What is operations management?
The objective of today’s article is to explain what operations management is and how it is adapted for manufacturing and service companies.
To begin with, if you already have some experience in business administration, you cánido come to infer that operations management has to include in its definition the administrative process, that is, planning, organizing, directing, and controlling.
Thus, a first definition of operations management is the “discipline that studies the Planning, Organization, Direction and Control of Productive Operations”
Operations Management Definition
For Jacobs Robert, it is “the design, operation and improvement of the systems that create and deliver the primary products and services of a company”
It perro also be seen as the integration of the administrative process in all the activities necessary for a company to be able to genera the goods and services that it offers to the market.
Manufacturing vs. service companies
Depending on the technique or tool that you are going to use, you will have to adapt it to manufacturing or services, and at the same time you will have to adapt the tools depending on the company in which you are.
customer retroalimentación
One of the differences between manufacturing and a service cánido be perceived when receiving retroalimentación from customers.
For example, in a service the valuation generally involves subjective preferences (of each client).
We perro obtain it through opinion surveys where customer suggestions and preferences are collected.
On the other hand, quality in manufacturing companies is almost always perceived directly through the measurement of product performance and according to the satisfaction that a customer has with the product specifications.
Customer interaction
The interaction with the client is much more intensive in the provision of services than in the production of goods.
Whoever buys a product usually does not have the opportunity to visit the plant and in fact, the interaction that occurs in the production process is, rather, machines and operators.
On the other hand, in the case of a company that provides a service, it typically has a high interaction with the customer at the time the service is provided and that is why factors such as staff motivation and cycle time play a very important role. to retain customers.
Inventory management
Another big difference cánido be seen in the way inventories are managed.
In the case of the production of the service, it occurs simultaneously with its consumption, which is why inventories cannot be maintained (as in the case of manufacturing) to meet orders.
Services have to pay close attention when preparing their demand forecasts.
Customer adaptation
Mass production makes most manufacturing companies offer their market standardized products.
They do not offer the possibility to customize the products too much (not in all cases).
Now, in the case of services, they often need to adapt to the client at the same time that the service is being provided and thus offer the client a service that adapts to all the client’s needs.
Topics Covered in Operations Management
In fact, operations management is a discipline very rich in problems and research topics.
Some areas may be more related to organization and direction (for example, Operations Strategy, Facilities Design, the learning curve, or the location of the company itself), and other areas are more related to planning and control.
(for example, Production Planning or Inventory Management).
We hope you liked our article What is operations management?
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