Explain the role of operations management.

Discuss the key challenges posed in operations management.

Operations management focuses on the operations and processes of a company. No matter what industry you are in or where you work, you will cross paths with some facet of operations. Corporations, manufacturing facilities, law firms, and hospitals are just a few of the industries that have operations concepts or methodologies.

The purpose of operations management is to help all parts of a business operate efficiently by creating and/or improving business processes and practices. It is sometimes thought of as a “catch-all” because it includes a blend of responsibilities, such as:

–Strategic planning
–Quality control
–Process analysis
–Production planning
–Logistics
–Supply-chain management
–Procurement
–Inventory management
–Capacity planning
–Process improvement

The range and focus of those responsibilities may also vary from industry to industry. For example, in manufacturing an operations manager may focus on the delivery of goods to customers in a specified period of time, whereas in healthcare, operations may concentrate on delivering quality service while keeping costs down. No matter what the industry, operations management is concerned with day-to-day procedures performing as efficiently as possible.