Operations Management

Operations management studies the design and control of the processes that produce and deliver goods and services.

Scope

It covers process and capacity design, quality management, inventory and supply, lean and just-in-time production, and service operations.

Core questions

• How should production and service processes be designed?
• How is quality managed?
• How are capacity and inventory optimized?
• How can operations be made more efficient?

Key concepts

• Process design
• Quality management
• Lean / just-in-time
• Theory of constraints
• Capacity and inventory
• Service operations

Key theories

Scientific management

Taylor sought efficiency through the systematic study and standardization of work.

Theory of constraints

Goldratt's theory of constraints focuses improvement on system bottlenecks.

History

Operations management developed from scientific management (Taylor) through statistical quality control, the Toyota/lean production system, and the theory of constraints (Goldratt).

Debates

Efficiency versus flexibility

Whether operations should optimize for efficiency (e.g., scale) or flexibility and responsiveness.

Key figures

• Frederick Taylor
• Eliyahu Goldratt

Seminal works

• taylor-1911
• goldratt-cox-1984

Frequently asked questions

What is lean production?

A production philosophy (from the Toyota system) focused on eliminating waste and producing just what is needed, when needed.