Operations Management
Assignment (Individual work)
Weighting of assessment: 100% of total marks – 6000 words
Learning Outcomes Covered
- Evaluate the nature, scope and extent of manufacturing and service operations strategy;
- Critically evaluate the use of quality tools and techniques for a wide range of organisational problems;
- Solve complex operational problems related to managing capacity and constraints within organisations;
- Demonstrate the application of strategies, tools and techniques to improve business operations and appraise and select appropriate methods for managing supply bases for a variety of organisations
Assignment brief
Operations Management deals with the design and management of products, processes, services and supply chains. It considers the acquisition, development, and utilization of resources that firms need to deliver the goods and services their clients want.
The purvey of OM ranges from strategic to tactical and operational levels. Representative strategic issues include determining the size and location of manufacturing plants, deciding the structure of service or telecommunications networks, and designing technology supply chains.
Tactical issues include plant layout and structure, project management methods, and equipment selection and replacement. Operational issues include production scheduling and control, inventory management, quality control and inspection, traffic and materials handling, and equipment maintenance policies.
Tasks
Select an organization of your choice. And prepare a report to its board of directors:-
1.) Critically analyses the importance of understanding effective operations management in the organization to gain the competitive advantage
2.) Describe the balance of “good-service continuum” of the organization and critically discuss how the operations strategy should be planned. Support your answer by drawing a “process chart” showing how customers are processed through the operations.
3.) Critically discuss how the “process management” should be planned in the organization to achieve operational excellence. Support your answer by illustrating:-
a. Customer service strategies
b. Managing capacity and demand
c. Inventory management
d. Scheduling operations
e. Process analysis and improvement
f. Purchasing and supplier management
4.) Critically describe how the “Quality Management process” should be organized in the organization to high level of customer satisfaction.
5.) Critically describe how important a sound “technology management process” in the organization to process improvement. Support your answer with technology acquisition, automation, innovation and creativity.
