1. Define the term operations management. Explain operations management’s role in business.
Operations management us the management of systems or processes that convert or transform resources into goods and services. Operations management is responsible for managing the core processes used to manufacture goods and produce services.
2. Describe the correlation between operations management and information technology.
Managers can use Information Technology to heavily influence operations management decisions including productivity, costs, flexibility, quality and customer satisfaction. One of the greatest benefits of IT on operations management exerts considerable influence over the degree to which goals and objectives of the organisation are realised. Most operations management decisions involve many possible alternatives that can have varying impacts on revenue and expenses. Operations management information systems are critical for managers to be able to make well informed decisions.
3. Explain supply chain management and its role in a business.
A supply chain consists of all parties involved, directly or indirectly in the procedurement of a product or raw material. Supple chain management involves the management of information flows between and among stages in a supply chain to maximise total supply chain effectiveness and profitability. The five basic components of supply chain management are; plan, source, make, deliver, return.
4. List and describe the five components of a typical supply chain.
The five basic supply chain management components;
Plan; this is the strategic portion of supply chain management. A company must have a plan for managing all the resources that go toward meeting customer demand for products or services. A big piece of planning is developing a set of metrics to monitor the supply chain so that it is efficient, costs and delivers high quality and value customers.
Source; companies must carefully choose reliable suppliers that will deliver goods and services required for making products. Companies must also develop a set of pricing, delivery and payment processes with suppliers and create metrics for monitoring and improving the relationships.
Make; this is the step where companies manufacture their products or services. This can include scheduling the activities necessary for production, testing, packaging, and preparing for delivery. This is by far the most metric intensive portion of the supply chain, measuring quality levels, production output and worker productivity.
Deliver; this step is commonly referred to as logistics. Logistics is the set of processed that plans for and controls the efficient and effective transportation and storage of supplies form suppliers to customers. During this step, companies must be able to receive orders from customers, fulfil the orders via a network of warehouses, pick transportation companies to deliver the products and implement a billing and invoicing system to facilitate payments.
Return; this is typically the most problematic step in the supply chain. Companies must create a network for receiving defective and excess products and support customers who have problems with delivered products.
5. Define the relationship between information technology and the supply chain.
Information technology's primary role in supply chain management is creating the integrations or tight process and information linkages between functions within a firm, such as marketing, sales, finance, manufacturing and distribution, and between firms, which allow the smooth, synchronised flow of both information and product between customers, suppliers and transportation providers across the supply chain. Information technology integrates planning, decision making process, business operating processes and information sharing for business performance management.
