in turn. Research The PIMS (Prot Impact of Market Strategy) project by GE (General Electric)collected data from 3,000 cooperating organizations to identify characteristics of high ROI (Return on Investment) rms. They determined that high-impact OMdecisions have the following characteristics: 1. High product quality 2. High capacity utilization 3. High operating eciency 4. Low investment intensity 5. Low direct cost per unit Preconditions At a minimum, when considering factors that inuence strategy development, anunderstanding is needed of 1. Strengths and weakness of competitors Including possible new entrants and Commitment of suppliers and distributors 2. Current environmental, technological, legal, and economic issues. 3. The product life cycle 4. Resources available to the manager 5. Integration of the OM strategy with the companys overall strategy Dynamics Strategy may need to be changed due to changes in an organization, includingpe rsonnel, nance, technology, and product life cycle changes, and changes in theenvironment, such as the competitive environment, advances in technology, etc.

Planning It is the basic function of management. It deals with chalking out a future course of action & deciding in advance the most appropriate course of actions for achievement of pre-determined goals. According to KOONTZ, Planning is deciding in advance - what to do, when to do & how to do. It bridges the gap from where we are & where we want to be. A plan is a future course of actions. It is an exercise in problem solving & decision making. Planning is determination of courses of action to achieve desired goals. Thus, planning is a systematic thinking about ways & means for accomplishment of predetermined goals. Planning is necessary to ensure proper utilization of human & non-human resources. It is all pervasive, it is an intellectual activity and it also helps in avoiding confusion, uncertainties, risks, wastages etc. Organizing It is the process of bringing together physical, financial and human resources and developing productive relationship amongst them for achievement of organizational goals. According to Henry Fayol, To organize a business is to provide it with everything useful or its functioning i.e. raw material, tools, capital and personnels. To organize a business involves determining & providing human and non-human resources to the organizational structure. Organizing as a process involves: Identification of activities. Classification of grouping of activities. Assignment of duties. Delegation of authority and creation of responsibility. Coordinating authority and responsibility relationships.

Staffing It is the function of manning the organization structure and keeping it manned. Staffing has assumed greater importance in the recent years due to advancement of technology, increase in size of business, complexity of human behavior etc. The main purpose o staffing is to put right man on right job i.e. square pegs in square holes and round pegs in round holes. According to Kootz & ODonell, Managerial function of staffing involves manning the organization structure through proper and effective selection, appraisal & development of personnel to fill the roles designed un the structure. Staffing involves: Manpower Planning (estimating man power in terms of searching, choose the person and giving the right place). Recruitment, selection & placement. Training & development. Remuneration. Performance appraisal. Promotions & transfer.

Directing It is that part of managerial function which actuates the organizational methods to work efficiently for achievement of organizational purposes. It is considered life-spark of the enterprise which sets it in motion the action of people because planning, organizing and staffing are the mere preparations for doing the work. Direction is that inert-personnel aspect of management which deals directly with influencing, guiding, supervising, motivating sub-ordinate for the achievement of organizational goals. Direction has following elements: Supervision Motivation Leadership Communication

Supervision- implies overseeing the work of subordinates by their superiors. It is the act of watching & directing work & workers.

Motivation- means inspiring, stimulating or encouraging the sub-ordinates with zeal to work. Positive, negative, monetary, non-monetary incentives may be used for this purpose. Leadership- may be defined as a process by which manager guides and influences the work of subordinates in desired direction. Communications- is the process of passing information, experience, opinion etc from one person to another. It is a bridge of understanding. Controlling It implies measurement of accomplishment against the standards and correction of deviation if any to ensure achievement of organizational goals. The purpose of controlling is to ensure that everything occurs in conformities with the standards. An efficient system of control helps to predict deviations before they actually occur. According to Theo Haimann, Controlling is the process of checking whether or not proper progress is being made towards the objectives and goals and acting if necessary, to correct any deviation. According to Koontz & ODonell Controlling is the measurement & correction of performance activities of subordinates in order to make sure that the enterprise objectives and plans desired to obtain them as being accomplished. Therefore controlling has following steps: . . . . Establishment of standard performance. Measurement of actual performance. Comparison of actual performance with the standards and finding out deviation if any. Corrective action.

The Project Life Cycle refers to a logical sequence of activities to accomplish the projects goals or objectives PROJECT LIFE CYCLE stages: 1) Initiation In this first stage, the scope of the project is defined along with the approach to be taken to deliver the desired outputs. The project manager is appointed and in turn, he selects the team members based on their skills and experience. The most common tools or methodologies used in the initiation stage are Project Charter,Business Plan, Project Framework (or Overview), Business Case Justification, and Milestones Reviews. 2) Planning The second phase should include a detailed identification and assignment of each task until the end of the project. It should also include a risk analysis and a definition of criteria for the successful completion of each deliverable. The governance process is defined, stake holders identified and reporting frequency and channels agreed. The most common tools or methodologies used in the planning stage are Business Plan and Milestones Reviews. 3) Execution and controlling The most important issue in this phase is to ensure project activities are properly executed and controlled. During the execution phase, the planned solution is implemented to solve the problem specified in the project's requirements. In product and system development, a design resulting in a specific set of product requirements is created. This convergence is measured by prototypes, testing, and reviews. As the execution phase progresses, groups across the organization become more deeply involved in planning for the final testing, production, and support. The most common tools or methodologies used in the execution phase are an update of Risk Analysis and Score Cards, in addition to Business Plan and Milestones Reviews. 4) Closure In this last stage, the project manager must ensure that the project is brought to its proper completion. The closure phase is characterized by a written formal project review report containing the following components: a formal acceptance of the final product by the client, Weighted Critical Measurements (matching the initial requirements specified by the client with the final delivered product), rewarding the team, a list of lessons learned, releasing project resources, and a formal project closure notification to higher management. No special tool or methodology is needed during the closure phase.

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE Introduction. The need for immediate profit is not a pressure. The product is promoted to create awareness. If the product has no or few competitors, a skimming price strategy is employed. Limited numbers of product are available in few channels of distribution. Growth. Competitors are attracted into the market with very similar offerings. Products become more profitable and companies form alliances, joint ventures and take each other over. Advertising spend is high and focuses upon building brand. Market share tends to stabilise. Maturity. Those products that survive the earlier stages tend to spend longest in this phase. Sales grow at a decreasing rate and then stabilise. Producers attempt to differentiate products and brands are key to this. Price wars and intense competition occur. At this point the market reaches saturation. Producers begin to leave the market due to poor margins. Promotion becomes more widespread and use a greater variety of media. Decline. At this point there is a downturn in the market. For example more innovative products are introduced or consumer tastes have changed. There is intense price-cutting and many more products are withdrawn from the market. Profits can be improved by reducing marketing spend and cost cutting.