Module 1

Module 1: How does Operations create Value in a business? (5 hours)

1. Introduction to Operations Management
2. Operations & firm competitiveness
3. Competitive priorities – order winners & qualifiers
4. Productivity

Module 2

Module 2: How are processes chosen for firms strategically? (5 hours)

1. Process strategy & process choices in manufacturing & services
2. Strategic fit
3. Process bottlenecks
4. Little’s law & applications
5. Documenting & mapping processes
6. Process analysis

Module 3

Module 3: What size is the right size? (5 hours)

1. Fundamentals of capacity & measurement
2. Long-term capacity management
3. Constraint management in the job, batch, and line processes
4. Theory of constraints

Module 4

Module 4: Why hold inventory & how much? (5 hours)

1. Fundamentals of Inventory
2. Reasons for holding
3. Types and determination
4. Cycle inventory – EOQ & EPL models
5. Price discount models
6. Safety stock
7. Review systems – continuous & periodic

Module 5

Module 5: How to define & measure quality? (5 hours)

1. Fundamentals of quality
2. Quality costs
3. Product quality: Acceptance sampling
4. Process quality: Statistical Quality Control, Process capability

Course Description

Businesses create value by supplying their products or services to satisfy customer demand. Creating and delivering their products/ services involve numerous activities and processes across the organization. In today’s digital economy, in every industry, including manufacturing, customers’ expectations are rising, both directly for digital products and services and indirectly for speed, accuracy, productivity, and convenience of value delivery. The promise of digital raises new questions for the role of operations in businesses. With digital advances already making the management of operations more effective, the most significant challenge is to embrace digital innovation with operations management principles. The operations function is being shaped by time, but a strong foundation in fundamental concepts is still required to excel as a business professional in today’s economy. The operations function in any business is responsible for setting up processes, monitoring their performance, continuously improving them, uncovering & removing any bottlenecks, and managing resources to create a smooth value creation. It is the largest cost center in a business. To balance costs and facilitate revenue generation to achieve higher operating profits, Operations is in a constant quest to find the most efficient, cost-effective way to create and deliver value.

This core course introduces the Operations function in an organization and helps you to understand how managers design, use, manage and improve processes to create value for their customers effectively and efficiently. The subsequent terms in the programme offer 3-credit electives in various topics in the Operations area – Process Management, Logistics and supply chain management, Project Management, Manufacturing systems, Quality Management, Services Operations, etc.

Course Outcomes & Learning Levels

On completion of this course, students will be able to,

1. Identify the key Operations decisions that impact the competitiveness of a business (Analyze).
2. Identify areas of improvement in process performance (Evaluate).
3. Estimate capacity requirements of facilities/processes in long & short terms (Evaluate).
4. Identify major issues in managing inventories (Evaluate).
5. Make quality–related decisions about products & processes using select QC tools (Evaluate).

Evaluation Pattern 

*Based on assignments / Tests / Quizzes / Case Studies / Project / Term paper / Field visit report. 

Course Text

1. Operations Management: Process and Supply Chains, Eleventh Edition, Lee J. Krajewski, Manoj K. Malhotra, Larry P. Ritzman & Samir K. Srivastava, Pearson.

Reference Books

1. Heizer, H., & Render, B. (11th e). Principles of operations management. Pearson Education.
2. Stevenson, J., Hojati, M., Cao, J., Mottaghi, H., & Bakhtiari, B. (2007). Operations management. McGraw-Hill Irwin.