Production & Operations Management

Assignment A 1. Discuss the changing philosophy of operations management. What are the new trends in operations management.

Answer:Changing philosophy of operations management Operations management has two important components .1 . O p e r a t i o n s s y s t e m s a n d p r o c e d u r e s .2 . P h i l o s o p h y The performance of the organization is greatly influenced by the philosophy or mental framework o f t h e p e o p l e i n v o l v e d . M a n a g e m e n t p h i l o s o p h y i n f l u e n c e s t h e d e c i s i o n m a k i n g a n d t h o u g h t process in the organization. It provides a working environment and work culture, which makes all the difference to the organization. Operations management is concerned with all these aspects rather than just producing goods and services. In todays operations management, the focus has shifted from the earlier concept of large scale p r o d u c t i o n a n d c o s t r e d u c t i o n t o n e w m e t h o d o l o g i e s , n e w a p p r o a c h e s , n e w t o o l s , s y s t e m s simplification, continuous improvements, total quality management and just-in-time manufacturing. The operations management are not limiting their options to the new technologies development,automation and computerization, but are looking beyond with new approaches and perspectives. The following are factors affecting Operations Management: Reality of global competition Quality, customer service and cost challenges Rapid expansion of advanced technologies Continued growth of the service sector Scarcity of operations resources Operations management has undergone lots of changes in its concept, structure and implementation. The three terminologies are interrelated 1.Manufacturing management, 2.Production management and 3.Modern operations management The concept of manufacturing management is more than a century old. Subdivision of work and specialization of workforce was the focus of manufacturing management. Production management became popular in 1930s. A scientific approach, techniques of doing work or use of techniques in decision making became the focus of production management. Industrial engineering applications, work measurement, method study, incentive schemes were used to improve efficiency in operations. In modern operations management t h e f o c u s i s o n p r o d u c t q u a l i t y , c u s t o m e r s a t i s f a c t i o n , t e c h n o l o g i cal innovation, collective performance of management and use of models in b e t t e r decision making. New trends in the operations management can be summarized as under

:Global Market Place: Globalization of business has compelled many manufacturing firms to have operations in many countries where they have certain economic advantages. This has resulted in a step increase in the level of competition among manufacturing firms throughout the world . P r o d u c t i o n / O p e r a t i o n s S t r a t e g y : M o r e a n d m o r e f i r m s a r e r e c o g n i z i n g t h e i m p o r t a n c e o f production/operations strategy for the overall success of their business and the necessity for relating it to their overall business strategy . T o t a l Q u a l i t y M a n a g e m e n t ( T Q M ) : T Q M a p p r o a c h h a s b e e n a d o p t e d b y m a n y f i r m s t o achieve customer satisfaction by a never ending quest for improving the quality of goods and services. Flexibility:the ability to adapt quickly to changes in volume of demand, in the product mix demanded, and in product design or in delivery schedules, has become a major competitives t r a t e g y a n d a c o m p e t i t i v e a d v a n t a g e t o t h e f i r m s . T h i s i s s o m e t i m e s c a l l e d a s a g i l e manufacturing. Cycle time reduction:Reduction of manufacturing cycle time and speed to market for a new product provides competitive edge to a firm over other firms. When c o m p a n i e s c a n provide products at the same price and quality, quicker delivery (short lead times) provide one firm competitive edge over the other. Technology:a d v a n c e s i n t e c h n o l o g y h a v e l e d t o a v a s t a r r a y o f n e w p r o d u c t s , n e w processes and new materials and components. Automation, computerization, information and communication technologies have revolutionized the way companies operate Work involvement (Workers are not costs, they are assets): The recent t r e n d i s t o a s s i g n responsibility for decision making and problem solving to the lower levels in the organization. This is knownas employees involvement and empowerment. Exampl e s o f w o r k e r involvement are quality circles and use of work teams or quality improvement teams. 2. What is the difference in strategy in developing an initial layout for a new facility as compared to the strategy in improving the layout of an existing facility? Alayout is the physical configuration of departments, workstations, and equ i p m e n t s i n t h e conversion process. It is arrangement of physical resources used to create the product. S u c c e s s o f o p e r a t i o n s d e p e n d s o n t h e p h y s i c a l l a y o u t s o f t h e facilities Flowofrawmaterial.Productivity and human relationship are all affected by t h e a r r a n g e m e n t s o f t h e c o n v e r s i o n facilities. According to Moore Plant layout is a plan of an optimum arrangement of facilities including personnel, operating equipment, storage space, material handling equipment and all other supporting services along with the design of best structure to contain all these facilities. Plant layout involves: Planning and arranging facilities in new plant Improvements in existing layout to introduce new methods. Planning and arranging facilities in new plant Layout decisions have long term consequences on cost and compani e s a b i l i t y t o s e r v e t h e customers. Its optimal goal is to maximize the profit by arrangement of all the plant facilities to the best advantage of total manufacturing of the product. The following are the major objectives of layout: Providing enough production capacity Easy supervision

 Improvement in productivity Efficient utilization labor Increase in morale of the employees Reducing material handling costs Reducing accidents and hazards to personnel Reducing congestion Utilizing the space efficiently and effectively. Facilitate the organizational structure Improvements in existing layout to introduce new methods The improvements of layout in existing facility has the important role in the sense that A good plant layout involves not only the designing and installing of the layout for the first time but also revision of existing layout, in addition The best layout becomes obsolete over a period of time. The following reasons can push plant managers undertaking new strategies f o r f a c i l i t y l a y o u t revisions: Expansion Technological advancements Improvement in the layout Expansion It is a natural feature of any industrial establishment. A plant may expand in: Increase in the output of the existing layout Introduction of a new productDiversification of the lines of activity Technological development Replacement of labour by machines Developments in fuel and energy Developments in process Developments in materials Improvements in product design and Advancements in information technology. Improvement in the layout Layout needs to be reviewed and revised to correct any deficiencies.The limitations in a layout go unchecked for two reasons: The evils of a poor layout are a hidden cost not revealed even by best accounting method Even if the limitations are revealed the management may be unwilling to initiate remedialstepsThe table below summarizes this difference: N e w f a c i l i t y R e v i s e d o r e x i s t i n g f a c i l i t y c o l l e c t a l l t h e d a t a o f t h e e x t e r n a l environment to the facility study the physical flows in and out to thefacility

a n a l y z e t h e avoid bottlenecks

m a x

c a p a c i t y

o f

t h e production process, and

m a k e i t s i m p l e a n d e f f i c i e n t , w i t h a n appropriate layout between production area,w a r e h o u s e a n d " i n d i r e c t p e o p l e o f f i c e " s u p p o r t i n g t h e p r o d u c t i o n : t h i s p e o p l e needs to be located closed to the productionarea to support it quickly s i m u l a t e a n d m o d e l t h e p o s s i b l e solutions with a computer based programTake into account all the existing constraints interms of: physical structure and building health and safety issues to be respected redesign the material flow streamlining itwith a lean approach test a pilot implement totally Operations