QUESTION 1

A. The primary objective of production and operations management is to effectively manage and
utilize those resources of the firm that are essential for the production of goods and services.
Production management refers to the management of activities related to the production of
goods. On the other hand, operations management is a step ahead of production management, or
it can be said that the production management is a part of the operations management.
Operations Management, as the name suggests is the administration of business operations, by
the managers of the organization.

The difference between production and operations management is very thin and blurred, the
difference between production and operation management, are presented hereunder:

1. Production Management can be defined as the administration of the set of activities

concerning the creation of goods or transformation of raw material into finished goods.
Conversely, Operations Management is used to mean that branch of management which
deals with the administration both production of goods and provision of services to the
customers.

2. In production management, the manager has to make decisions regarding the design,
quality, quantity and cost of the product manufactured by the department. On the
contrary, the scope of operations management is larger in comparison to the production
management wherein the operations manager looks after the product design, quality,
quantity, process design, location, manpower required, storing, maintenance, logistics,
inventory management, waste management, etc.

3. Production Management can only be found in the firms where production of goods is
undertaken. Unlike, one can find operations management in every organization, i.e.
manufacturing concerns, service-oriented firms, banks, hospitals, agencies, etc.

4. The basic objective of production management is to provide the right quality goods in the
right quantity at right time and best price. In contrast, operations management aims at
making the best possible use of organization’s resources, in order to fulfil the customer’s
wants.

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 B. An operations manager(OM) is responsible for the efficiency and effectiveness of the
operation to support the company’s/organization’s strategic goals. Her/his domain includes
system design and operation necessary to produce goods/provide services. She/he plans,
schedules, and controls the activities required to transform raw materials and labour
(inputs) into completed goods or services (outputs), within the constraints imposed by the
company’s strategies while a finance manager (FM) oversees the preparation of financial
statements, financial reports, and forecasts within the company/organization. Finance
managers might also be responsible for also monitoring industry and market trends if such
is necessary to do strategic business planning. Finance managers also often are part of
business planning and decision-making functions, advising the company’s executive team.
Finance mangers manage budgets and cash flow and manage/monitor credit availability to
ensure the financial demands the company’s operations are being met and the marketing
manager(MM) secures potential customers by increasing the visibility of the company's
products and services. They can also be involved in developing new products, including
setting prices and determining revisions or new features. The marketing manager is
responsible to be aware of changing market trends and doing research for products and
services so they know what direction to take a marketing program.

Question 2

a. Operations management functions are related to activities in human resources, information

system, and account because these activities are key supporting functions in the cross-
functional decision making process. With these areas incorporated in the decision making
process, companies are able to determine the availability of capital (accounting), train
employees to enhance skills (human resources), and integrate software development. All of
these area are part of the process for operations management.

b. I). A college library

Purpose: Make information available to students and faculty.
Products: Services and products in the forms of books, periodicals, reference materials, the
internet, etc.

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 Process: First, designing the way the facility is arranged with an emphasis on fiction, non-
fiction, reference, periodical, and administrative sections. Second, we decide the kinds of
office equipment will support the students and staff. Third, we determine how materials will
be recorded, checked in/out, and returned to their proper book-shelf. Fourth, we determine
the type of information technology equipment that used to support the circulation process
and student internet access. Fifth, we consider who will be responsible for library operation
and who will monitor and evaluate their performance.
Quality: Be sure that materials are up to date and relevant. Make sure that the staff is
available to assist library. Manage feedback system to monitor student and faculty
satisfaction.
Capacity: The library services and material’s demand affect the size of the shelves, what it
carries, the number of librarians, and when those employees are scheduled
Inventory: How many books, magazines, computers needed to meet the demands of
students and faculty.

ii). A hotel

Purpose: Provide a comfortable place for guests

Products: Services and goods in the forms of room service, beds, premium linens, pools,
night-clubs, foods, etc.

Process: First, information architecture will be required to support the guest reservation,
payment, check in/out, and entertainment processes. Second, equipment needed to support
the room, housekeeping, and food service divisions. Third, job descriptions and performance
standards required for staff in each of those divisions. Fourth, management needed for
monitoring employee performance and resolving guests’ feedbacks.

Quality: Be sure that the rooms are clean, and affordable. Make sure that staff maintains
friendly attitudes with guests.

Capacity: Local demands determine the number of available rooms, the convenience
provided, and how many employees of each department will serve.

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 Inventory: Local demand affects inventory variation to support the hotel’s administrative,
household management, and food service divisions.

iii). A small manufacturing firm

Purpose: Provide merchandise with high quality to the consumer at the lowest possible cost

Products: Physical goods come along with the essential services to support those goods

Process: What type of industrial facilities will be equipped? How large a facility will be
needed to house the production line and administrative support offices? How the goods will
be designed, manufactured, packaged, marketed, and supported?

Quality: Use a quality control process to detect and reduce defects. Make sure that staff
maintains friendly attitudes with customers during all levels of the sales and support
processes.

Capacity: Physical facilities and labor.

Inventory: What, when & how much raw materials kept on hand to facilitate the
manufacturing process?

c. I). A college library

Input: The library’s staff decides and collects books, periodicals, reference materials which
match the college’s requirements

Transformation: First, accountant pays out for the cost of buying books, shelves, and other
facilities. Second, librarians arrange and lay out books so as to make them available to
students and faculties.

Output: Students and faculties refer and borrow books, periodicals, reference materials.

ii). A hotel

Input: Rooms and amenities, employees, capital, and other resources.

Transformation: Use those above inputs to offer hotel services.

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 Output: Customers hire and use services

iii). A small manufacturing firm

Input: Energy, materials, labor, capital, information.

Transformation: tracking all component parts, work in process, packaging materials.

Output: finished goods, and general supplies.

QUESTION 3
a. The decision making view is an important element of operations management. The
decision making view breaks operations management into four major decision
responsibilities, that include process, quality, capacity, and inventory. The process view
provides common ground for defining service and manufacturing operations as
transformation. It is also considered a powerful basis for the design and analysis of
operations in an organization and across the supply chain. Both views are useful in
studying the field of operations management because managers make decisions as well as
plan and control the transformation process.

b. Operations management is an important core in every business as it contributes to the

success of any business. It is therefore equally important to keep up to date with the latest
trends. The current trends in operations management include employee experience,
mobile communications, strategic operations, automation and customer relationship.

 The employee experience- in every business, it is important to ensure that the right talent
is hired. Employee-centric model prioritizes career and personal development. When this
is tackled, it becomes easier to highlight and identify most effective strategies in the
business.
 Strategic operations- every business must have strategic plans to encourage growth and
increase sales. Employees should have access to tools needed to comply with the
strategies. Latest technologies such as 10 Ares System and others are used to break down

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 barriers between departments to ensure more streamlined operations, less waste,
improved efficiency and increased productivity.
 Mobile communications- this is helping operations managers to connect with teams and
customers via apps and portals. It gives a business more chances to deliver messages as
well as enabling talk back. It is helping in increasing productivity.
 Automation- Operations managers are using automation tools and are free to focus on
more productive tasks. This magnifies efficiency and productivity increases in return.
 The customer relationship- modern operations managers are working more collaboratively
with customer service teams to understand the end user. They are able to understand
buying decisions and link them with business optimization.

c. I). process thinking enables an organisation manage and consider processes during
acquisition of another company. A company acquisition or takeover is where one company
purchases most or all of the shares of another company, to become the majority
shareholder or outright owner. As majority shareholder, you can make decisions without
the consent of other shareholders. The first thing you need is a specific strategic rationale.
There should be a clear reason for making the acquisition of that particular company at
that particular time. If the reason for acquisition is vague, like ‘to grow the business’, it’s
worth giving it more thought. the specific reason and objectives will ultimately be the
driving force of all decisions around the acquisition.

Ii). The books are a business’s revenue, expense and income summary reports. A business
owner can close their books by zeroing out their income and expense accounts and then
plugging net profit (or loss) into the balance sheet. Closing the books is a process usually
performed by an accountant.
The purpose of the closing process is to make sure income or expenses from a previous
accounting period don’t carry over to the current accounting period, which would make its
figures inaccurate.

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Closing the books annually lets businesses draw up financial statements that give owners
insights into their business’s financial health.
Iii). process thinking is a rigorous, proven and repeatable approach to new product
development. Applying its key elements of empathy and customer-centricity through co-
creation communities can expedite innovation. The best marketing research process for
product development is co-creation because it incorporates all the critical elements of
process thinking and puts understanding how the customer feels. product research helps
you refine product design and features before committing yourself to expensive product
development costs. Done well, product research lets you understand what customers
really want, allowing you to tailor your product offering to meet demand and giving you a
real competitive edge.
Iv). Different people use the word design in different contexts. When IS professionals speak
of design, they are referring to business processes. Problems must be analysed and
requirements documented before solutions are designed, developed, and implemented. if
the design does not satisfy the business need, then what’s the point? However, satisfying
the business need is really a baseline standard. The design process is to build an
information system, includes the work of configuring hardware, operating system,
programming languages, and designing of user interfaces, system interfaces, and security.
Usability describes how easy the system is to navigate. The easier the system is to
navigate, the less time a user will need to spend learning to use the system. A more usable
system also leaves less room for error. Usability theory provides rules of thumb (heuristics)
that document best practice conventions for designing a user interface.
Graphic design refers to the visual appeal and organization of the user interface. There is
obviously some overlap here with usability. Usable systems typically adhere to at least
some graphic design rules. However, a usable system could be bland and uninteresting
Analytical Design describes how to best represent information especially quantitative
information to communicate clearly and truthfully. Every information systems project has
quantitative dimensions associated with project management. These include estimating
costs, time schedules, and so forth.
V). the efficient and effective hiring process is a step-by-step process for hiring a new
employee, whereby an organization identifies its talent needs, recruits from its talent pool

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 and eventually hires the most qualified candidates. operation process thinking will help
operation mangers to hire a new employee through;
1. Identifying the hiring need
The hiring process begins by identifying a need within the organization. This need could
vary from filling a vacated position, better managing a team’s workload, or expanding the
reach of organizational tasks.
2. Devising A Recruitment Plan
Once an organization identifies a hiring need, it should begin the process of recruitment.
the case of newly formed positions, organizations should clearly identify how the new role
aligns with its goals and business plan.
3.writting a job description
The hiring staff should start by generating a job description that includes a prioritized list of
job requirements, special qualifications, desired characteristics, and requisite experience.
The job description should also include information regarding salary and benefits.
4. Advertising the Position
Identifying highly-qualified potential candidates begins internally. Start, therefore, by
notifying current employees of the opening or pull from outside.
5. Review Applications the review process begins with Human Resource representatives
who review the applications and eliminate any candidate who does not meet the minimum
requirements for the position or the company more generally
6. Interviews
Depending on the size of the organization and hiring committee, one or several interviews
are scheduled for those remaining candidates.
7. Decision
After conducting background and reference checks, the hiring staff identifies their top
choice. The hiring staff should also select a backup candidate in case the top choice
declines the offer or negotiations fail to produce a signed offer letter. In the event that no
candidates meet the hiring criteria, the hiring staff should determine whether or not to
start the hiring process over.

QUESTION 4

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a. Dynamics of Plant Layout
Plant layout is a dynamic concept. If once done it is not permanent, improvement or revision in
the existing plant layout must be made by keeping an eye on the latest development of new
machines or equipment, improvements in manufacturing process, innovation in materials
handling devices etc. But, it is advisable to make any improvement or revision in layout only
when the savings from revision exceed the costs involved in such revision. Following are the
reasons when the revision in plant layout becomes necessary:
a) When the output of the existing product is to be increased.
b) When the new product is to be introduced.
Factors influencing Plant Layout
The following are some of the factors which influence the plant layout:
1. Nature of the product: This is the primary factor, as all the planning of the product
depends wholly upon the product to be manufactured. Fixed layout is preferred for bulky
and heavy products whereas product layout is most suitable for small and light products.
2. Volume of Production: Volume of production an also affect the type of layout. If
standardized commodities are to be manufactured on large scale, line type of layout may
be adopted. If production is made on the order of the customers, the functional layout is
better to be adopted.
Evaluation of Plant Layout
The plant layout implemented should be checked according to following parameters:
1. Utilization of Space: A layout is considered to be good when there is optimum utilization of
space. The available cubic space shall be utilized fully in terms of length, width and height.
2. Smooth Flow of Employees: The flow of workers shall be smooth, i.e., there shall be
sufficient space for the movement of workers.

b. Industry classification is a type of economic taxonomy that organizes companies

into industrial groupings based on similar production processes, similar products, or similar
behaviour in financial markets.

Many are used by national and international statistical agencies to summarize economic
conditions. They are also used by securities analysts to understand common forces acting
on groups of companies, to compare companies' performance to their peers', and to
construct either specialized or diversified portfolios.

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c. Production planning and control may be defined as the direction and coordination of the
firm’s material and physical facilities towards the attainment of pre-specified production
goals in the most efficient available way. It is the process of planning production in
advance of operations, establishing the exact route of each individual item, part or
assembly, setting starting and finishing dates for each important item or assembly and
finished products, and releasing the necessary orders. Thus, production planning and
control involve planning, routing, scheduling, dispatching and expediting to coordinate the
movements of materials, machines, and manpower as to the quantity, quality, time and
place. It is based upon the adage of “first plan your work and then work your plan”.

Limitations of Production Planning and Control:

Undoubtedly, the system of production planning and control is a must for efficient
production management; but in, practice, sometimes, it fails to achieve the expected
results because of the following limitations.
i. Lack of Sound Basis:
Production planning and control are based on certain assumptions or forecasts about the
availability of inputs like materials, power, equipment, etc. and Customers orders. In case
these assumptions and forecasts do not go right, the system of production planning and
control will become ineffective.
ii. Rigidity in Plant’s Working:
Production planning and control may be responsible for creating rigidity in the working of
the plant. Once the production planning has been completed, any subsequent change may
be resisted by the employees.
iii. Time-consuming Process:
Production planning is a time-consuming process. Therefore, under emergencies, it may
not be possible to go through the process of production planning.
iv. Costly Device or machine:

Production planning and control is not only a time-consuming process but is a costly
process also. Its effective implementation requires services of specialists for performing

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 functions of routing, scheduling, loading, dispatching and expediting. Small firms cannot
afford to employ specialists for the efficient performance of these functions.

v. External Limitations:
The effectiveness of production planning and control is sometimes limited because of
external factors which are beyond the control of production manager, Sudden break-out of
war, government control, natural calamities, change in fashion, change in technology, etc.
are factors which harm the implementation of production planning and control.

d. Production planning and control is one of the most important phases of production
management, it is, as a matter of fact, the nervous system of a manufacturing
organization. In manufacturing organization, it is essential that production is carried on in
the best manner at the lowest cost, and the goods are of right quality and are produced at
the proper time. This can be ensured only through proper planning of production. but
mere planning of production will not solve the problem because production plans are not
capable of self-actuating and do not lead to automatic accomplishment. For that the
production manager has to take certain steps like, he has to regulate work assignment,
review the work progress, and devise methods to bring conformity between the actual
performance and planned performance so that plans chalked out are adhered to and the
standards set at the planning stage are properly attained and improved. This is the
function of production control. Production control, therefore, is a directive function which
involves the coordination and integration of operations and activities of different factors of
production with a view to optimizing efficiency. Optimum efficiency is attainable by proper
planning of work, laying down of exact routes which operations shall follow, correct fixing
of time-table within which productive operations shall start and come to a close,
uninterrupted releasing of orders and work facilities, and timely initiation of appropriate
follow-up steps to ensure smooth functioning of the enterprise.

Steps in Production Planning and Control

1. Planning
The first important step in production planning and control is concerned with the
careful preparation of production plans. Production plans determine what will be

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 produced and where, at what type, by whom, and how. For detailed planning of
operations, the relevant information may be obtained from several sources in the
enterprise. Information about quantity and quality of products to be manufactured
may be obtained from customers orders and the sales budget, and information about
production facilities may be obtained from the management and the engineering
department. Thus, the planning function formulates production plans, and translates
them into requirements for men, machinery and materials. Whatever be the planning
period, production planning helps in avoiding randomness in production, providing
regular and steady flow of production activities, utilizing production facilities to its
maximum for minimizing operating costs and meeting delivery schedules; coordinating
various departments of the enterprise for maintaining proper balance of activities, and
above all, providing the basis for control in the enterprise.
2. Routing
The next important function of production planning and control is routing which
involves the determination of the path (i.e. route) of movement of raw materials
through various machines and operations in the factory. “Routing includes the planning
of where and by whom work shall be done, the determination of the path that work
shall follow, and the necessary sequence of operations”. To find this path, emphasis is
placed on determining operating data, which usually includes planning of ‘where’ and
‘by whom’ work should be done, the determinations of the path that work shall follow,
and the necessary sequence of operations. These operating data are contained in the
standard process sheet which helps in making out a routing in the standard process
sheet which helps in making out a routing chart showing the sequence of operations
and the machines to be used. If the machine loan chart indicates the non-availability of
certain machines, alternate routing may also be included on the routing chart. The
most efficient routing may have to be compromised with the availability of the
machines at a particular time. In other words, “routing establishes the operations, their
path and sequence, and the proper class of machines and personnel required for these
operations.” From the above, it can be inferred that routing is one of the highly
essential elements and prime considerations of production control because many
production control functions are closely related processes and are dependent on
routing functions. Thus, it is essential to solve the different problems concerning:

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 appropriate personnel; full utilization of machines; and determining with precise
degree the time required in the production process.

3. Scheduling
Scheduling is planning the time element of production i.e.   prior determination of
“when work is to be done”. It consists of the starting and completion times for the
various operations to be performed. In other words, scheduling function determines
when an operation is to be performed, or when work is to be completed, the difference
lies in the details of the scheduling procedure. To work out effectively, the scheduling,
as a part of production control function, determines the time when each operation
called for on the route sheet is to be done on the specified machine in order to meet
the desired delivery dates. Good control function directs not only the time that each
particular operation should start but also indicates the progress of each manufacturing
part, the amount of work ahead of each machine, and the availability of each machine
for the assignment of new work. Schedules are of two types: Master schedule and
Detailed schedule. Activities, if recorded on plant-wise basis, would be preparing
master schedule, while mere detailed schedules are employed to plan the
manufacturing and assembly operations required for each product.

4. Dispatching
Dispatching is the part of production control that translates the paper work into actual
production. It is the group that coordinates and translates planning into actual
production. Dispatching function proceeds in accordance with the details worked out
under routing and scheduling functions. As such, dispatching sees to it that the
material is moved to the correct work place, that tools are ready at the correct place
for the particular operations, that the work is moving according to routing instructions.
Dispatching carries out the physical work as suggested by scheduling. Thus, dispatching
implies the issuance or work orders. These work orders represent authority to produce.
These orders contain the following information:

 The name of the product;

 The name of the part to be produced, sub-assembly or final assembly;

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  The order number;
 The quantity to be produced;
 Descriptions and numbers of the operations required and their sequence.

5. Expediting
Expedition or follow-up is the last stage in the process of production control. This
function is designed to keep track of the work effort. The aim is to ensure that what is
intended and planned is being implemented. “Expediting consists in reporting
production data and investigating variances from predetermined time schedules. The
main idea behind expedition is to see that promise is backed up by performance”.

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 "45 Journals used in FT Research Rank". FT.com/UK. Financial Times. 2009-02-17. Retrieved 2011-

05-06.

"Full-Time MBA Rankings". Bloomberg BusinessWeek. 2008-11-13. Retrieved 2011-05-06.

P. Walley, operation management,2007, 5th edition Harlow, person education limited.

L.Gallowa, principles of operation management,1998, homshell.

I.N.K. Adadi, European journal of operational research,180 R.P.A. Beach, D.H.R. Muehlemann, A.
Paterson, and J.A. Sharp. Manufacturing Operations and Strategic Flexibility: Survey and Cases,
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