Operations, strategy & technology
Week 1
Lecture
Operations are the activities of managing the resources and processes that produce and
deliver goods and/or services. Clearly, operations management relates to the management of
all the activities on both a strategic, tactical and operational level.
The input-transformation-output model applies to all activities and functions in an
organisation and has thus a very wide applicability.
The primary process (dominant operations function) of a company includes all the resources
and processes which are directly linked to producing the products and/or services that can be
considered as being crucial for a long-term sustainable character of the company.
- In many cases there are several primary processes.
- There is not always a clear distinction between primary and secondary processes.
- The importance of a specific primary process can change over time.
These points have important consequences for how processes are being controlled and
organised.
- The primary process encompasses machines, equipment, technology, knowledge, etc.
- The output of the primary process is often a mix of physical products and a ‘service’.
- The reconciliation between market requirements and available resources is an
ongoing process.
- A change of strategy can have an (huge) impact on the primary process.
- The primary process also can be leading for the overall strategy of a company.
Week 2
Lecture
Structuring decisions:
1. Horizontal structure
- Location of stock points
- Physical processes
- Sequence of materials
2. Vertical structure
- Levels of planning
- Decisions that have to be made
- Trade-offs
3. Organisational structure
- Relates to organisational entities
- Allocation of tasks/responsibilities and
competences
- How coordination is achieved
, Quality (doing things right)
- Quality of the products/service
- Quality of processes
Speed (doing things fast)
- Production lead times
- Order lead times
External effects
Internal effects
- Set-up time
- Delivery time
Reliability (doing things on time)
- Delivery reliability
- Right quantity
- Right place
Flexibility (changing what you do)
- Products/volume/mix
Costs (doing things cheap)
Dependability (keeping delivery promises)
Methodology of operations management
Remarks about the methodology:
- In practice, the framework can be used as a guideline to analyse and redesign the
operations function.
- Often, in practice no adequate description and analysis is made.
- Be aware of interactions/relations between the structuring dimensions.
- Be aware of jumping to conclusions.
- Beyond the framework strategic decisions/trade-offs play an important role.
Field of production and operations management
Week 1
Lecture
Operations are the activities of managing the resources and processes that produce and
deliver goods and/or services. Clearly, operations management relates to the management of
all the activities on both a strategic, tactical and operational level.
The input-transformation-output model applies to all activities and functions in an
organisation and has thus a very wide applicability.
The primary process (dominant operations function) of a company includes all the resources
and processes which are directly linked to producing the products and/or services that can be
considered as being crucial for a long-term sustainable character of the company.
- In many cases there are several primary processes.
- There is not always a clear distinction between primary and secondary processes.
- The importance of a specific primary process can change over time.
These points have important consequences for how processes are being controlled and
organised.
- The primary process encompasses machines, equipment, technology, knowledge, etc.
- The output of the primary process is often a mix of physical products and a ‘service’.
- The reconciliation between market requirements and available resources is an
ongoing process.
- A change of strategy can have an (huge) impact on the primary process.
- The primary process also can be leading for the overall strategy of a company.
Week 2
Lecture
Structuring decisions:
1. Horizontal structure
- Location of stock points
- Physical processes
- Sequence of materials
2. Vertical structure
- Levels of planning
- Decisions that have to be made
- Trade-offs
3. Organisational structure
- Relates to organisational entities
- Allocation of tasks/responsibilities and
competences
- How coordination is achieved
, Quality (doing things right)
- Quality of the products/service
- Quality of processes
Speed (doing things fast)
- Production lead times
- Order lead times
External effects
Internal effects
- Set-up time
- Delivery time
Reliability (doing things on time)
- Delivery reliability
- Right quantity
- Right place
Flexibility (changing what you do)
- Products/volume/mix
Costs (doing things cheap)
Dependability (keeping delivery promises)
Methodology of operations management
Remarks about the methodology:
- In practice, the framework can be used as a guideline to analyse and redesign the
operations function.
- Often, in practice no adequate description and analysis is made.
- Be aware of interactions/relations between the structuring dimensions.
- Be aware of jumping to conclusions.
- Beyond the framework strategic decisions/trade-offs play an important role.
Field of production and operations management
