Operations Management: Key Concepts and Strategies
Order qualifier: It’s a screening criteria that permits a firm’s products to even be considered as a possible candidate for purchase. Intangible: the first difference between a good and a service, is that the service is an intangible process that can’t be weighed or measured. Lean manufacturing: An integrated set of activities designed to achieve production using minimal inventories of raw material, work-in-process, and finished goods. Just in time: is an integrated set of activities designed to achieve high-volume production using minimal inventories of parts that arrive at the workstation exactly when they are needed. Six Sigma: A practice of building quality into the process, eliminating defects in products and services. Order winner: Is a criteria that differentiates the products or services of one firm from those of another. Multifactor productivity measure: If we want to look at the ratio of output to a group of inputs (not all inputs). Total factor measure of productivity: is used to describe the productivity of an entire organization or even a nation. Core capabilities: are skills that differentiate the service or manufacturing firm from its competitors which arise from the core competences. Mass customization: describes the ability of a company to deliver customized products and services to different customers around the world. Gant chart: sometimes referred to as a bar chart, showing both the amount of time involved and the sequence in which activities can be performed. Critical Path: Is the sequence of activities that form the longest chain in terms of their time to complete. Project Management: Planning, directing, and controlling resources (people, equipment, material) to meet the technical cost, the time constraints of a project. Risk: Any situation that can change the planning for good or wrong. Efficiency: Means doing something at the lowest possible cost. Brainstorm: Defer judgment so that the flow of ideas is not interrupted. Pure Project: Nickname (skunkworks), where a self-contained team works full time on the project. Slack time: The time that an activity can be delayed, the difference between the delayed and early start time of an activity. Pareto Chart: This chart helps to break down a problem into the relative contributions of its components. Cross docking: Is an approach used in warehouses where large shipments are broken into small shipments for focal delivery in an area.
Third party Logistics Company: A company that manages all or part of another company’s product delivery operation. Hubs and spoke system: Combines the idea of consolidation and that of cross docking, a warehouse is referred to as a hub and its sole purpose is sorting goods. Hubs are located in strategic locations near the geographic center. Customer’s contacts: Refers to the physical presence of the customers in the system (Low and High degree). Service blueprint: The flowchart of a service process emphasizing what is visible and what is not visible for customers. Classic accommodation: Extra employees or additional employee skills to compensate for variations among customers. Low cost accommodation: Uses low cost labor, outsourcing, and self-services to cut the cost of accommodation. Marketing tool: Provide peace of mind for customers unsure about trying their service. Elements of a good service guarantee: Unconditional, meaningful to the customer, & easy to understand and communicate. Basic blueprint: Describes the features of the service designed but does not provide direct guidance on how to make the process conform to that design. Mass customization: the ability of a company to deliver highly customized products and services to different customers around the world. E-commerce: (electronic commerce) the technology has become a principal element of the business activity. Hand delivery: Gives the product in the customer’s hand. Rail (train): Transit times are long. Pipelines: Transport liquids. Outsourcing advantages: Focus on core activities, core and efficiency, savings, reduced overhead, operational control, staffing flexibility, develop internal staff, risk management. Bad publicity (outsourcing disadvantages): Loss of managerial control, hidden cost, threat to security. Lean six sigma: Combines the control tools of six sigma with the concept of lean manufacturing.Total quality management: Managing the entire organization, products, and services that are important to customers.International Logistics: Refers to managing, producing, distributing, and obtaining these functions in a global movement. ISO 9000: Formal standards used for quality certification. Benchmarking: Identify processes needing improvements and analyze data.