Introduction to the Field

OBJECTIVES 

•What is Operations and Supply Management?

•Why Study Operations Management?

•Transformation Processes Defined

•Differences between Services and Goods

•The Importance of Operations Management

•Historical Development of OM

•Current Issues in OM

Operations and Supply Management (OM) is defined as the design, operation, and improvement of the systems that create and deliver the firm’s primary products and  services.

A transformation process is defined as a user of resources to transform inputs into some desired outputs.

Transformations

•Physical--manufacturing

•Locational--transportation

•Exchange--retailing

•Storage--warehousing

•Physiological--health care

•Informational--telecommunications

•“If you drop it on your foot, it won’t hurt you.” (Good or service?)

•“Services never include goods and goods never include services.”  (True or false?)

•Historical Development of OM

•JIT and TQC

•Manufacturing Strategy Paradigm

•Service Quality and Productivity

•Total Quality Management and Quality Certification

Historical Development of OM (cont’d)

•Business Process Reengineering

•Six-Sigma Quality

•Supply Chain Management

•Electronic Commerce

•Service Science

Current Issues in OM

•Coordinate the relationships between mutually supportive but separate organizations.

•Optimizing global supplier, production, and distribution networks.

•Increased co-production of goods and services

Current Issues in OM (cont’d)

•Managing the customers experience during the service encounter

•Raising the awareness of operations as a significant competitive weapon