Operations Management Concepts and Tools Paper Example

The fundamental proficiencies of a business operation manager may be comprised of the comprehensive knowledge in operations forecasting where various modules may be incorporated. Additionally, an operations manager is instrumental in optimizing the supply chain management of any business to ensure that the organizational objectives are met as well as maximizing on the revenues accrued. Equally important is the fact that the responsibilities of the operations manager would include acquaintance with efficient manufacturing techniques which aim at optimization of production and minimization of wastage. The development of an elaborate communication system within an organization is key to the realization of success and as such an operations manager may be consulted to assist in such processes. Further, I am due to qualify with a Masters in Operations Management from Stanford University.

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My professional expertise may be epitomized by some of the projects that I have undertaken both as an individual and involving team members. The first project focused on developing an operations forecasting for Macy's department store owing to its vast and growing chain of operations which span across the United States, Puerto Rico and Guam (Macy's, 2018). In this case, the simple moving average was applied, and it involved the computation of the company's annual sales over a certain number of years. The values obtained from the moving average are based on closing sales at the end of the stipulated timeline. The basic approach involves computations using the excel worksheet where they initial year used in the moving average accounts for the past five years of Macy's sales revenue. For the second year, the moving average sales indicate a drop in sales and this value is added to the current sales. Consequently, the third year of the moving average continuous through by dropping the second sales data and adding up the latest sales data acquired. As noted in the calculation, the sales values consciously increase as the year progresses. The exponential moving average may also be employed as a technique for operations forecasting. The calculations involve a three-step process, the first being the computation for the value of the simple moving average. The next step consists in calculating for the weighting multipliers, and the final step is comprised of the calculation of the exponential moving average (Krige, 2010). When taking into account Macy's 5-year timeline, the exponential moving average yielded a weighting of 33 percent of the most recent sales value that was recorded.

The second project focused on the analysis of the operations and supply chain of Cable News Network (CNN), a renowned media organization that broadcasts on an annual basis. The business model of the organization for is mostly affected by factors that influence competitive advantage (Kester, 2015). One of the components of CNN's business approach focuses on monetizing traffic through advertising and the sale of information while the other component focuses on selling information which may be regarded as subjective. In essence, CNN faces a unique problem that is tied to the competition it faces from other broadcasters such as Al Jazeera and BBC. Accordingly, the management of CNN consulted the services of an operations manager who was tasked with the responsibility of remodeling the current strategies and place them to fit the market and beat rivals (Lee & Vachon, 2016). Equally important is the fact that the board of the company ought to make consideration of the scope of work that is expected; identify the desired outcomes; ascertain the media industry sub-processes and defining each process; the need to record business processes each time; determine the exceptions to the process and describing departmental functions and procedures.

The lean manufacturing philosophy refers to a wastage reduction approach that fundamentally incorporates the DMAIC approach. This methodology adopts a 5-step process whose objective is to come up with an organizational culture that is sensitive to the efficacy of data analysis and recording at any stage of the organization's operations. These include the description of the problem, quantifying critical aspects of existing workflow patterns, analyzing the collected workflow patterns to have an understanding of cause-and-effect relationships, improving the workflow based on the analysis, and controlling the new system for quality and sustainable operation (Dietrich, Furterer & Cudney, 2013). The lean manufacturing technique was applied in the case of LABS, Inc. which sought to improve the efficiency of its laboratory testing operations by removing the variability and waste associated with managing and utilizing the ubiquitous paper logbooks. The company also sought to store their data electronically to facilitate efficient review, reduce transcription errors (Holweg, 2007). As is the case with most laboratory informatics projects, the operations management consultant suggested the use of electronic laboratory notebook (ELN) in management of the logbooks as a part of a bigger laboratory informatics surroundings, including business systems such as laboratory information management system (LIMS) and chromatography data system (CDS) among other systems in automating and managing the flow of information.

The application of the Statistical Process Control (SPC) necessitates the input of team effort owing to the elaborate nature of the approach. Essentially, SPC is viewed as a standardized industrial technique used for quality measurement and control during a given continuous process (Flagg, 2013). For instance, the model may be applied in the case of an Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) where the efficacy of the communication channels, most notably the use of phone calls, is of great essence owing to the time-sensitive nature of the business operations. The fundamental process involves the assessment and monitoring of data quality in real-time demands the recording of phone calls in communication centers. The efficiency of the number of calls (about response rate) is then tested through the charting of graphs with upper and lower control limits (Hart & Hart, 2008). Control limits are determined by process capability, while specification limits are created by client requirements. Therefore, the urgency and need to obtain more tissue donations has motivated the organization to assess the reliability and turnover associated with communication centers. SPC provides a safe and accurate method through which efficiency in output can be evaluated without using considerable resources.

Outline of the Specific Objectives Accomplished

In the case of the Macy's project, the implementation of the operations forecast led to the realization of improved customer service since an accurate measure of the demand and supply factors were taken into consideration. In regards to the case of CNN, the need for conducting marketing research before developing a product is crucial. This occurrence may be supported by the development of other operations strategies such as operational excellence; product leadership; customer intimacy; and bettering the processes of service delivery and production. The objectives achieved in the case of LABS Inc would be to minimize variability in transferring data that will be completed by reducing manual transcriptions in every step. Because of the many IT systems involved, a shared vocabulary would be crucial for automatic information exchange between the systems. The application of an electronic laboratory notebook would go a long way in reducing variability and waste through information exchange between the electronic systems. The implementation of SPC is intended to move a company's quality control parameters from remedial to preventive status. Real-time monitoring of process allows operators to identify changes or shifts before they result in diminished services or defective products.

Skills in Global Sourcing, Procurement, and Outsourcing

Some of the fundamental skills that are necessary for the process of global sourcing include proficiency in supplier development, supply chain infrastructure, strategic planning, issuance of purchase orders to clients, development of a long-term relationship with clients as well as analysis of high volume purchases.

References

Dietrich, D. M., Furterer, S., & Cudney, E. A. (2013). Lean systems: Applications and case studies in manufacturing, service, and healthcare. CRC Press.

Flagg, B. J. (2013). Using Statistical Process Control in the Call Center. Flagg and Associates , 1-9.

Holweg, M. (2007). The genealogy of lean production. Journal of operations management, 25(2), 420-437.

Kester, A. (2015). Deciding on Uncertainty: How Supply Chain Risk and Decision Making Interact.

Krige, D. G. (2010). Two-dimensional weighted moving average trend surfaces for ore evaluation (pp. 13-79). Johannesburg: South African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.

Lee, K. H., & Vachon, S. (2016). Supply Chain Sustainability Risk. In Business Value and Sustainability (pp. 245-280). Palgrave Macmillan, London.

Macy's, Inc. (2018). Retrieved from http://investors.macysinc.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=84477&p=irol-sales