Business Process Reengineering (BPR) Business process can be defined as a set of logically related tasks performed to achieve a defined business outcome. It is a structured, measured set of activities designed to produce a specified output for a particular customer or market. Improving business processes is important for businesses to stay ahead of competition in today’s marketplace. Over the last 10 to 15 years, companies have been forced to improve their business processes because customers are demanding better products and services. Many companies begin business process improvement with a continuous improvement model. The Business Process Reengineering (BPR) methodology comprises of developing business processes are simplified rather than being made more complex. Job descriptions expand and become multi-dimensional – people perform a broader range of tasks. People within the organization become empowered as opposed to being controlled. The emphasis moves away from the individual and towards the team’s achievements. The Continue reading
Operations Management Techniques
Role and Importance of Operations Management in an Organization
Operations Management is very important for managing large firms and running them successfully. Operation management is mainly related to production of goods and services in an organisation. The main purpose of the operations management is to run the business operations successfully, smoothly and effectively by using the minimum resources and meeting customer expectations. Thus we can say that operations management is the process of converting minimum input like raw materials, labour to produce maximum output like products, goods and services. Operations Management is very crucial factor in order to increase company’s profit. Operations management is not only responsible for producing goods but also take control of distribution of services. Operations management plays a very crucial role in organisations as they produce professional managers which are capable of achieving organisation’s strategic goals in a defined period of time. Operations management is the heart of any organization as it controls the whole Continue reading
Inventory Management Techniques
The term inventory derives from the French word inventaire and the Latin word inventariom which simply means a list of things which are found. The term inventory includes materials which are in raw form, or are in process, in the finished packaging, spares and the others which are stocked in order to meet all the unexpected demands or distribution in the future. This term usually refers to the stock at hand at a particular period of time of all those materials which are in raw form, those goods which are in progress of manufacture, all the finished products, merchandise purchased products for resale of those products, tangible products which can be seen, touched, measured or are countable. In a connection with the financial statements and records of accounting, the reference may be to the amount assigned to the stock or the pile of goods owned by an enterprise at a Continue reading
Analyzing Toyota’s Recipe for Success – The Toyota Way
The fundamental reason for Toyota’s success in the global marketplace lies in the so called “Toyota way”. The Toyota Way is not only about technology and efficiency, it is about doing the right thing for the company, its employees, the customer and the society as a whole. In other words, the incredible success of the Toyota way is a direct result of operational excellence. Toyota has turned operational excellence into a strategic weapon. This operational excellence is only in part based on tools and quality improvement methods made famous by Toyota in the manufacturing world, such as JIT, Kaizen, and one-piece-flow. Although such techniques helped spawn the “lean manufacturing” revolution, tools and techniques are no secret weapon for transforming a business. Toyota’s continued success at implementing this tools stems from a deeper business philosophy based on its understanding of people and human motivation. Its success is ultimately based on its Continue reading
Kaizen and Kanban in Lean Manufacturing
Kaizen Kaizen is broadly interpreted as the Japanese term for continuous improvement, although it is perhaps more accurately translated as a form of control. It applies to all aspects of organisational output, and can thus be linked to both Toyota Production System (TPS) and types of waste, as well as the means of introducing and managing basic employee working conditions. One of the most popular tools of Kaizen is a Kanban, which of itself translates to differing types of organisational process control, which collectively lead to greater organisational production efficiency. The overarching principle of Kaizen, and Kanban within that, is to create a ‘pull through’ organisational process, as opposed to push through. Historically, for many manufacturing organisations, understandably, they would place the manufacturing process itself at the heart of operations, and would strive to make this element as efficient as possible working towards metrics such as overall equipment Continue reading
Concept of Supplier Relationship Management (SRM)
An important feature of a world class organisation is the way the organisation has been able to develop and link its suppliers with its external processes. Supplier relationship management can be defined as the relationship that exists between the supplier and its buyer based on long term commitments and trust with the ultimate aim to maximize the potential value of the relationship. This will include the management of different forms of supply relationships such as partnership, joint venture and vertical integration. The critical importance of supplier relationship types to achieve supply chain competitiveness can be viewed under the following headings: The effective use of strategic partnership Typical traditional short term relationship is characterize by irregular or ‘one-off’ transactions that give rise to supply uncertainties, difficulties in choosing suppliers, and is price oriented making this type of relationship unreliable and unsupported. Organisations can move from this type of relationship towards a Continue reading