Introduction
Operations management is a management field concerned with planning and managing the manufacturing process and redesigning business operations in the manufacture of products or services. It includes ensuring that business operations are productive in terms of utilizing as little resources as possible and effective in fulfilling customer demands as required.
Operations management mainly deals with planning, coordinating, and supervising in the distribution or service delivery contexts. It also includes planning, coordinating, and managing procedures, and making appropriate changes for higher productivity.
The changes in the daily operations will reflect the strategic objectives of the organization, so they are accompanied by a thorough review and evaluation of the current processes.
Understanding
Operations management, similar to finance and marketing, is also a multidisciplinary functional field within a company. It ensures that the materials, energy, or any other inputs are used most efficiently to optimize the production.
Managing operations involves familiarizing with a wide variety of disciplines. It combines conventional control of the general manager, plant, and equipment maintenance.
The operations manager must know and evaluate the standard strategies, basic material preparation, manufacturing, and production systems. Principles of production and cost-control are also relevant.
History
Management of operations was historically called production control, clearly showing its industrial roots. Historically, it started with the division of labour, dating to as early as the days of ancient craftsmen. It expanded more broadly only by introducing the eighteenth-century idea of the interchangeability of pieces, eventually sparking the industrial revolution.
When the economies in the developing world were slowly moving towards services, they started to be incorporated into all corporate functions, including product management. The service side also started its approach by applying the concepts of product management to the preparation and coordination of procedures. This continued to the extent where it made more sense to name it operations management.
