Operations and Logistics Management

Operations management refers to all levels of an organisation and how best to efficiently convene, fund, maintain and maximise its services and/or operations, both internal and external. The core goal/objective of operations management it to maximise outputs while reducing and minimising the inputs required to achieve the desired results.

James, T. (2011) defines Operations Management as the management of the processes which aid production of goods and or services. This implies that all production activities must be coordinated well to ensure a lean process of resource management is adopted.

The role of operations management is vital in planning and managing the way that inputs for the business are transformed. Ultimately, operations management is trying to achieve a competitive advantage for their organisation through improved efficiencies, product quality, reduction of cost and product differentiation.

The role of operations management is the production of goods and services and to ensure efficiency and effectiveness in the operation process, that means use as little resource as needed and meet the customer requirements. Moreover, it is converts inputs (in the forms of materials, labour and energy) into outputs (in the form of goods and services) and aims to increase the content of value-added activities in any given process in an organization. (Meredith and Scott 2007)

Operations management focuses on managing the processes of producing and distributing products and services. Operations activities often include product creation, development, production and distribution. It deals with all operations within the organization. Related activities include managing purchases, inventory control, quality control, storage, logistics and evaluations. The nature of how operations management is carried out in an organization depends very much on the nature of products or services in the organization, for example, retail, manufacturing, wholesale, etc.

When marketing, engineering, and operations simultaneously develop a process (cross -functional integration), this approach is known as __________ ________________.

Operations Management is defined as how we deal with the design and management of products, processes, services and supply chains. It considers the acquisition, development, and utilization of resources that organizations need to deliver the goods and services their clients want.

IKEA is a worldwide expanded company. They enlarge their showrooms to North America, Europe, Australia and Asia. Customers can check out IKEA’s product in the show rooms and also by checking out IKEA’s websites to get their selected products to be home delivered. This is an effective way of selling their products as customers who are busy with their own work can purchase their preferred products online whenever they want to. Thus, this is an advantage for both customers and IKEA’s company as their sales doesn’t stop at the showroom itself.

The strategies are to create a unique and valuable position, which involves various set of activities (Kaplinsky and Morris, 2001). According to Porter (2000), operational effectiveness and strategies are both essential to superior performance, but they operate differently. Thus, each stage of value chain is worthy to be analysed separately.

With its business formula based on low cost and affordability and IKEA have 2500 suppliers in over sixty countries. Having exclusive contract manufacturing with its suppliers, they are working closely with them to reduce costs and sharing technical know-how.

The current paper is an extensive operation plan for Fast-Movers Logistics, a fast growing company offering courier services across the major cities of the United States. Fast-Movers Logistics has been in business for a significant period of time. Now and it seek to develop an operation plan so as to attain a better strategic position and competitive advantage in its market. The operation plan is aimed at helping the company design a proper structure in the way it accomplishes its tasks. Apparently, the operation plan will lay out the activities that need to be completed, the skills required to complete specific tasks, the number of people required in reaching the goals and the costs associated with the achievement of the desirable results. Therefore, the operation plan will serve the purpose of cutting down on the expenses of Fast-Movers Logistics with the aim to help the company attain higher productivity and profitability levels.

Operations management includes the conception of a product; the planning of the material, financial and human resources, and the recording and the control of the production activities.

Operations management is generally described as the planning, arrangement, and control of activities that change raw materials or an organization's input into finished products and services. The overall activities covered by operations management include the creation, development, manufacture, and distribution of products. The concept also relates to various activities such as inventory control, controlling purchases, quality control, logistics, storage, and evaluation ("Operations Management in McDonalds", n.d.). Since operations management covers the entire operations in an organization, it mainly focuses on the efficiency and effectiveness of the firm's processes.

Clearly its product offering is “no frills”. In line with the Scandinavian idea of minimalism, IKEA seeks to eliminate the unnecessary in its prouducts but it makes a point out of not compromising on function or technical quality. IKEA focuses on the use of raw materials but much of its product range uses board-on-frame construction - layering of sheets of wood over a honeycomb core that gives a strong, lightweight structure with a minimal wood content.

The global marketplace, which has matured and grown in dramatic fashion over the course of the past two decades, has unveiled many new problems that accompany such a rapid growth spurt. The global market now reflects a multitude of differing ideas, opinions and approaches to how a successful economy should operate. As a result, a lack of standardization and unification is present in this situation and a clear demand for a level playing field is in order. Logistics and transportation avenues are in dire need of being reworked because of this multitude of key interests. Bearing the continued diversification of the client needs and integration prompted by globalization, there is an immediate need to add value to the existing transport and logistics chain, particularly on the side of the receiving clients. The purpose of this essay is to explore some of the methods to achieve a more balanced and fair approach to a global logistics chain and integrate some of these ideas into practical solutions.