Chapter

Chapter 11
Production and Operations
Management (POM):
An Introduction

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 Overview
• Introduction
• Historical Milestones in POM
• Factors Affecting POM Today
• Different Ways of Studying POM
• Wrap-Up: What World-Class
Producers Do

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 Introduction
• Production and operations management
(POM) is the management of an
organization’s production system.
• A production system takes inputs and
converts them into outputs.
• The conversion process is the predominant
activity of a production system.
• The primary concern of an operations
manager is the activities of the conversion
process.
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Organizational Model
Finance
Sales HRM

POM
QA
Marketing

MIS
Engineering Accounting

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 Organization Chart-Major
Elements
M a n u f a c t u r i n g O r g a n iz a t io n

O p e r a tio n s F in a n c e /A c c o u n t in g M a r k e tin g

F a c i li ti e s D is b u r s e m e n ts S a le s P r o m o t io n
P r o d u c tio n & & C r e d its A d v e r t is in g
I n v e n t o r y o n tr o l F unds M anagem ent S a le s
Q u a li t y A s s u r a n c e C a p i t a l R e q u ir e m e n ts M a rk e t R e s e a rc h
& C o n tro l
P ro c u re m e n t
E n g in e e r in g D e s i g n
I n d u s t r ia l E n g i n e e r in g
P r o c e s s E n g in e e r in g
Entry-Level Jobs in POM
• Purchasing planner/buyer
• Production (or operations) supervisor
• Production (or operations)
scheduler/controller
• Production (or operations) analyst
• Inventory analyst
• Quality specialist

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 Historical Milestones in
POM
• The Industrial Revolution
• Post-Civil War Period
• Scientific Management
• Human Relations and Behaviorism
• Operations Research
• The Service Revolution

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 The Industrial Revolution
• The industrial revolution developed in
England in the 1700s.
• The steam engine, invented by James Watt
in 1764, largely replaced human and water
power for factories.
• Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations in
1776 touted the economic benefits of the
specialization of labor.
• Thus the late-1700s factories had not only
machine power but also ways of planning and
controlling the tasks of workers. 8
 The Industrial Revolution
• The industrial revolution spread from England to
other European countries and to the United
Sates.
• In 1790 an American, Eli Whitney, developed the
concept of interchangeable parts.
• The first great industry in the U.S. was the
textile industry.
• In the 1800s the development of the gasoline
engine and electricity further advanced the
revolution.
• By the mid-1800s, the old cottage system of
production had been replaced by the factory 9
system
 Post-Civil War Period
• During the post-Civil War period great
expansion of production capacity
occurred.
• By post-Civil War the following
developments set the stage for the great
production explosion of the 20th
century:
– increased capital and production capacity
– the expanded urban workforce
– new Western U.S. markets
– an effective national transportation system
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 Scientific Management
• Frederick Taylor is known as the father of
scientific management. His shop system
employed these steps:
– Each worker’s skill, strength, and learning
ability were determined.
– Stopwatch studies were conducted to precisely
set standard output per worker on each task.
– Material specifications, work methods, and
routing sequences were used to organize the
shop.
– Supervisors were carefully selected and
trained.
– Incentive pay systems were initiated.
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 Scientific Management
• In the 1920s, Ford Motor Company’s
operation embodied the key elements
of scientific management:
– standardized product designs
– mass production
– low manufacturing costs
– mechanized assembly lines
– specialization of labor
– interchangeable parts
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 Human Relations
and Behavioralism
• In the 1927-1932 period, researchers in
the Hawthorne Studies realized that
human factors were affecting production.
• Researchers and managers alike were
recognizing that psychological and
sociological factors affected production.
• From the work of behavioralists came a
gradual change in the way managers
thought about and treated workers.
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 Operations Research
• During World War II, enormous quantities of
resources (personnel, supplies, equipment, …)
had to be deployed.
• Military operations research (OR) teams were
formed to deal with the complexity of the
deployment.
• After the war, operations researchers found
their way back to universities, industry,
government, and consulting firms.
• OR helps operations managers make decisions
when problems are complex and wrong decisions
are costly.
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 The Service Revolution
• The creation of services organizations
accelerated sharply after World War II.
• Today, more than two-thirds of the U.S.
workforce is employed in services.
• About two-thirds of U.S. GDP is from services.
• There is a huge trade surplus in services.
• Investment per office worker now exceeds the
investment per factory worker.
• Thus there is a growing need for service
operations management.

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 Today's Factors
Affecting POM
• Global Competition
• U.S. Quality, Customer Service, and Cost
Challenges
• Computers and Advanced Production
Technology
• Growth of U.S. Service Sector
• Scarcity of Production Resources
• Issues of Social Responsibility

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Different Ways to Study
POM
• Production as a System
• Production as an Organization
Function
• Decision Making in POM

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Production as a System
Production System

Conversion
Inputs Outputs
Subsystem

Control
Subsystem

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 Inputs of a Production
System
• External
– Legal, Economic, Social, Technological
• Market
– Competition, Customer Desires, Product
Info.
• Primary Resources
– Materials, Personnel, Capital, Utilities

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 Conversion Subsystem
• Physical (Manufacturing)
• Locational Services (Transportation)
• Exchange Services (Retailing)
• Storage Services (Warehousing)
• Other Private Services (Insurance)
• Government Services (Federal, State, Local)

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 Outputs of a Production
System
• Direct
– Products
– Services
• Indirect
– Waste
– Pollution
– Technological Advances

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 Production as an Organization
Function
• U.S. companies cannot compete using
marketing, finance, accounting, and
engineering alone.
• We focus on POM as we think of global
competitiveness, because that is where
the vast majority of a firm’s workers,
capital assets, and expenses reside.
• To succeed, a firm must have a strong
operations function teaming with the
other organization functions. 22
 Decision Making in POM
• Strategic Decisions
• Operating Decisions
• Control Decisions

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 Strategic Decisions
• These decisions are of strategic importance
and have long-term significance for the
organization.
• Examples include deciding:
– the design for a new product’s production process
– where to locate a new factory
– whether to launch a new-product development plan

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 Operating Decisions
• These decisions are necessary if the
ongoing production of goods and
services is to satisfy market demands
and provide profits.
• Examples include deciding:
– how much finished-goods inventory to
carry
– the amount of overtime to use next week
– the details for purchasing raw material
next month

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 Control Decisions
• These decisions concern the day-to-day
activities of workers, quality of products
and services, production and overhead
costs, and machine maintenance.
• Examples include deciding:
– labor cost standards for a new product
– frequency of preventive maintenance
– new quality control acceptance criteria

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 What Controls the
Operations System?
• Information about the outputs, the
conversions, and the inputs is fed back to
management.
• This information is matched with
management’s expectations
• When there is a difference, management
must take corrective action to maintain
control of the system

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 Wrap-Up: World Class
Practice
• POM important in any organization
• Global competition forces rapid
evolution of POM
• Decision based framework focus of
course
– Strategic, Operating, and Control

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