Operations Management

Operations management is about the direction and control of the processes that transform input into finished goods and services. It involves the responsibility of ensuring that business operations are efficient in terms of using as little resources as needed, and effective in terms of meeting customer requirements. It considers the acquisition, development, and utilization of resources that firms need to deliver the goods and services their clients want. Consistent with a managerial perspective and approach, both application and derivation of models will be emphasized. The course thus strives to provide a balance between a qualitative approach and an analytical, applications-oriented, approach. In that spirit, both the strategic and the tactical dimensions of operations management will be addressed. The lectures and the case aim to provide the student with language, concepts, insights and tools to deal with these issues. 

In this course several relevant topics are discussed.

• The manufacturing process
• Quality Management
• Forecasting
• Inventory Management
• Productivity and Optimisation
• Lean Manufacturing