Operations is the work of managing the inner workings of your business so it runs as efficiently as possible. Whether you make products, sell products, or provide services, every small business owner has to oversee the design and management of behind-the-scenes work. At a small business, you may not want to dedicate a single person to an operations role. Rather, both employees and owners should understand how the business works and how various processes impact day-to-day tasks.
Operations management is a field of business concerned with the administration of business practices to maximize efficiency within an organization. It involves planning, organizing, and overseeing the organization’s processes to balance revenues and costs and achieve the highest possible operating profit. Effective Operations Management ensures that the organization successfully converts inputs such as materials, labor, and technology into outputs in an efficient manner.
Levels of Operations Management
Operations management includes three levels: strategic, tactical, and operational. The strategic level defines company goals, and the tactical level outlines a plan to implement that strategy. The operations level contains the daily operations required to produce the desired outcome.
Responsibilities in Operations Management
Some of the main functions and responsibilities in Operations Management include:
Product Design
Product design involves creating a product that will be sold to the end consumer. It involves generating new ideas or expanding on current ideas in a process that will lead to the production of new products. The operations manager’s responsibility is to ensure that the products sold to consumers meet their needs, as well as match current market trends. Consumers are more interested in the quality of the product more than the quantity, and the organization should create systems that ensure the products produced meet the needs of the consumer.
Forecasting
Forecasting involving making predictions of events that will occur in the future based on past data. One of the events that the operations manager is required to predict is the consumer demand for the company’s products. The manager relies on past and present data on the uptake of the company’s products to determine future trends in consumption. The forecasts help the company know the volume of products needed to meet the market demand.
Supply Chain Management
Supply chain management involves managing the production process from raw materials to the finished product. It controls everything from production, shipping, distribution, to delivery of products. The operations manager manages the supply chain process by maintaining control of inventory management, the production process, distribution, sales, and sourcing of suppliers to supply required goods at reasonable prices. A properly managed supply chain process will result in an efficient production process, low overhead costs, and timely delivery of products to consumers.
Delivery Management
The operations manager is in charge of delivery management. The manager ensures that the goods are delivered to the consumer in a timely manner. They must follow up with consumers to ensure that the goods delivered are what the consumers ordered and that they meet their functionality needs. If the customer is unsatisfied with the product or is complaining about certain features of the product, the operations manager receives the feedback and forwards it to the relevant departments.
