1. Research about historical evolution of operations management.

Operations management is the act of controlling and directing the design, production and deli
very of products. Although people have been producing and selling products since the very b
eginning of civilization, the implementation of operations management is a relatively new ph
enomenon. Operations management came to prominence in the 20th century, but its roots can
be traced back to the 18th and 19th centuries.

Pre-Industrial Revolution
One of the first people to address the issues of operations management was the Scottish philo
sopher -- and father of modern economics -- Adam Smith. In 1776, Smith wrote "The Wealth
of Nations," in which he described the division of labor. According to Smith, if workers divi
ded their tasks, then they could produce their products more efficiently than if the same numb
er of workers each built products from start to finish. This concept would later be used by He
nry Ford with the introduction of the assembly line.

Post-Industrial Revolution
During the industrial revolution, machinery allowed factories to grow in capacity and greatly
increased their output. Despite this growth, there was considerable inefficiency in production.
Two individuals helped to overcome these inefficiencies in the early 20th century: Frederick
Winslow Taylor and Ford. Taylor developed a scientific approach for operations management
, collecting data about production, analyzing this data and using it to make improvements to o
perations. Fordanalyzing this data and using it to make improvements to operations. Ford incr
eased efficiency in production by introducing assembly line production and improved the sup
ply chain through just-in-time delivery.

Post-World War II
Technological developments during the second world war created new possibilities for mana
gers looking to improve their operations. Specifically, the development of computational tech
nology allowed for a greater degree of data to be analyzed by firms. The abilities of computer
s have continued to increase exponentially, allowing for a high degree of data analysis and co
mmunication. Modern producers are now able to track their inventory from raw materials, thr
ough production and delivery.
Modern Day
Quality management systems are popular in today's operations management. Quality manage
ment is a system for mapping, improving and monitoring operations processes. A variety of q
uality management systems are in use among top firms, the most notable systems being the IS
O systems and Six Sigma. These systems aim to increase the efficiency of business processes.
Although operations management has typically dealt with the manufacturing process, the gro
wth of the service industry has created a field of service operations

2. What are the trends in operations today?

Operations management is an integral component within manufacturing that pertains to achie

ving the highest level of optimized production. This goal is attained through transforming ade
quate labor and ample materials into a finished product without producing needless waste. Eff
iciency translates into profit; operations management controls the components who sum of pa
rts equates to efficiency. In connection with this, the following are current trends in operation
s:

Investing in Digital Internal Communications - Business leaders and strategist should prior
itize strategies for employee engagement and retention. While this may sound simple, keepin
g your employees satisfied is a bit more challenging than it may seem. How exactly can busin
ess owners encourage employee satisfaction and improve employee experience? You can con
duct this through promoting transparency and accessible internal communication. This is one
method that will prove effective for specifically recruiting and retaining employees. Facilitati
ng peer-to-peer communication may provide benefits for your workplace such as enhancing
workplace morale, improve processes and outcomes, and encourage employee collaboration.
Addressing these concerns will make your company much more competitive and caters to fro
ntline employees that may feel as if they are overlooked.

Automation of Operational Process - Automation has been a key trend within manufacturin
g for decades. Automating processes within your operation can save large sums of money and
increase efficiency when it pertains to various areas of your operation. Automated chatbots, i
nline translation functions, and mobile check-in features are only a few of the examples of bu
siness functions that are dependent on technology. When you dedicate your machines to speci
fic business tasks, companies are able to free up employee time to focus on products and cust
omers. This is simply because of rather than assigning employees to monitor the website or c
onduct ritual business tasks, automation and programming can take over that task and allow t
he employees to work on other components within the operation. Automating your operationa
l process allows you to gain momentum, drive competition, and ultimately take your efficienc
y up a notch.

Mobile Communication Tool Implementation - Mobile communication has become increa

singly popular among manufacturing facilities today. Even if you are not a technology-orient
ed industry, implementation of mobile communication tools can aid your manufacturing oper
ation immensely. Mobile communication tools offer a variety of improvements for your oper
ation such as allowing employees to better connect and share information securely, providing
a much quicker way to send out business information in real time, and giving mobile accessib
ility for remote staff to access information, tools, and connectivity needed in order to best per
form their job. Once again, implementing mobile communication tools are a necessity for mo
dern-day manufacturing facilities that are seeking to establish thorough visibility into their op
eration.

E-commerce- In a nutshell, e-commerce is just the process of buying and selling produce by
electronic means such as by mobile applications and the Internet. Ecommerce refers to both o
nline retail as well as electronic transactions. Ecommerce has hugely increased in popularity
over the last decades, and in ways, it's replacing traditional brick and mortar stores.
Ecommerce enables you to buy and sell products on a global scale, twenty-four hours a day w
ithout incurring the same overheads as you would with running a brick and mortar store. For t
he best marketing mix and the best conversion rate, an Ecommerce venture should also have
a physical presence; this is better known as a click and mortar store.

QR code- (abbreviated from Quick Response Code) is the trademark for a type of matrix bar
code (or two-dimensional barcode) first designed in 1994 for the automotive industry in Japa
n. A barcode is a machine-readable optical label that contains information about the item to w
hich it is attached. In practice, QR codes often contain data for a locator, identifier, or tracker
that points to a website or application. A QR code uses four standardized encoding modes (nu
meric, alphanumeric, byte/binary, and kanji) to store data efficiently; extensions may also be
used.
The Quick Response system became popular outside the automotive industry due to its fast re
adability and greater storage capacity compared to standard UPC barcodes. Applications incl
ude product tracking, item identification, time tracking, document management, and general
marketing.

Reference:

Clark, W. (2019). History of Operations Management. Retrieved on August 10, 2019. Retriev
ed from: https://bizfluent.com/info-7811298-history-operations-management.html

Planet Together (2019). Trends for Operations Management in 2019. Retrieved on August 12
, 2019. Retrieved from https://www.planettogether.com/blog/trends-for-operations-managem
ent-in-2019

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/QR_code
https://ecommerce-platforms.com/glossary/ecommerce