Introduction

Operations management is an area of business concerned with the production of goods and services and involves the responsibility of ensuring that business operations are efficient in terms of using as little resource as needed and effective in terms of meeting customer requirements. It is concerned with managing the process that transforms inputs (in the forms of materials, information, labour and energy) into outputs (in the form of goods and services) to deliver outcomes for the company – usually a financial return – and the customer, in the form of satisfaction with product or service.

With the advent of the digital age – Industry 4.0 – operations is facing a period of profound change and operations managers will play a leading role in preparing to exploit new opportunities while shielding the organisation from associated risks.

To perform this function effectively, Operations Managers have a number of responsibilities, for example:

• Aligning the operation’s strategy with the company strategy – developing a clear vision of how the operations should support the company’s long-term objectives, that means translating goals into implications for performance objectives in terms of quality, speed, dependability, flexibility and cost. Today, an organisation’s strategy will include preparing for the opportunities and threats presenting due to the digital age.

• Executing the operations strategy – operations management is often characterised by the need to make decisions frequently and quickly, so it is necessary to separate strategy execution from the daily work of operations management and from the daily focus on continuous improvement; this is a challenge. To add to that challenge, operations management will be required to remain alert to the impact of the digital age.

• Planning, controlling and organising the operation – are the activities of deciding what resources are required, securing the supply of those resources, managing the flow of materials through the transformation processes to produce the required output; and doing that in the most efficient way.

• Managing the company’s key processes – processes are designed, organised and deployed, to prepare a product or service for market.

• Improving the performance of operations – continuous improvement is a critical responsibility of all operations managers with its focus on improving quality while reducing costs to deliver a performance designed to beat the competition and win market share.

Aims

The aim of this course is to provide you with an introduction to the role of an operations manager in all sectors of the economy including, manufacturing, financial services, health services, government departments, etc. Attendance on this course will encourage you to explore key aspects of operations management to help you improve operations in your organisation and further your career as an operations manager.

Objectives

By the end of the programme delegates will be able to:

· Recall the purpose of operations management and how to align operations management strategies with the organisation’s strategy.

· Relate the approach for aligning the operation to meet the needs and expectations of the customer both internal and external.

· Recognise the difference between daily operations management and strategy execution.

· Recall the activities to be designed, deployed and managed to transform resources into products and services.

· Name the components of the Toyota Production System, the stages of a Lean strategy and list the seven classic wastes of the Toyota Production System.

· Demonstrate an ability to deploy process mapping tools and process control charts.

· List the components of cyber physical systems and name applications.

· Recognise motivational and demotivational factors that impact on human performance.

· Recall alternative organisational structures designed to deliver improved customer service while delivering greater organisational efficiencies.

Methods

It is our intention to give you an opportunity to understand the nature and practice of operations management. In order to do so we will present you with a range of learning experiences including presentations, case studies, exercises and simulations.

Duration:  4 days

Who it's for:

It is not only operations managers or factory managers who run operations, all managers in all sectors run some form of operation, for example: a finance manager’s operation processes invoices and other financial transactions, an HR manager’s operation processes recruitment so, if you are responsible for the management of processes then you are an operations manager. This course is designed for all managers: senior, middle and first line managers, superintendents and supervisors in all sectors of the economy.

Course Content

Day 1

Introductory session

· The programme for the day

· Personal introductions

· Course objectives, content and methods

· How to improve knowledge retention, the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve

· Access to course material

· Support and follow up

Session 1: Operations Management

• Exercise: what is operations management?

• Review of exercise

• The extent and importance of operations management in the economy

• Exercise: describing the transformation process and identifying critical monitoring points

• Review of exercise

• The transformation process: transformed and transforming resources

• Identifying Key Performance Indicators to effect control and deliver improvements

• Describing a general model of operations management

• Exercise: simulating a transformation process

• Review of exercise.

Session 2: The Strategic Role of Operations Management

• Exercise:  developing a definition of strategy and exploring strategic options

• Review of exercise

• Porter’s generic strategies model and the five competitive forces

• How operations drivers, supports and implements strategy

• Exercise: identifying operations key stakeholders and their needs

• Review of exercise

Session 3: Industry 4.0, the digital age

· The phases of industrial revolution

· The digital age

· Cyber physical systems and their applications in operations

· The scope, velocity and impact of the digital age

· Exercise: how will the digital age impact your organisation?

· Review of exercise

· The potential impact of the digital age on society

· Preparing for the digital age.

Session 4: Operations Improvement

• Exercise: simulating process flow

• Review of exercise

• The 7 classic wastes + 6 more

• Quality Control v Quality Assurance

• Exercise: The limitations of visual checks

• Review of exercise.

Day 2

Session 5: Operations Planning & Control

• Case Study: the Toyota Production System

• Exercise: line balancing – Heijunka

• Review of exercise

• Exercise: standardised work

• Review of exercise

• Improving productivity with Total Productive Maintenance

• The components of the value chain

• Establishing operations stability

• The three pillars of the Toyota Production System:

o Just in Time (JIT)

· Capacity planning & control

· Inventory management & control

· Inventory planning & control

§ Exercise: calculating takt time

§ Review of exercise

§ How to achieve flow

§ Exercise: simulating flow

§ Review of exercise

§ Pull versus Push systems

o Jidoka

§ Automatic and manual line stops

§ Synchronising the actions of people and machines

§ Error proofing systems

§ Creating a visual control system.

o Culture – the critical role of organisational culture

o Black Box Thinking – the benefits of continuous feedback to the learning organisation

Day 3

Session 6: Lean Operations 1

· The origins of Lean

• The Lean philosophy and the five principles of Lean Operations

• The first dimension: specify value

• Exercise: defining customer and specifying value

• Review of exercise

• The Voice of the Customer

• How operations managers match customer experience with customer expectations

• Exercise: identifying the dimensions of customer service

• Review of exercise

Session 7: Lean Operations 2

• The process of mapping a business process – learning to see

• Establishing scope

• The role of a process map in process improvement activities

• The process improvement process

• Exercises: produce a SIPOC Map

• Review of exercise

• Exercise: produce a process sequence map and calculate AdeltaT

• Review of exercise

• Exercise: produce an ‘as is’ value stream map, calculate Takt Time, AdeltaT, reengineer the process and produce a ‘to be’ process map

• Review of exercise

• Exercise: apply new technology to digitise the process

Session 8: Lean Operations 3

· How to create flow in an operations

· Batch processing versus one piece flow

· How to achieve one-piece flow

· Exercise: simulating one-piece flow

· Review of exercise

· How organisation structure can improve workflow – a case study

· The benefits of a ‘pull’ system over a ‘push system’ – the Kan Ban system

· Striving for perfection – the search for perfect processes.

Session 9: Single Minute Exchange of Die (SMED)

· How operations can reduce change over time to improve machine productivity

· SMED in an X-Ray department – a case study

· How SMED has improved operations productivity in a range of operations.

Session 10: A System for Workplace Organisations

• The 5S system;

• Exercise: Carne House

• Review of Exercise.

Day 4

Session 11: Operations Planning and Control

• Case Study: TSB Homeloans (a UK Mortgage Company)

• Identifying special cause and common cause variation

• How process variation impacts on business performance

• The history and developments of Control Charts

• Exercise: how to calculate standard deviation

• Review of Exercise

• Data collection and sampling systems

• Exercise: building, deploying and analysing a control chart

• Review of exercise

Session 12: Process Improvement

• Process improvement tools deployed in the Case Study company

• Establishing improvement priorities

• Exercises: Pareto Analysis to establish the ‘vital few’ issues

• Review of Exercises

• Exercise: Cause & Effect diagram with 5Whys.

• Review of Exercises

• The cultural issues to address before deploying process control charts and how to address them.

Session 13: Job and Workplace Design

· Identifying the objectives of job design;

· Exploring a framework for Job Design;

· Considering how Job Design can impact effectiveness, efficiency, motivation, health & safety;

· How to use the job characteristics model to design motivating jobs;

· Using job rotation, enlargement, enrichment and team working to improve motivation;

· Developing guidelines for job redesign;

· Considering how ergonomics impact on job design;

· Exercise: the factors that impact on employee wellbeing;

· Review of exercise;

· Exploring the impact of workplace design on employee performance and wellbeing.

Session 14: The Human Side of Operations Management

• Exploring the first Industrial Revolution and the first factories

• Identifying the insights developed as a result of the Hawthorne experiments

• Understanding the complexity of human performance

• Revisiting the purpose of Performance Appraisal

• The contributions of Industrial Psychology to management thinking

• Identifying the key to motivating people at work

• The Power of Money – A Daniel Pink Video

• Exploring alternative approaches to leading people, effectively

• Considering the impact of target setting on individual performance

• How to measure culture, commitment, competence and productivity of the operations team.

End of course.