Essay on Managing Operations Chapter 1

Audrey Pond
BA 339 - Crawford

STUDY OUTLINE FOR CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION TO MANAGING OPERATIONS ACROSS THE SUPPLY CHAIN

1. Describe the operational strategies that give Apple a competitive advantage.

Apple capitalizes on volume and gets big discounts on parts, manufacturing capacity and air freight.
They work closely with suppliers by sometimes living out of hotel rooms for months just to be close to suppliers and manufacturers to help tweak the industrial processes and tools that translate prototypes into mass-produced devices
Focus on a few product lines, with little customization. This allows Apple to eliminate complexity and cost, while maximizing volume-based economies in its supply chain
Ensure supply availability and low prices. Apple makes big upfront payments to suppliers to lock in their capacity and to limit options for competitors
Keep a close eye on demand. By selling through its own retail stores, Apple can track demand by the store and by the hour; then it adjusts sales forecasts and production plans daily to respond quickly to demand changes 2. What is operations management?

The management of processes used to design, supply, produce, and deliver valuable goods and services to customers.

3. Define “supply chain”-

The global network of organizations and activities involved in designing, transforming, consuming, and disposing of goods and services

4. A supply chain is involved in:

1) Designing a set of goods and services and their related processes

2) Transforming inputs into goods and services

3) Consuming these gods and services

4) Disposing of these goods and services

5. Why is it important to study operations management?

Operations management activities located throughout a supply chain create and enhance the value of goods and services by increasing their economic value, functional value, and psychosocial value.

6. The “what?” decisions in supply chain operations management are:

1) What types of activities and what types of goods or services are to be delivered by the system?

2) What product features do our intended customers care about?

3) What activities and resources are needed, and how should they be developed, allocated, and controlled?

7. The “how” decisions in supply chain operations management are:

1) How is the good or service to be designed, made, and delivered?

2) How much should our transformation process be able to deliver (and under what conditions)?

3) How should we measure and assess performance?

8. The “when, where and who” decisions in supply chain operations management are?

1) When should products be made, activities be carried out, services be delivered, or capacities/facilities come on line?

2) Where should certain activities be done, and who should do them: suppliers, partners, or the firm?

9. Briefly explain differences in goods and services operations:

Goods are tangible, can be inventoried and have little customer contact whereas services are intangible, cannot be inventoried, and have extensive customer contact. Goods also have long lead times, are often capital-intensive, have easily assessed quality and is where material is transformed. Services have short lead times, are labor-intensive, the quality is more difficult to assess and information or the customer is transformed.

10. Describe the concept of providing a total product experience to the customer:

All the goods and services that are combined to define a customer’s complete consumption experience. The experience includes all aspects of purchasing, consuming, and disposing of the product.

11. Explain these terms:

Process: A system of activities that transforms inputs into valuable outputs.

Transform: Processes use resources (workers, machines, money, and knowledge) to transform inputs (such as materials, energy, money, people, and data) into outputs (goods and services).

Design processes: Process used by companies to develop new goods and services

Strategic planning

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