Can you promptly think about and jot down the names of a few stellar organizations doing tremendous work in their respective arenas? Nordstrom of course, backed by their legendary customer service (almost a cult like obsession), Samsung for their global reach and stylish, innovative smart phones, BMW churning out "ultimate driving machines", McKinsey Consulting and Goldman Sachs denoting top quality intellectual work and great branding, or KFC for making your life taste a little better, might make the cut in all probability. Such organizations have managed to simply lord over the markets they operate in by designing and delivering the best offerings (goods and services). And of course, they are perceived as providers of differentiating value, a fact generously attested by hordes of returning and loyal customers, if not by all and sundry (well, the latter aren't well heeled enough in that case, are they?).
Indeed, such firms indulge bountifully in puffy, gimmicky marketing and we, as customers, are constantly bombarded with their sometimes over the top advertisements. Nonetheless, bragging alone on its own legs doesn't cover much ground, and in order to achieve distinctive preeminence - companies devise operational ways/methods to successfully and consistently deliver on customer delight(the promise which many profess to chase and only a few ensnare).
And now the revelation - an organization simply can't aspire to attain this magical state if it's lagging in its operations. And the golden rule is lost on none - public services such as hospitals, defense forces, Para-military, public transport fire, schools, public utilities, police, and universities; and as well as private firms which furnish offerings to customers at profit. Operations function forms the solid backbone of each and every successful delivery storyboard - a hidden miracle, so to speak.
And now some rudimentary renderings:
Organizations (different teams within) receive, take up and simply work upon to transform a wide plethora of inputs into the output (desired products and services) possessing requisite quality attributes as specified or commonly accepted by the marketplace - and this the experts brand as Operations. Whereas Management is that guiding cam which, with its notorious finesse, smoothly summons and morphs myriad operational elements of the organization into value added final outcomes (be they may products or services) in a regulated fashion as governed by relevant organizational policies.
In a nutshell - all organizations exist to produce products and services from raw materials and hence they inevitably and necessarily have to have the operations function. Every single item which you can get into to attire up, consume to satiate hunger, use to cut distances short or read is a direct result of some unsung operations managers' toil whose responsibility it was to champion its production process.
Author Resource:
To know and understand more about Production Management, Operations Management and Master Production Schedule please visit http://www.masterproductionscheduling.com , also, be sure to check out the Intro to Production and Operation Management pdf at http://masterproductionscheduling.com/wp-content/uploads/int-production-management.pdf