By Kate Eby | May 25, 2017 (updated March 3, 2023)
The term operations management encompasses planning, implementing, and supervising the production of goods or services. Operations managers have responsibilities in both strategy and day-to-day production, in either manufacturing or services. Sometimes called production management, the field is cross-functional, tying in with other departments such as sales, marketing, and finance. It’s involved in product or service creation, development, production, and distribution. In effect, it connects dots along the value chain.
Technology, ever changing, plays a key role in springboarding constant advancements in operations management (OM). That’s truer now than ever before thanks to budding advancements like self-maintaining smart machines (for production) and drones (for distribution). Companies that use technology well can thrive, and those that don’t may not survive.
“The future of operations management is going to involve increasing automation to the point that we will hardly recognize the way new organizations function,’’ says Iris Tsidon, Co-Founder and CEO of Okapi Vision, a cloud-based key performance indicator (KPI) platform.
This article will provide an overview of operations management: its history, importance, functions, strategies, principles, and types of production. You’ll also hear from seven operations management professionals about tips, challenges, trends, and the future.
