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Careful attention to the five decision areas is the key to management of
successful operations. Indeed, the well-managed operations function can be
defined in terms of the decision framework. If each of the five decision areas
is functioning properly and well integrated with the other areas, the operations
function can be considered well managed.
Quality. The corporate staff has set certain standards for quality which all
stores must follow. These standards include procedures to maintain service
quality and to ensure the quality of the pizzas served. While service quality is
difficult to measure, the quality of the pizzas can be more easily specified by
using criteria such as temperature at serving time, the amount of raw
materials used in relation to standards, and so on. In Pizza U.S.A., each store
manager must carefully monitor quality to make sure that it meets company
standards. Each employee is responsible for quality in their job in order to
ensure that quality is produced at the source.
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Inventory. The individual store managers buy the ingredients required to
prepare the recipes provided by corporate staff. They select their own
suppliers and decide how much flour, tomato paste, sausage, etc., to order
and when to place orders. Store operators must carefully integrate purchasing
and inventory decisions to control the flow of materials in relation to capacity.
They do not want to run out of food during peak periods or waste food when
demand is low.
Work Force, Store managers are responsible for hiring, training, supervising,
and, if necessary, firing workers. They must decide on exact job
responsibilities and on the number of people needed to operate the store.
They also advertise job openings, screen applications, interview candidates,
and make the hiring decisions. They must measure the amount of work
required in relation to production and also evaluate the performance of each
individual. Management of the work force is one of the most important daily
responsibilities of the store manager.
I. Goods and service design. According to Henzer (2004), design of goods and design
defines much of the transformation process. The factors of cost, quality and human
resources must be made during the stage. Operation management of product and
services is also different because due to different characteristic and tangible /
intangible feature.
II. Quality. Customer has a very high quality standard nowadays and operation
management decision in quality must be clear and strict for its members to understand
and comply. It must set a quality, standard and operating procedure to meet customers
high expectation.
III. Process and capacity design. Manufacturing of physical products may have higher
importance on process and capacity design than services operation. Operation
management (product) should decide what process it, what type of technology and to
what extent, human resources, quality and maintenance that determines its basic cost
structure. Services operation decision on this area is much simpler and it can
determine by customers who directly involved in the process. For example, customer
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will ask tailor to design specific fashion clothes. Capacity design issue is critical for
services because it will try to reduce waiting time and avoid lost of sales due to
insufficient capacity. For manufacturing capacity design is based on firms financial
capability, forecast for future and market demand.
IV. Location can be an area for operation management to decide and with
globalization of business, operation managers too must think global. For physical
goods, location selection can be determined by pools of qualified human resources,
technology, raw material, access to market and government policy. For services as it is
direct to customers, the location is determined by market accessibility or near to
customer as possible.
V. Layout design. Material flow, process selection technology used, capacity needs,
workers needs, inventory requirement, and capital will influence the decision for
layout design. For services such as hotels, beside capacity needs layout also will
enhance its attributes and features to the customers.
VI. Human Resources and Job Design Employees is the integral part in the total
system design. Operation management must set a policy to set labor standards to ease
transition of skills, improvement of knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA), build a
balance work and life quality in an effective cost target. For services one extra area
operation management should touch, which is customers relationship that they are
dealing directly.
VII. Supply Chain Management Decisions that have to take place of what to
produce, what material to buy, from where, how is the cost and how is the delivery
from supplier to the final end customers in on-time delivery and minimum cost
possible. It is more critical in production of goods than services.
VIII. Inventory Decisions on how and where the inventory level to keep long term
customers satisfaction, suppliers, material availability for not to disrupt the
production, human resources needed for this purpose and important the holding cost
from financial perspective. Goods production are more concern because manufacturer
may kept raw material, in progress work order and final goods while services is not
critical as it is directly produce and consume simultaneously.
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