Concepts Of Operations Management

Furniture Supplier company who provides finished good to leading furniture retailers are reviewing their

management of operations and would like to investigate new ideas which can be implemented to

improve efficiency and effectiveness of their business.

Task 1

Write a report focusing on operations functions, Strategic operation management, Organisation of

operation process and planning and control in operation. This report should include,

an explanation of why operations management is important for organisations

analyse the operations functions of a selected organisation

evaluation, by using a process model, of the operations management of a selected organisation

an explanation of the ‘three Es’ (economy, efficiency and effectiveness)

 an explanation of the tension between cost minimisation and quality maximisation

evaluation of the significance of the five performance objectives cost; dependability; flexibility;

quality and speed that underpin operations management

In order to achieve M1, have effective judgements and approach to explain importance of operations

management and its linkage with strategic planning

In order to achieve M3, use appropriate structure and have accurate technical language to explain

importance of operations management and its linkage with strategic planning

In order to achieve D1, have conclusions and realistic improvements to explain importance of

operations management and its linkage with strategic planning

In order to achieve D3, you will demonstrate receptiveness to new ideas and have decisions to

explain importance of operations management and its linkage with strategic planning.

Introduction

Operations management is concerned with the effective production and distribution of goods and services to customers (Bamford & Forrester, 2010). It helps ensuring that goods and services that are being delivered to the target customers are of high quality. It helps enhancing the overall performance and productivity of the organisation thus enabling them to achieve desired organisational goals and performance objectives (Boyer & Verma, 2009). Established in year 2004 Westbridge Furniture Designs Limited was developed with a purpose of developing world’s finest furniture designs, manufactured using high quality materials in order to meet the high expectations of leading craftsmen of the industry (British Furniture Manufacturers, 2011). Today the furniture manufacturer employs more than 500 employees in 3 of their manufacturing facilities across North Wales. Westbridge Furniture Designs Limited wants to concentrate on the designing and manufacturing of high quality furniture thus they are not involved in direct selling of products to end-customers. They sell their products to high street retailers and independent furniture stores from where they are sold to end customers. Westbridge Furniture Designs Limited is today UK’s largest own brand upholstery manufacturer.

Task 1 Concepts Of Operations Management

Operations management is that field of management that emphasizes on administration of various business practices involved in the production and distribution of products and services in order to increase overall performance efficiency of the organisation (Brown, et al., 2013). It is concerned with managing the processes that help in the transformation of input resources into desired output products and services. It is also referred to as activities and decisions that are responsible for effective management of resources allocated to production and distribution process.

Activities of operations management differ with the type of industry it is performed (Chary, 2009).  In case of service industry it is responsible for ensuring that high quality services are delivered to customers and human resources possess required expertise whereas in manufacturing industry it is responsible for ensuring that high quality good are delivered to customers (Galloway, et al., 2012). In case of manufacturing companies like Westbridge Furniture Designs Limited operations management is responsible for ensuring that production process is carried out effectively and finished goods are delivered to intermediates like retailers and distributors on a timely manner. Other activities include timely acquisition of high quality raw materials, proper equipments maintenance and allocation of human resources that are adequately trained.

Operations management helps organisations in enhancing overall productivity and streamlining activities so that value added products are delivered to customers that exceed their expectations (Brown, et al., 2013). Input, processes and output are the three key elements of operations management.