Lanterna Rally

Author: Sorin Dumitrascu

Publisher:

Published: 2017-07-07

Total Pages: 462

ISBN-13: 9781521782842

Think of the businesses and nonprofit organizations that you admire. What makes them so impressive? It's rarely a question of only marketing or finance. Excellent operations need to be in place if an organization is to meet and exceed the expectations of its customers.But what exactly is meant by "operations?" Operations include all the activities required by an organization to create goods or services and deliver them to the intended users or customers.There are many different methods of presenting the operations function and its many subfunctions. These vary between industries and organizations. In this course, the differences and complexities in operations management are minimized for the sake of simplicity.When customers walk into a shop and look at the products for sale, they probably aren't aware of the level of work that is involved in getting a product onto the shelf. They want to pay a fair price for the item and expect it to fulfill its purpose. Millions, if not billions, of similar transactions happen everyday as products are bought and sold.Each product's journey to the market has been strategically planned, revised, and supervised in great detail. This process is known as product and service management. It is a managerial approach that companies use to understand how best to develop new products and services, and manage existing and mature ones.The operations section of an organization deals with product and service management. How operations management interfaces with product and service management varies from organization to organization, depending on the industry and whether it's a product or service being produced.In this course, the complexities, differences, and nuances of product and service management, are presented in a deliberately scaled-back manner for instructional and training purposes.Product and service management has a key role to play in the operations management function. In addition, it often exerts influence on the marketing function.In an ideal situation, the idea for a new product will come from customers. Marketing will deliver the product concept to operations, where it will be designed, developed, and finally supplied to the market. Once the customer interacts with the product, marketing and sales become responsible for it again.To further your understanding of product and service management, this course covers the product and service life cycle, the development of new products, and how to manage existing and mature products.Operations and Supply Chain ManagementThe overall performance of a business can be determined by the effectiveness of its supply chain management. This is an integral part of operations management. It involves the coordination of multiple areas of business within a company in order to serve the market in the best possible manner. Supply chain management includes procurement, production operations - the actual production of goods - and logistics.There are several methods to illustrate supply chains that are related to services and products in an organization. These methods differ from organization to organization, as well as between manufacturing and service industries.All companies need to acquire and maintain inventory to produce their goods or to provide their services. These supplies enable the company to function. Inventory can be made up of raw materials, work in progress, and finished goods. Inventory levels have to be managed carefully. A company must always have the right levels of inventory at the right time.If a company has too much inventory, it ends up paying extra storage costs.But if the company has too little inventory, it may not be able to meet customer orders. Finding the balance between meeting customer demand and minimizing costs is crucial.