Operations management work in an industry that supplies packaging to several companies and you have just closed a new sale, with a much higher volume than you usually produce. In this scenario, to ensure delivery, where to start? Without a well-implemented operations management , it will be difficult to deliver everything.
You need to ensure that the right budget is allocated and that the right people are working on production. In addition, everyone involved needs to be aware of the roles they play. Only with this complete and effective planning is it possible to guarantee that the deadline will be met.
Organizations are made up of different areas that need to work together but often struggle. In this case, operations management has an important duty to ensure that everyone works to achieve their goals. Check here what this management represents, the best practices and its benefits.
Operations management is an area concerned with the administration of business practices, whose objective is to maximize efficiency within an organization . It involves planning, organizing and supervising processes to balance revenues and costs.
It can also be translated as the process of guiding the development, maintenance and allocation of resources to achieve goals. In the end, we all want to make internal processes more productive and efficient .
Therefore, operations management is seen as a methodology to control and leverage available resources, whether material, financial or human, aiming at meeting the organization’s performance objectives.
Within this framework, managers are responsible for the development and execution of this process. The four main functions they fulfill are:
In practice, operations management involves different areas within an organization. It goes through inventory management, logistics and human resources. It still involves decisions related to planning, quality assurance and process alignment.
The role of operations management is to better manage the internal and external flows of the company. The objective is to allow it to be managed more optimally by implementing lean management approaches.
This means avoiding all kinds of waste in operations , whether in resources, time or even creativity in some process.
We know that countless decisions must be made at all levels of an organization, don’t we? Without proper operations management, there is a greater chance that multiple departments will be in conflict with each other.
This activity allows you to effectively manage various attributes in different areas of the company.
Remembering that it works for any type of sector or market segment:
The importance of a good implementation of operations management is directly related to the decisions made on a day-to-day basis. It helps decision making at 3 different levels : strategic, tactical or operational.
Without this type of management implemented, there would be no clarity on the part of organizations about who and when to make each decision. Therefore, we will present what each type of decision represents and its gains:
Strategic-level decision-making involves the company as a whole and is carried out by the board or senior-level management. They consider long-term planning, taking into account constraints, as well as current internal conditions (resources and teams) to formulate the processes that must be followed.
In every company, to gain a competitive advantage, it is important that these decisions are made quickly and shared with all teams.
Regardless of whether they are long-term decisions, such as merging with another company, or more operational ones, such as the acquisition of new technologies that directly affect the work of professionals, everything needs to be communicated as soon as possible.
Operations management allows the internal team to efficiently organize available resources and manage personnel according to regulations and stipulations defined by the company’s strategic plan – which are linked to the tactical plan.
Examples of these tactical decisions include planning work shifts and scheduling deliveries for each area .
Management in planning the entire operation is essential to control and monitor practical decisions related to the tactical plan. Unlike others, these decisions are focused on individual people and departments .
Short-term examples are the daily business decisions typically made by team leaders, such as executing a task.