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Articles & Books From Edward J. Anderson
Article / Updated 10-06-2022
Material requirements planning (MRP) led to the development of enterprise resource planning (ERP). As the name implies, ERP integrates an entire company into one information system that operates on real-time data it receives from throughout the organization. The shared database ensures that every location and department can access the most reliable and up-to-date information.
Cheat Sheet / Updated 02-17-2022
In business, operations management is the development, execution, and maintenance of effective processes — whether used continuously for the production and delivery of goods or services or for the one-time execution of a major project. Some mathematical formulas come in handy to keep business operations running as smoothly as possible, from managing inventory to estimating the time and cost of a special project.
The plain language guide to getting things running smoothly in the world of business Operations management is all about efficiency, and Operations Management For Dummies is all about efficiently teaching you what you need to know about this business hot topic. This book tracks typical operations management MBA courses, and it will help you un-muddle concepts like process mapping, bottlenecks, Lean Production, and supply chain management.
Article / Updated 09-27-2021
Managing inventory is an important way for a business to manage variations in demand. Inventory can provide a means to manage demand fluctuation so that process capacity and resource utilization are kept steady and used most efficiently.Of course, maintaining an inventory isn't cost-free or risk-free, because inventory represents tied-up cash and storage costs and comes with the risk that the inventory will spoil or become obsolete.
Article / Updated 04-11-2017
In many organizations, managers need to be aware of resources that perform more than one operation in a process or are shared across processes. For example, a receptionist in a doctor’s office not only greets patients but also collects payment and schedules future appointments.
Similarly, a product designer may design more than one type of merchandise in a given time period for different brands.
Article / Updated 04-11-2017
Unlike processes, you don’t perform projects over and over again; they’re usually one-time efforts. The metrics of success for any operations management project depends on the objectives that the project is intended to meet. Yet many project leaders spend too little time before launching a project figuring out what they want to achieve.
Article / Updated 04-10-2017
The transfer batch size refers to the number of units in operations management that move as a group from operation to operation. On a process map, the transfer action is represented as an operation even though it doesn’t add value to the end product because the step is necessary for the parts to move through the process.
Article / Updated 04-10-2017
No simple standard equation exists to tell you how much capacity you need — right now or in the future — or when exactly your operations management should add capacity. Determining the correct capacity level for your business at any given time to satisfy customer demand takes a great deal of assessment and careful consideration because demand fluctuates, and adding capacity takes time and money.
Article / Updated 04-10-2017
Though every operation manager’s dream is to have unlimited demand for her product or service, many businesses have more than enough capacity; customer demand is the actual bottleneck. In this case, an internal bottleneck no longer exists. Until you can increase the demand, there are some concrete things you can do to reduce your process expenses.
Article / Updated 04-10-2017
Few things are more disruptive to operations management than poor quality. Poor quality has a negative impact on all your process metrics. You will need to know how to manage your process given the current quality levels.
Poor quality wastes resources in three ways:
By producing the bad part in the first place
By having to “fix” the bad part (often called rework)
By having to find bad parts before they progress in the process or, in the worst case, before they’re sold to a customer
When you find defects in a product, you can either fix what’s wrong or scrap the product.