Exotech | Operational management and capacity planning are two things that are closely related in the business world. Operational management plays a major role in the success of a company's capacity planning. Because of its important nature, the operational management function in capacity planning is also large.
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The term capacity planning is not new in the world of management. This refers to long-term strategic decisions to build company resources as a whole. Chase and Jacobs (2005), state that capacity is the ability to accommodate, receive, store and accommodate.
Why is Operational Management Important ?
The field of operational management work is broad, apart from being related to various departments in a company, operational management is also directly involved with various important activities. This field is tasked with being a liaison in every scope of production to product distribution.
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In short, operational management work focuses on the process of converting inputs into outputs. In practice, this process involves many things so that it can be said to determine the success or failure of a company. Seeing this, it can be seen how important operational management is.
In addition, here are several points that emphasize the importance of operational management, namely:
- Helping the company achieve its goals
- Helps increase work productivity
- Helps improve the company's main goals
- Helps motivate employees
What are the Objectives of Operational Management
As an important pillar of a company, operational management certainly has structured goals to ensure that the business remains stable. Some operational management objectives are:
- Increase company efficiency
- Increase company productivity
- Minimize expenses for various activities
- Improving company quality
- Control the time required for the production process to a minimum
To achieve this goal, of course an effective strategy is needed without ignoring the potential of important elements in the company. This strategy usually involves internal and external factors so that the business results can be maximized. Some strategies carried out to achieve operational management objectives are:
- Strategy content
- Designing processes
- Innovation
- Data usage
- Supply chain management
- Inventory analysis
- Production control
- Collaboration with other departments, and
- HR Management
Characteristics of Operational Management
Basically, operational management has several characteristics that differentiate it from other areas of management, namely:
- The main characteristic of operational management is its aim to produce goods and services. In applying this goal, operational management regulates and controls all production activities to generate profits.
- The second characteristic, operational management must have activities aimed at converting input into output. This activity is the core of the existence of operational management. A simple example is, input of flour to make bread and cakes, or input of cloth to make clothes.
The third characteristic is having a comprehensive control mechanism. This mechanism must be implemented in every department from start to finish. For example, in a tofu factory the task of operational management is to control the production process starting from selecting.
And purchasing raw materials, sorting what can be used, determining the production process to produce a tofu product, ensuring the quality of packaging and distribution, seeking promotions to increase profits, to ensuring that tofu production waste is managed well.
Functions of Operational Management for Business
Reading the review above will certainly lead us to the conclusion that the operational management function in capacity planning is quite important. Especially when looking at operational management objectives. It seems that several functions are needed to make it easier to achieve the goal.
In business, operational management has several functions which include planning, organizing, reviewing and supervising. This function is formulated to ensure that the main goal can be achieved, namely building an effective and profitable business.
1. Planning
The first function starts from determining the type of goods or services to be sold and when to market them. Because the planning function involves many things, experts are needed who are able to execute every program, policy and planning procedural requirements so that business operational goals are achieved.
2. Organizing
The main function of management is to organize every activity in a company. Regarding operational management, this function involves organizing all elements of management starting from Human Resources (HR), money, materials, machines, methods or ways of working, and markets.
In practice, operational management will delegate several parties, both individuals and groups, to work together in an operational system so that company goals can be achieved.
3. Reviewer
The reviewer's function includes all activities in analyzing every activity related to company operations. This function ensures that the delegation is carried out appropriately and achieves the expected goals. The operational management function as a reviewer is the company's basic effort.
The hope, of course, is to ensure that this function can lead the company to achieve its goals of building an effective business or even realizing maximum capacity planning.
4. Supervision
The final function is supervision. In operational management, this function is manifested in intense supervision of all activities and ensuring that each process goes according to plan. Again, everything is about managing, conditioning and managing.
Without a supervisory function, it is impossible for a company to progress even if it has operational management consisting of experts. Supervision is the key and benchmark that a company is professional enough to build a business effectively.