Operations Management

Operations management focuses on carefully managing the processes to

produce and distribute products and services. Usually, small businesses don't
talk about "operations management", but they carry out the activities that
management schools typically associate with the phrase "operations
management." Major, overall activities often include product creation,
development, production and distribution. (These activities are also associated
with Product and Service Management. However product management is usually
in regard to one or more closely related product -- that is, a product line.
Operations management is in regard to all operations within the organization.)
Related activities include managing purchases, inventory control, quality control,
storage, logistics and evaluations. A great deal of focus is on efficiency and
effectiveness of processes. Therefore, operations management often includes
substantial measurement and analysis of internal processes. Ultimately, the
nature of how operations management is carried out in an organization depends
very much on the nature of products or services in the organization, for example,
retail, manufacturing, wholesale, etc.

Origins

The origins of operations management can be traced back through cultural

changes of the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries, including the Industrial Revolution,
the development ofinterchangeable manufacture, the Waltham-Lowell system,
the American system of manufacturing, scientific management , the development
of assembly line practice and mass production, and the Toyota Production
System. Combined, these ideas allowed for the standardization and continuous
improvement of production processes. Key features of these early production
systems were the departure from skilled craftsmen to a more thorough division of
labor and the transfer of knowledge from within the minds of skilled, experienced
workers into the equipment, documentation, and systems.
There are scores of people who can be viewed as thought leaders whose life's
work laid the foundations for operations management (only some of which have
name recognition among the general population). A very cursory list would
include (in approximate chronological order) Adam Smith, Jean-Baptiste
Vaquette de Gribeauval, Louis de Tousard, Honoré Blanc, Eli Whitney, John H.
Hall, Simeon North, Frederick Winslow Taylor, Henry Gantt, Henry Ford, Sakichi
Toyoda, Alfred Sloan, Frank and Lillian Gilbreth, Tex Thornton and his Whiz Kids
team, and W. Edwards Deming and the developers of the Toyota Production
System (Taiichi Ohno, Shigeo Shingo, Eiji Toyoda, Kiichiro Toyoda, and others).
Whereas some influences place primary importance on the equipment and too
often viewed people as recalcitrant impediments to systems (e.g., Taylor and
Ford), over time the need to view production operations as sociotechnical
systems, duly considering both humans and machines, was increasingly
appreciated and addressed.
Operations research as a subdiscipline gained prominence during World War II,
when mathematicians applied analytical tools to optimize operational questions,
initially with a military context, and later also within general operations.
Historically, the body of knowledge stemming from industrial engineering formed
the basis of the first MBA programs, and is central to operations management as
used across diverse business sectors, industry, consulting and non-profit
organizations

Organizations
The following organizations support and promote operations management:
 The Association for Operations Management (APICS) which supports the
Production and Inventory Management Journal
 European Operations Management Association (EurOMA) which supports
the International Journal of Operations & Production Management
 Production and Operations Management Society (POMS) which supports
the journal: Production and Operations Management
 Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences
(INFORMS)
 Institute of Operations Management (UK)
 The Association of Technology, Management, and Applied Engineering
(ATMAE)

Mobile Phone Manufacturing Process

Concept and Prototyping

1. All cell phone manufacturer's start the process in the conceptual phase.
Several sketches and wireframes are created using different designs, features,
and interface options, such as keypad only and touchscreen. These sketches
also determine the phone's weight, scale, size and portability. Because the goal
of most phones is to be compact and portable, this phase is the most intensive.
During this process, a team decides what designs will become prototypes. Once
a list is determined, several prototypes are created. These models are usually
non-functional and only for visual purposes. Prototypes are constructed from
plastic, Styrofoam and other re-usable materials. Once a final design is created,
the concept is pushed to engineers, who decide what electronics are necessary.
Parts and Software

2. The key part of every cell phone is its electronics. The electronics control
everything from the way the phone displays information, places calls, sends
location information and more. Depending on the features determined during the
conceptual phase, different electronics can be used. For most cell phones, there
are three key components: a printed circuit that controls the keypad and signal
reception, a battery, and screen. In addition to the hardware, software is also
required for the phone to operate. Almost all cell phone manufacturer's use
proprietary software for their phones. The software is designed by a series of
programmers that develop the design of the interface, the phone's
basic/advanced operations, and other features. By default, most modern cell
phones are programmed with basic features like text messaging, calendar and
clock. After these components and software are determined, the phone moves
on to final construction.
Construction and Fabrication

3. Each piece of the cell phone is created separately. First, the casing for the
phone is made. Most cell phones use a simple plastic that is created using a
process known as injection molding. Once the casing is created, the printed
circuit board is made and loaded with the necessary software/operating system.
The circuit board is then placed in the casing, using a series of eyeglass screws.
Next, the other components of the phone are added: screen, keypad, antenna,
microphone and speaker. After the phone is constructed, it is moved on to
testing. During the testing phase, the battery for the phone is added and a worker
checks the phone for power, button functionality and reception. Finally, the
necessary documentation for the phone is produced and sent to be packaged
with the phone. Once all of these components are verified, the phone is
packaged and shipped to retail outlets.

Mobile Design Pattern: Application Layout

Each application user-interface (UI) consists of composite elements like banners,

buttons, icons, backgrounds, etc. Despite of existence of many attractive and
enhanced user interfaces, it is recommended to choose an optimum UI design
for the application taking into consideration both – Performance as well as User
experience (UX) delivered by the application.
This article focuses on choosing an optimum application layout for mobile
applications by giving an example of a non-conventional template layout.
Layout Design
Choosing a layout for the applications involves deciding the type of components
to be used. For example, an application could use tabbed view or it could use a
horizontal navigation scrollbar (at the bottom), as shown in the figure. However,
using either of them involves the user to navigate to other screen by pressing
left-right arrow keys.
Further, layout also involves designing placement of various components and
maintaining appropriate spacing between them. Considering the desired
performance of the application – the types of components should be selected.
Following are two layouts, one of which is heavier than the other (in terms of
size)
The heavy layout uses a banner which is more appealing, colorful and attractive
(as a result is larger in size, as well). The performance optimized light weight
layout on the other hand uses a nearly half sized simpler banner with fewer
graphic, as shown below.

Creating a button requires designing skills; however a developer could just make
a usable and attractive button, as illustrated below.

The icon and the button text are centred within the basic shape of the button. It
becomes important to distinguish between a selected button and a unselected
button. The shadow effect, indicating depth in graphics, could be used to indicate
focus on the selected button in this case. Game menus using buttons use heavy
graphics to make the button more attractive; also employing sound effects while
the user changes focus from one button to another.

A background image could be used if the size of the layout is not a big
consideration. An attractive background enhances the UX of the end-users. Also,
a transparent background could be used where the background of the current
theme is used as background for the application.
If the layout includes text, custom fonts could be used. The optimum custom
fonts suiting the layout could be thin, light, bold, italic, heavy, etc. depending on
the target audience for the application. Slope of the fonts and size could be
exploited to give a unique effect.

eSOMS Suite: Mobile Esoms

Eliminate the Need to Collect Information on Paper that Has to Be Re-entered at

the Desktop
Mobile eSOMS is the solution for plant operations management data collection
and analysis needs in a mobile environment. Mobile eSOMS provides the
software tools which not only eliminate the need for paper-based procedures,
tagout, rounds, and log sheets in the field, but bring about a whole new level of
power and flexibility to plant operators.

Mobile eSOMS can significantly streamline business processes by:

Improving Mobile Worker Productivity

• Capturing data at the point-of-performance, the time-consuming

paperwork and data entry cycle is eliminated.
• Expanding the range and type of data available to be captured in the field
to include text, audio, and graphics (still or motion pictures)
• Delivering critical information in the field not possible in a paper-based
system, the mobile worker can make better informed decisions.
Ensuring Compliance
• Application logic enforces internal procedures and external regulatory
requirements while maintaining flexibility for the mobile worker.
• Leveraging bar coding and other auto-identification technologies to ensure
mobile worker accuracy and compliance.
Providing More Timely Information to the Enterprise
Allowing managers to track field activities more closely and to make better
informed decisions.

Mobile eSOMS is available with the following:

Configuration Control - automates procedure and deviation record performance
in the field – provides equipment, procedure and deviation record detail while
capturing equipment configuration and personnel performance information
Clearance – automates tagout hang and release performance in the field –
provides equipment, tagout and section detail while capturing tag, equipment
configuration and personnel performance information
Operator Rounds – automates rounds performance and analysis in the field -
provides round and record detail, computational analysis, and historical trending
while capturing readings, notes, multi-media files, and personnel performance
information
Narrative Logs - automates log access and entry in the field - provides access
to log entry templates and log entry detail while capturing personnel performance
information
Equipment Database – automates equipment data access and collection in the
field – provides access to data normally available only at the desktop or the
capability to collect data as part of a plant walk-down
Mobile eSOMS supports both conventional and wireless mobile networking
environments.

eSOMS Suite: The Leading Plant Operations Software Solution

Overview
Managing complex plant operations demands a comprehensive, integrated
software system that not only optimizes performance, but can be implemented
quickly and adapted to plant-specific procedures and processes.
For over two decades, Ventyx has been at the forefront of the development and
successful implementation of operations management information systems for
the chemical, electric power, marine, military, petro-chemical, and pulp & paper
industries. Drawing on its experience in the operations management automation
area, Ventyx developed the Shift Operations Management System (eSOMS).
A mission-critical application suite, eSOMS users rely on the suite to ensure the
safe, efficient, and reliable operation and maintenance of their facility assets.

eSOMS Plant Operations Software Benefits

eSOMS is designed to provide a consistent, organized, and integrated approach
to those activities which affect equipment configuration, system status, and
hence plant operation. This means that your facility will benefit from:
• Enhanced Efficiency, Productivity, and Safety – Users have reported
significant, measurable gains in efficiency and productivity in operations tasks
automated by eSOMS.
• Reduced Time & Costs of Operations Activities - Taking advantage of
electronic tag sharing in the eSOMS Clearance module, a military customer
realized a 94% decrease in the total number of tags required to be processed
during a 14-month major asset overhaul, saving an estimated $4-6 million in
man-hours alone. Similarly, commercial power plant customers have shaved up
to a week off the duration of major plant outages as a direct result of eSOMS
implementations. Estimates of replacement power costs alone saved by bringing
a major power plant back on-line a week early range from $3-5 million. Mobile
eSOMS is the solution for plant operations management data collection and
analysis needs in a mobile environment.
• Consistent & Compliant Processes – An international petrochemical
manufacturer was able to create and better manage a consistent framework for
operations routine duties across its fleet of production facilities using eSOMS.
Nuclear power plant operators rely on eSOMS to implement a consistent
methodology for generating and maintaining staffing requirements and schedules
in compliance with complex regulatory work limits, thereby preventing costly
regulatory fines.
• Nuclear Fatigue Rule Compliance – As a nuclear power plant in the
United States, compliance to NRC's 10CFR 26, Nuclear Fatigue Rule is made
easy when using eSOMS. The eSOMS Personnel Qualification & Scheduling
module provides a forward looking scheduling tool showing current and future
infractions of the NFR rule so the scheduler can make the appropriate changes
to ensure compliance.

The eSOMs solution follows the NRC directive by not only providing nuclear
power plants with the tool to help manage workers scheduled to avoid fatigue,
but also providing the ability to track corrective actions and create the FFD
(fitness for duty report).
• Easier Access to Information and Record Keeping – As an enterprise
solution, critical information in eSOMS is just a few mouse clicks away. eSOMS
Narrative Logs has become a fixture on the desktop of many plant managers as
a tool to track the current operating status of the plant and to disseminate
directives such as standing orders.
eSOMS reports are Crystal Reports® compatible, allowing you to customize the
standard reports or create your own. eSOMS AutoPrint generates Adobe
Acrobat® files of critical operations documents (procedures, tagouts, rounds,
logs) and automatically transmits them to third-party electronic document
management systems eliminating much of the document control administrative
burden.

A Nokia Phone

In its nine (soon to be 10) factories around the world, mobile-phone giant Nokia
will churn out approximately 325 million handsets this year alone. That's 10
phones per second, every hour of every day, all year long.

Nokia is one of the world's largest and most sophisticated manufacturers.

Though highly automated, the production process still involves significant human
intervention, from placing high-value components like digital camera modules by
hand, to visually inspecting and testing finished products, to packing phones in
boxes.

For strategic reasons, Nokia does virtually all this work itself, rather than farming
it out. Why? To ensure control over the process and keep costs down. The
formula seems to work. On average, it costs Nokia 69 euros ($87.63) to make a
phone, and on average it sells phones for 102 euros ($129.54), leaving a gross
margin of nearly 33%, better than its rivals can muster.

In the following slides, see how the workers at Nokia's plant in Salo, Finland,
make a phone, from raw materials to finished goods.

The Stock Room

Parts pour into Nokia factories by the hundreds of millions every day. The
company sources virtually all its components from outside suppliers: everything
from memory chips and microprocessors to liquid-crystal displays, keypads, and
plastic cases. On arrival at the loading dock, the parts are shuttled off on forklifts
and cranes to gigantic storage areas, from which they're later fetched as needed
for production

Preparing a Production Run

The first step in making a Nokia phone is to gather up all the needed parts. Most
electronic components, from resisters and capacitors to highly-integrated circuits,
are delivered by suppliers on reels of tape, protected in circular plastic cases.
The Foundation: A Printed Circuit Board
At the heart of every Nokia phone is a slender strip of plastic covered with a
latticework of basic circuits and settings for the installation of chips and other
electronic components. Here, printed circuit boards enter the paste printing
machine, which lays down a patterned layer of solder paste, made from a tin-
copper-silver alloy. The paste is later melted in an oven to bind electronic
components to the board.

Providing the Parts

Reels of components are loaded onto spindles. From there, they feed into
automated "pick-and-place machines" that grab individual parts off the tape and
lay them precisely onto the printed circuit boards. Nokia uses mostly "surface
mount" components that lie flat on the board.

Laying Down the Basics

Circuit boards travel down a belt from one pick-and-place machine to the next,
and by the time they reach the end of the line, all the basic components have
been installed. After the parts are in place, the boards go to an oven for seven
minutes, where the solder paste is melted and the parts become firmly attached.
Testing and Configuring
The first quality test takes place after the basic components have been installed.
The boards are advanced automatically on tracks into the "flash and alignment"
stage, where basic software is first installed into programmable components.

Does It Pass Muster?

A robotic arm lifts the board off the track and puts it into a bay. There, the chips
on the board are configured with low-level settings, such as what power level the
phone will operate on. Then, a series of electronic tests are administered to
ensure that the circuit board is perfect, all the parts work, and that they have
been correctly installed.
Time for the Delicate Stuff
At this stage, the hand work begins. Here, a worker plucks digital camera
modules from a reel and installs them with tweezers onto assembled, tested,
printed circuit boards. The expensive and fragile liquid-crystal display screens
are also added by hand.

Putting It All Together

A nearby worker performs another essential task by hand: sandwiching the
completed printed circuit board between front and back structural frames, later
adding the outside covers.
Adding a Personality
The last step in the production turns a generic phone into one customized to the
exacting specifications of mobile-phone users around the world. Each handset is
put into a cradle, where it is given a unique serial number, known as its IMEI
code.

Then, depending on who the customer is, a unique batch of software code is
pumped into the phone. Vodafone will specify one set of menus and features, as
well as a Vodafone logo on the opening screen, while Cingular will require a
different appearance and capabilities.

Finally, the phone and installed software undergo a battery of diagnostic tests.
From this point forward, the IMEI code links each individual phone to its intended
customer.

Better Than Machine Vision

It seems quaint after all the high-tech assembly and testing, but before every
Nokia phone goes into a box, it's inspected one last time by an unmatched
resource: the human eye. Only a tiny fraction of phones fail this final test. Then,
before being packed, the phone is de-ionized to remove dust and electrical
charge from the surface.
Ready for Retail
Phones are packed into retail boxes by hand, with appropriate documentation
and accessories, and then logged into a tracking system using a bar-code
reader.

Packing and Shipping

Batches of phones headed for the same destination are packed into boxes and
stored on palettes. Each palette contains hundreds of customized phones
intended for specific mobile operators.
Away They Go
Palettes are loaded into tractor-trailers on the loading dock, and trucks head out
to the airport, the port, or overland to deliver Nokia phones to carriers and
retailers around the world. Many phones from Salo go to the port in nearby
Turku, but some are flown from Helsinki, depending on the urgency of the
delivery.