1. WHAT IS OPERATION RESEARCH?

2.WHAT IS PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT?

3.WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OPERATION RESEARCH AND OPERATIONAL
RESEARCH?

Operations research (OR) is an analytical method of problem-solving and decision-

making that is useful in the management of organizations. In operations research, problems are
broken down into basic components and then solved in defined steps by mathematical analysis.

Operations Research uses mathematics and statistics to answer

optimization and simulation questions. Whenever we translate a
business question in an optimization question, it is primordial that
we have clear definitions of a cost to minimize or a benefit to
maximize.

2. Production management, also called operations management, planning and control of

industrial processes to ensure that they move smoothly at the required level. Techniques
of production management are employed in service as well as in manufacturing industries.

The production management is defined as

 Production management is a function of management, related to planning,

coordinating and controlling the resources required for production to produce
specified product by specified methods, by optimal utilization of resources.
 Production management is defined as management function which plans,
organizes, coordinates, directs and controls the material supply and processing
activities of an enterprise, so that specified products are produced by specified
methods to meet an approved sales programme. These activities are being
carried out in such a manner that labor, plant and capital available are used to
the best advantage of the organization.

Therefore, Production Management can be defined as the management of the conversion process,
which converts land, labor, capital, and management inputs into desired outputs of goods and services.
It is also concerned with the design and the operation of systems for manufacture, transport, supply or
service.

Production Management refers to the application of management principles to

the production function in a factory. In other words, production
management involves application of planning, organizing, directing and
controlling the production process.

Operations management is an area of management concerned with designing

and controlling the process of production and redesigning business operations
in the production of goods or services.

3. Difference between Operations and Production In the transformation process, the inputs change the
form into an output, by adding value to the entity. The output may be a product or service.

 If it is a product centric that is known as production,

 If it is a service centric then that is known as operation.

Operations management is focused on handling the process of production and distribution of

the product/service. OM's purpose is to raise the efficiency within the organization. Operations
Research is the analytical method which is focused on the problem-solving and decision-making
in the management of the organization.

What Is Operations Research?

Operations research is a quantitative approach that solves problems, using a number
of mathematical techniques. It is helpful to use operations research when you're trying
to make decisions but the conditions are uncertain, and when differing objectives are
in conflict with each other.

Operation research is tool/technique for solving the problems such as Economics,

queuing theory, mathematical optimization, simulation and stochastic models etc.
Operation management is concerns management of production (transformation)
system, system design, operation, improvement, systematic analysis of organizational
process.
What do operational researchers do? | Typical employers | Qualifications and
training | Key skills
Operational researchers examine the way an organisation operates, using mathematical
and analytical techniques to help it to develop better business practices and systems.

Operations research can also be known as management science or, if applied to the
engineering field, industrial engineering. It was developed out of the management
science theory work completed during the First and Second World Wars. It is essentially
a form of problem-solving and can be applied to a wide range of business problems and
planning. For example, it has been used to help controlling air traffic, to predict when
there will be an increased need for power supply from utility companies, to improve
manufacturing processes and to model the behaviour of retail customers.

The operational research and its applications are one of the most important fields of applied mathematics.
So, this special issue focuses on this subject. The aim of this special issue is to present and extend the
applications of the relatively new approaches and theories for the OR and its applications. The editors
hope that the special issue will provide new ideas in the development of OR.

The operation research can be defined as:

Definitions:
(i) It is the application of scientific methods, techniques and tools to
problems involving the operations of a system so as to provide those in
the control of the system with optimum solutions to the problems.

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(ii) Operation Research is a tool for taking decisions which searches

for the optimum results in parity with the overall objectives and
constraints of the organisation.

(iii) O.R. is a scientific method of providing executive department with

a quantitative basis of decisions regarding the operations under their
control.

(iv) O.R. is a scientific approach to problem solving for management.

(v) O.R. is an aid for executive in making his decisions by providing

him with the needed quantitative information’s based on the scientific
method of analysis.

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(vi) O.R. is the application of modern methods of mathematical

science to complex problems involving management of large systems
of men, machines, materials, and money in industry, business,
government and defence. The distinctive approach is to develop a
scientific model of the system incorporating measurement of factors
such as chance and risk, to predict and compare the outcome of
alternative decisions, strategies or controls.
(vii) It is the application of the scientific methods by scientists and
subject specialists to the study of the given operation. Its purpose is to
give administration, a basis for predicting quantitatively the most
effective results of an operation under given set of variable conditions
and thereby to provide a sound basis for “decision-making”.

In fact in Operation Research, research techniques and scientific

methods are employed for the analysis and also for studying the
current or future problems. Thus, Operation Research offers
alternative plans for a problem to the management for decisions.

Although it is very clear that operation research never make decisions

for the management, instead the method presents management with a
careful scientific and quantitative analysis of problem so that the
management will be in a better position to make sounder decisions.

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It can be used for solving different types of problems, such

as:
i. Problems dealing with the waiting line, the arrival of units or
persons requiring service.

ii. Problems dealing with the allocation of material or activities among

limited facilities.

Operational research is a mature discipline that has developed a significant

volume of methodology to improve health services. OR offers implementation
scientists the opportunity to do more upfront system thinking before
committing resources or taking risks. OR has three roles within
implementation science: structuring an implementation problem, prospective
evaluation of implementation problems, and a tool for strategic
reconfiguration of health services. Challenges facing OR as implementation
science include limited evidence and evaluation of impact, limited service user
involvement, a lack of managerial awareness, effective communication
between research users and OR modellers, and availability of healthcare data.
To progress the science, a focus is needed in three key areas: evaluation of OR
interventions, embedding the knowledge of OR in health services, and
 educating OR modellers about the aims and benefits of service user
involvement.

Operational Research
Development and application of advanced analytical methods to support improved decision-
making, especially in relation to the operation of complex and uncertain systems. These methods
draw heavily on mathematics, statistics and computer science and include, for example,
modelling, optimisation, forecasting, simulation, data analysis, stochastic processes and
computational research. Research in this area may incorporate aspects of complexity science.
Applications include, for instance: manufacturing, service and supply chain operations including
the circular economy; healthcare; transportation; telecommunications and networks; policy
modelling; environment and energy; resource efficiency; security and defence; revenue
management; financial engineering; logistics; and reliability and maintenance.
This is a new, cross-cutting research area encompassing Mathematical Aspects of Operational
Research, Engineering Approaches to Manufacturing Operations and elements of Transportation
Operations and Management. There are also relevant research areas in Information and
Communication Technologies (ICT) which link to this area, especially Artificial Intelligence
Technologies.

Operational Research
 OR is defined as “ Application of quantitative methods to the solution of management
problems which includes a systems approach in which a large number rather than a few factors
are considered by a groups of scientists from different fields”.
 OR does not press upon the need of new techniques and new inventions, their demand
is for systems composed of currently available techniques which give the optimal utilization of
scarce economic resources.
 Any formalized quantitative analysis whose purpose is to improve the efficiency in a
situation where ‘efficiency’ is clearly defined.
 Whenever social medicine passes from the stage of observation & classification to that
of discovering & recommending appropriate action, it is involved in OR.

Goals of Operational Research

 To provide information to programme managers that they can use to make decisions for
improving their programme operations.
 To help managers to decide alternative courses of actions by identifying and taking
advantages of opportunities and by solving the identified service delivery problems.
 For optimising resource allocation and mobilisation.
 To study the quality of care.
The ultimate objective of OR is to develop new knowledge about institutions, programmes, use
of facilities, the people working in these activities and the individuals and communities served by
them in order to secure optimal utilization of resources in men, materials and money in the
service of the community.