Operations Manager of a Manufacturing Plant - Essay Example

Finally, operations officers raise concerns about the inefficiency of production schedules. An in-depth look into all levels of operations isolates a possible core reason: there seem to be too many suppliers. Arrow Ahead needs to understand that the number of suppliers does not necessarily equal excellence in process management. Remembering that operations management requires the cautious supervision of processes in producing and distributing products and services, Arrow Ahead must review where else it may have failed to carefully manage their practices.

A good hard look at the flow of the organization and how each stage of the process come into play will benefit and ultimately restore the health of Arrow Ahead. This in turn will ensure that the company will stay efficiently afloat in the industry for a long period of time. Having established that Arrow Ahead has overbooked suppliers, the first step is to analyze how supply is being managed. As it is possible that the company has booked different suppliers for a singular purpose but for various reasons, there is a need to review all the suppliers they work with and create a shortlist based on Arrow Ahead’s experience with each one.

Has this supplier always delivered on time? Is the quality of goods, materials, or services consistently excellent? Do they operate on sound commercial principles? Does working with this specific supplier minimize purchasing risks? If there has been any chance that the supplier was issued corrective action by the company, did they work on it? Would the company rate the relationship with the supplier highly? The responses to these questions will help Arrow Ahead develop a preliminary strategy that is proportionate to the impact they would like on operations.

However, this is only an initial step towards solid supply management. The next phase would be to continuously monitor the performance of each supplier, in order to predict when something may threaten the