Introduction to Operations Management

Welcome to Operations Management!

What is Operations Management? It is the art and science of managing an operation. What is
an operation? A collection and combination of “processes”. Much more on that later as we
start using the text.

What types of operations need managing? All sorts: manufacturing operations, services
operations, non-profit organization operations, civic and governmental operations, and many
more.

So, why is Operations Management important? Each type of operation has customers. They
could be external customers buying products or services, internal customers within
organizations, or other organizations. Customers are very demanding, as they should be.
Customers demand continuous improvement: lower or prices, better lead times, better service,
etc. If you’re not managing your operation with continuous improvement in mind, you’re not
doing your job as an Operations Manager.

How are operations measured? There are many ways to measure operations, and
improvement. Some examples include productivity, inventory turns, output, labor and material
costs, and many others. During this course, we will be exploring these in detail.

This course will provide you an introduction to the production/operations management

process, and an examination of decision-making techniques applicable in management of
production or service oriented organizations. The main objective of this course is for the
students to have: an understanding of the common terms and concepts of production and
operations management; an understanding of how to develop the decision-making information
to deal with managerial problems related to production and operations from a business
perspective; an appreciation for a number of mathematical and statistical techniques available
for the solution of operations management related problems and industry specific decision
situations.
While instructing this course, I’ll not only use the text, but will share my experiences as an
operations manager for many companies, across multiple industries. Managing operations
consists of managing processes, as well as managing people. In this course, we will focus on
managing (and improving) processes more so that managing people, however the management
of people will come into play as well.

I have managed operations in manufacturing as well as services. In manufacturing industries

include metal working, plastics, aerospace, and silicon medical products. In services,
environmental health and safety, and of course instructing college courses.

The lessons learned and experience gained by taking this course will provide you with basic, but
extremely effective, knowledge and tools to start (or continue) your journey to becoming a
successful operations manager.