HNDMET/PP/022/0053

Operations management is the supply chain management team in charge of the daily business
operations. These supply chain professionals follow 10 standard operations management
principles to optimize the scheduling, production planning, inventory control, procurement, and
quality control processes in their manufacturing organization. In addition to process
management, they are also tasked with continuous improvement initiatives and utilize operations
research and process improvement to gain a competitive advantage.

To better understand operation management in a lean manufacturing environment, it is helpful to

break it down into its core functions.

 PRODUCTION PLANNING AND CONTROL

 FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING
 PRODUCT DESIGN
 INVENTORY MANAGEMENT
 QUALITY CONTROL

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1 OPERATIONAL PLANNING
Operational planning is the foundational function of operations management. Your duties within
this function may include:
 Monitoring daily production of goods
 Managing and controlling your inventory
 Keeping tabs on team member performance and well being
 Production planning
The role of operations management is to uphold operational efficiency. Always be on the lookout
for new advancements to remove bottlenecks and improve your operations strategy.

Resourcefulness
When you’re resourceful, you’ll have an easier time maintaining business processes. As an
operations manager, you’ll have to manage your team and keep the company’s wellbeing front of
mind. To handle these changes, you need to be fast on your feet. In situations when you don’t
 have the tools you need at your disposal, it’s critical to think quickly and use what you have to
come up with solutions.

2. FINANCE AND ACCOUNTING

Finance is an essential—and universal—function of operations management because every
company strives to reduce costs and increase profits. As an operations manager, you’ll ensure
company leaders keep the budget in consideration when they make important decisions. Some of
your tasks may include:

 Creating budgets to meet production goals

 Finding investment opportunities
 Allocating budgets and managing resources
You may wonder how the financial duties of the operations team differ from those of the finance
department. The finance department will handle everything from revenue to salaries. Meanwhile,
you should limit your financial participation to things relevant to the production process.
financial planning
Financial planning happens when you determine if your business has the budget to achieve
strategic objectives and goals. To push your company leaders toward financial success, you’ll
need to plan ahead.
Keep production costs low by finding high-quality vendors with low prices. You want to create a
top-notch product that stays within your customer’s budget.

3. PRODUCT DESIGN
Product designers may be the creatives of the team, but the operations team is the eyes and ears
that gathers information from the market. Once you identify customer needs and marketing
trends, you'll relay what you've learned back to the designers so they can make a strong product.
Specific tasks your team may handle in this function include:
 Consolidating market research into digestible results
 Communicating results to a product design team
 Offering design direction to help designers devise a product
 Without the operations team, the product design team would have trouble knowing what to
create. The market is always changing, and creating a successful finished product requires
extensive research.

Data interpretation
The ability to interpret data is a key skill for this function of operations management. As the
operations manager, you must turn data into understandable directions. Your goal should be to
clearly communicate how you want your product to match or exceed other products on the
market.
Once you have a plan in place, streamline communication across teams by using one platform or
tool. Create a central project plan to track action items, information, and feedback. Then, share it
in a project management tool so everyone can access it and view changes in real time.

4. QUALITY CONTROL
Quality control goes hand in hand with product design. After the production team creates a
product, the operations team will ensure it meets quality standards. You’ll need to test the
product to guarantee there are no defects before releasing it to the public. Your tasks for quality
control may include:
 Performing risk analysis to identify potential problems
 Inspecting products to make sure they meet quality standards
 Creating tests to control your product quality
 Documenting any defects or deficiencies of products
The level and standards of quality control vary by industry—one of the first things your team
should do during the quality control process is to perform market research to determine what
quality standards should be in your industry. Once you’ve outlined a set of quality standards, use
them as a benchmark for quality management moving forward.

Conflict management
Not every product will be top quality after one round through the production process. It may take
many rounds of design and a few trips back to the drawing board to create a quality product up to
standards.
 This type of feedback will ultimately make your product the best version of itself, but it can be
hard to hear in the moment. In order to excel at this function of operation management, build
strong conflict management strategies. That way, you can weather these times of uncertainty and
create products that wow customers.

5. SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

If your company produces products or services, your company will need supply chain
management for sourcing, producing, and shipping. You may have a separate department for the
supply chain, but supply chain issues related to internal production will be yours to handle. The
supply chain should flow in a cyclical fashion as follows:
1. Raw materials
2. Supplier
3. Production/manufacturer
4. Distributer
5. Retailer
6. Consumer
The supply chain is cyclical because once you analyze consumer demand, you'll source more raw
materials and go down the chain again.
You don’t necessarily have to follow each of these steps. For example, if you work at a small
company, you may send products or services directly to consumers. This cuts out distribution
and retail costs, but you’ll still need to keep the supply chain intact. If there’s a bottleneck in one
stage of the supply chain, it can wreak havoc on every other stage.

Problem-solving
As an operations manager, you'll need to organize, plan, and delegate. But to take your skills a
step further, you must be a good problem-solver as well. There are many problem-solving
strategies you can study and keep in your toolbox—and your team members will appreciate your
quick solutions when things get tough.