Operations Management and Brilliant Project Management - Essay Example

Operations Management Name Institution Operations Management Organizations have the main objective of enhancing the level of profitability. While short term goals are meant to drive long term goals, the vision of the organization is built upon long term goals. Short term objectives are simply drivers or facilitators. As the organization gears towards reflecting the going concern picture, there are several aspects that must be considered. The first is to ensure that the needs of various stakeholders are met. One approach of attaining that goal is through efficiency utilization of resources. This is what is commonly referred to as capacity management. The aim of capacity management is to allocate the available resources appropriately with the aim of attaining efficiency as well as productivity. Inasmuch as in some organizations the renowned techniques may not be fully operational, whatever they do mostly revolves around capacity management. The choice of the approaches to be used in capacity management varies depending on the feasibility. At the same time, the nature of the organization has also to some extent been found to be influencing the capacity management strategies. Critical path analysis has been very popular as a tool for capacity management. In this document, location and scheduling have been discussed in relation to how they enhance capacity management in organizations. In any organization, there are several processes that meet its core responsibilities to the stakeholders. Such stakeholders may include customers, suppliers, owners, government, etc. The volume of production in such an organization is defined by many factors. The organization has a duty of ensuring that the production is regulated according to the resources available as well as the demand for the finished products. In capacity management, the organization is concerned about issues like labor force, the level of technology, the office space, inventory management, etc. This is aimed at regulating the level of production in order to ensure that the organization is not strained so much. There are many other considerations that are put in place to ensure that the organization is able to achieve efficiency in production while operating within the available resources. This is done with a focus of achieving financial success in the organization. This is because through capacity management, the organization is not strained financially to the extent of advancing emergency loans that will have a negative impact on the organization. There are many ways of ensuring the company attains the required level of production by operating within its resources. The appropriateness of each approach is depended upon the nature of the organization. One of the latest discoveries that have proven to be crucial in capacity management is location-based scheduling. This indeed is a major shift from what has been the traditional method of capacity management. The most common tradition approach to capacity management is probably the critical path analysis. This is a renowned scheduling methodology with a history of many years. Inasmuch as many organizations have noticed the rigidity that this methodology presents to the organization, it has been quite difficult for most firms to change to a different approach. Therefore, the invention of the location-based scheduling is aimed at capitalizing on the weaknesses that are inherent in the critical path approach. New firms have been quick to discover the most convenient methodology to use for capacity management. For organizations that have been in business for a very long period of time, it has been found challenging to transit from the traditional critical path approach. Scheduling is a planning process that allows companies to plan the available resources appropriately. The company is in position to plan the available resources depending on the demand and supply forces within which it is operating. This is one way of putting the interests of the client first. Through such an approach, the organization works to ensure that the needs of the consumer are prioritized. The underlying focus by the organization is cost minimization as a means of enhancing profitability. While customer satisfaction is critical, the organization is committed to ensuring that the revenue maximization and cost minimization strategies are not neglected in the production process. At the same time, the issue of resource availability remains crucial. This explains the relationship that exists between the various objectives that have to be achieved by the same organization. Scheduling helps the management understands the process of prioritizing the various objectives with an overall target of attaining efficiency and profitability. This is easier to explain especially in relation to the production department in the organization. Scheduling is a very useful planning tool to the organization. The organization uses this tool to anticipate and simulate possible problems as well as expected returns. This is also another medium through which the company or organization uses to enhance efficiency. Probable failures in any production process can be very diverse indeed. For instance, the machine failure can be a huge challenge to the production process. Another concern is shortages in raw materials. Similarly, there are also possible shortages in terms of labor. The three are just some of the challenges that an organization is likely to experience during the production process. Scheduling is aimed at forecasting the possibility of these problems occurring in order to put into place the required control mechanisms. This is very critical for capacity management in any given organization. It facilitates appropriate planning in relation to the extent to which the resources in the organization can be strained in order to attain the set goals. Proper scheduling and location provides many opportunities for the organization not just in the present times, but also in the future. As the organization expands, the demands keep on evolving. It gets to a point where venturing into new opportunities in terms of markets becomes the main focus of the organization. When venturing into new production facilities, it is important to consider the impending needs. The new facility definitely presents a new challenge in the organization. Scheduling techniques are useful in ensuring that the needs in the new market are appropriately projected. It increases the possibility of making more accurate projections of the needs of the new facility. More so, the organization is also in a position to make accurate projection of the production capacity of the new facility. The ability to accurately estimate the production capacity and the subsequent costs to be incurred is very important for the purposes capacity management. The process ensures that the resources that are within the organization are well utilized as a result of good planning. The organization attains capacity management because it is in position to correctly project the production capacity as well as costs. Location-based scheduling focuses on planning and scheduling through monitoring projects by their locations. It helps manage the costs and the returns gained from the various projects with the aim of ensuring profitability. This approach enables the monitoring of work progress in different locations i.e. buildings. This approach has numerous benefits to an organization. The location-based scheduling enables the organization maintains the required production rate even as the employees move from one location to the other. This approach helps in minimizing the number of starts and stops during the execution of the activity. Minimizing the number starts and stops is one way of enhancing efficiency in the production process. This is meant to ensure that unnecessary costs are avoided during the execution of the activity. Statistically, those organizations that have adopted location-based scheduling are in position to reduce the level of project risk. This is because the nature of approach allows room for predictability in terms of cost and completion time. This is not just synonymous to the construction sector alone, but many other industries. Location based scheduling is also used as a way of improving the safety of the users on any project. The user is in position to locate the various points using routes. The routes are very critical in predict whether the user is going and the direction in which he/she has taken. Through that, it is possible to estimate the possible time that is to be taken to execute the target activity. The ability to monitor the time that is taken to advance the project is also a way of boosting the efficiency. This is because the user is able to predict possible challenges on the way. This includes the loss of signals which can be known and appropriate measures taken. When the loss of signals has been predicted, the necessary control measures must be harmonized as a way of ensuring that efficiency is attained. Location based scheduling heavily focuses on the need to monitor the work being executed by the crew in any production line. The location has been found to be a very reliable parameter to measure and control workflow in the production process. Using location as a parameter to monitor costs, the various expenses are incurred in particular locations. Therefore, the necessary machineries are put in the various locations as a means of tracking down the efficiency levels. It is easier to manage costs in such a location because they are repetitive in nature. At various locations, the level of interference is highly minimized. This is because the flow of activities in such locations is appropriately regulated for the benefit of the organization. At the same time, the trades are isolated appropriately in order to minimize the level of risk. The workflow of the resources is regulated appropriately because the schedules tend to be resource-loaded. The organization is well equipped to monitor all the necessary inputs into the production process. This has been found to be very efficient. This methodology, though it was discovered just few years ago, it has gained some level of acceptance. The fact that it capitalizes on the weaknesses of the critical path methodology is the reason many production In conclusion, both location and scheduling are all critical in capacity management. These new approaches that have been discussed in this paper embrace the new technologies in relation to capacity management. This is currently the trend among many companies that are involved in production. This is so even as the level of competitiveness keeps on tightening in the current markets. This requires that firms are more innovative in order to survive in the market. This is what has led to these new approaches to management of resources. References Barker, S. & Cole, R. (2009).Brilliant Project Management (Revised Edition): what the best project managers know, do and say. New York: Pearson Business. Clark, J.C. (2012). Project Management Life: Just Enough to Get the Job done….Northing more. New York: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. Graham, N. (2010). Project Management for Dummies. New Jersey: Wiley & Sons Lock, D. (2007). Project Management. New Jersey: Gower Publishing Co. Read More