1. sixth editionOperatiOns ManageMentNigel SlackStuart ChambersRobert JohnstonACCESSCODE INSIDEunlock valuableonline learningresources

2. Welcome toOPERATIONS MANAGEMENTOperations Management is important, exciting, challenging, and everywhere yourlook!Important, because its concerned with creating all of the products and services uponwhich we depend. Exciting, because its at the centre of so many of the changes affectingthe world of business. Challenging, because the solutions that we find need to workglobally and responsibly within society and the environment. And everywhere, becauseevery service and product that you use the cereal you eat at breakfast, the chair you siton, and the radio station you listen to while you eat is the result of an operation orprocess.Our aim in writing Operations Management is to give you a comprehensive understandingof the issues and techniques of operations management, and to help you get a great finalresult in your course. Heres how you might make the most of the text: Get ahead with the latest developments from the up-to-the-minute Operations inpractice features in every chapter to the focus on corporate social responsibility in thefinal chapter these put you at the cutting edge. Use the Worked examples and Problems and applications to improve your use of keyquantitative and qualitative techniques, and work your way to better grades in yourassignments and exams. Follow up on the recommended readings at the end of each chapter. Theyre speciallyselected to enhance your learning and give you an edge in your course work.And in particular, look out for the references toMyOMLab in the text, and log on towww.myomlab.com* where you can check and reinforce your understanding of key concepts using self-assessmentquestions, audio summaries, animations video clips and more; practice your problem-solving with feedback, guided solutions and a limitless supply ofquestions!We want Operations Management to give you what you need: a comprehensive view of thesubject, an ambition to put that into practice, and of course success in yourstudies. So, read on and good luck!Nigel SlackStuart ChambersRobert Johnston* P.S. In order to log in to MyOMLab, youll need to register with the access code included with allnew copies of the book. 3. Further reading in Operations ManagementTake your study and interest in operations management further with these leadingtextbooks written by the same team of expert authors. 4. OPERATIONS MANAGEMENTSixth EditionNigel SlackStuart ChambersRobert Johnston 5. Pearson Education LimitedEdinburgh GateHarlowEssex CM20 2JEEnglandand Associated Companies throughout the worldVisit us on the World Wide Web at:www.pearsoned.co.ukFirst published under the Pitman Publishing imprint 1995Second edition (Pitman Publishing) 1998Third edition 2001Fourth edition 2004Fifth edition 2007Sixth edition 2010 Nigel Slack, Stuart Chambers, Christine Harland, Alan Harrison, Robert Johnston 1995, 1998 Nigel Slack, Stuart Chambers, and Robert Johnston 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010The rights of Nigel Slack, Stuart Chambers, and Robert Johnston to be identified as authorsof this work have been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs andPatents Act 1988.All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,recording or otherwise, without either the prior written permission of the publisher or alicence permitting restricted copying in the United Kingdom issued by the CopyrightLicensing Agency Ltd, Saffron House, 610 Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.All trademarks used herein are the property of their respective owners. The use of anytrademark in this text does not vest in the author or publisher any trademark ownershiprights in such trademarks, nor does the use of such trademarks imply any affiliation withor endorsement of this book by such owners.ISBN: 978-0-273-73046-0British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication DataA catalogue record for this book is available from the British LibraryLibrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataSlack, Nigel.Operations management / Nigel Slack, Stuart Chambers, Robert Johnston. 6th ed.p. cm.ISBN 978-0-273-73046-0 (pbk.)1. Production management. I. Chambers, Stuart. II. Johnston, Robert, 1953 III. Title.TS155.S562 2010658.5dc2210 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 114 13 12 11 10Typeset in 10/12pt Minion by 35Printed and bound by Rotolito Lombarda, ItalyThe publishers policy is to use paper manufactured from sustainable forests. 6. Brief contentsGuide to operations in practice,examples, short cases andcase studies xiMaking the most of this bookand MyOMLab xivPreface xviiiTo the Instructor xxTo the Student xxiTen steps to getting a better grade inoperations management xxiiAbout the authors xxiiiAcknowledgements xxivPart OneINTRODUCTION 11 Operations management 22 Operations performance 323 Operations strategy 60Part TwoDESIGN 854 Process design 865 The design of products and services 1126 Supply network design 138Supplement to Chapter 6 Forecasting 1687 Layout and flow 1778 Process technology 2069 People, jobs and organization 233Supplement to Chapter 9 Work study 259Part ThreePLANNING AND CONTROL 26710 The nature of planning and control 26811 Capacity planning and control 297Supplement to Chapter 11 Analyticalqueuing models 33312 Inventory planning and control 34013 Supply chain planning and control 37314 Enterprise resource planning (ERP) 406Supplement to Chapter 14 Materialsrequirements planning (MRP) 42215 Lean synchronization 42916 Project planning and control 45717 Quality management 495Supplement to Chapter 17 Statisticalprocess control (SPC) 520Part FourIMPROVEMENT 53918 Operations improvement 54019 Risk management 57120 Organizing for improvement 601Part FiveCORPORATE SOCIALRESPONSIBILITY 63121 Operations and corporate socialresponsibility (CSR) 632Notes on chapters 652Glossary 658Index 670 7. ContentsGuide to operations in practice, examples,short cases and case studies xiMaking the most of this book and MyOMLab xivPreface xviiiTo the Instructor xxTo the Student xxiTen steps to getting a better grade inoperations management xxiiAbout the authors xxiiiAcknowledgements xxivPart OneINTRODUCTION 1Chapter 1Operations management 2Introduction 2What is operations management? 4Operations management is important inall types of organization 6The inputtransformationoutput process 11The process hierarchy 15Operations processes have differentcharacteristics 19The activities of operations management 23Summary answers to key questions 25Case study: Design house partnerships atConcept Design Services 27Problems and applications 30Selected further reading 30Useful web sites 31Chapter 2Operations performance 32Introduction 32Operations performance is vital for anyorganization 34The quality objective 40The speed objective 42The dependability objective 44The flexibility objective 46The cost objective 48Trade-offs between performance objectives 54Summary answers to key questions 56Case study: Operations objectives atthe Penang Mutiara 57Problems and applications 58Selected further reading 59Useful web sites 59Chapter 3Operations strategy 60Introduction 60What is strategy and what is operations strategy? 62The top-down and bottom-up perspectives 65The market requirements and operationsresources perspectives 68The process of operations strategy 75Summary answers to key questions 79Case study: Long Ridge Gliding Club 80Problems and applications 81Selected further reading 82Useful web sites 82Part TwoDESIGN 85Chapter 4Process design 86Introduction 86What is process design? 87What effects should process design have? 88Process types the volumevariety effect onprocess design 91Detailed process design 96Summary answers to key questions 108Case study: The Central Evaluation Unit 109Problems and applications 110Selected further reading 111Useful web sites 111Chapter 5The design of products and services 112Introduction 112Why is good design so important? 114The benefits of interactive design 129Summary answers to key questions 134Case study: Chatsworth the adventureplayground decision 135Problems and applications 136Selected further reading 137Useful web sites 137 8. viii ContentsChapter 6Supply network design 138Introduction 138The supply network perspective 140Configuring the supply network 142The location of capacity 146Long-term capacity management 155Summary answers to key questions 161Case study: Disneyland Resort Paris (abridged) 162Problems and applications 166Selected further reading 167Useful web sites 167Supplement to Chapter 6Forecasting 168Introduction 168Forecasting knowing the options 168In essence forecasting is simple 169Approaches to forecasting 170Selected further reading 176Chapter 7Layout and flow 177Introduction 177What is layout? 179The basic layout types 180What type of layout should an operationchoose? 187Detailed design of the layout 189Summary answers to key questions 202Case study: Weldon Hand Tools 203Problems and applications 204Selected further reading 205Useful web sites 205Chapter 8Process technology 206Introduction 206What is process technology? 208Understanding process technologies 209Evaluating process technologies 221Implementing process technologies 227Summary answers to key questions 229Case study: Rochem Ltd 230Problems and applications 232Selected further reading 232Useful web sites 232Chapter 9People, jobs and organization 233Introduction 233People in operations 235Human resource strategy 236Organization design 238Job design 241Summary answers to key questions 255Case study: Service Adhesives tries again 256Problems and applications 257Selected further reading 258Useful web sites 258Supplement to Chapter 9Work study 259Introduction 259Method study in job design 259Work measurement in job design 262Part ThreePLANNING AND CONTROL 267Chapter 10The nature of planning and control 268Introduction 268What is planning and control? 270Supply and demand affect planning and control 272Planning and control activities 277Summary answers to key questions 293Case study: Air traffic control a world-classjuggling act 294Problems and applications 295Selected further reading 296Useful web sites 296Chapter 11Capacity planning and control 297Introduction 297What is capacity management? 299Measuring demand and capacity 301The alternative capacity plans 309Choosing a capacity planning and controlapproach 317Capacity planning as a queuing problem 322Summary answers to key questions 327Case study: Holly Farm 328Problems and applications 331Selected further reading 332Useful web sites 332Supplement to Chapter 11Analytical queuing models 333Introduction 333Notation 333Variability 334Incorporating Littles law 335Types of queuing system 336 9. Chapter 12Inventory planning and control 340Introduction 340What is inventory? 342Why is inventory necessary? 342Some disadvantages of holding inventory 345The volume decision how much to order 346The timing decision when to place an order 357Inventory analysis and control systems 362Summary answers to key questions 368Case study: Trans-European Plastics 369Problems and applications 371Selected further reading 371Useful web sites 372Chapter 13Supply chain planning and control 373Introduction 373What is supply chain management? 375The activities of supply chain management 377Types of relationships in supply chains 386Supply chain behaviour 391Supply chain improvement 394Summary answers to key questions 400Case study: Supplying fast fashion 401Problems and applications 404Selected further reading 405Useful web sites 405Chapter 14Enterprise resource planning (ERP) 406Introduction 406What is ERP? 408How did ERP develop? 408Implementation of ERP systems 415Summary answers to key questions 417Case study: Psycho Sports Ltd 418Problems and applications 420Selected further reading 421Useful web sites 421Supplement to Chapter 14Materials requirements planning(MRP) 422Introduction 422Master production schedule 422The bill of materials (BOM) 424Inventory records 425The MRP netting process 425MRP capacity checks 428Summary 428Contents ixChapter 15Lean synchronization 429Introduction 429What is lean synchronization? 431Eliminate waste 435Lean synchronization applied throughoutthe supply network 447Lean synchronization and other approaches 449Summary answers to key questions 452Case study: Boys and Boden (B&B) 453Problems and applications 455Selected further reading 456Useful web sites 456Chapter 16Project planning and control 457Introduction 457What is a project? 459Successful project management 461The project planning and control process 462Network planning 475Summary answers to key questions 487Case study: United Photonics Malaysia Sdn Bhd 488Problems and applications 493Selected further reading 494Useful web sites 494Chapter 17Quality management 495Introduction 495What is quality and why is it so important? 497Diagnosing quality problems 501Conformance to specification 502Total quality management (TQM) 508Summary answers to key questions 515Case study: Turnround at the Preston plant 516Problems and applications 518Selected further reading 519Useful web sites 519Supplement to Chapter 17Statistical process control (SPC) 520Introduction 520Control charts 520Variation in process quality 521Control charts for attributes 527Control chart for variables 528Process control, learning and knowledge 532Acceptance sampling 533Sampling plans 533Summary 535Selected further reading 536Useful web sites 536 10. x ContentsChapter 20Organizing for improvement 601Introduction 601Why the improvement effort needs organizing 603Linking improvements to strategy 603Information for improvement 606Improvement priorities what to start on? 612Improvement culture 617Implementing improvement 620Summary answers to key questions 624Case study: Re-inventing Singapores libraries 626Problems and applications 628Selected further reading 628Useful web sites 629Part FiveCORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY 631Chapter 21Operations and corporate socialresponsibility (CSR) 632Introduction 632What is corporate social responsibility? 633How does the wider view of corporate socialresponsibility influence operationsmanagement? 637How can operations managers analyse CSRissues? 646Summary answers to key questions 648Case study: CSR as it is presented 649Problems and applications 650Selected further reading 651Useful web sites 651Notes on chapters 652Glossary 658Index 670Part FourIMPROVEMENT 539Chapter 18Operations improvement 540Introduction 540Why improvement is so important 542Elements of improvement 542Approaches to improvement 549Improvement techniques 558Summary answers to key questions 564Case study: Geneva Constructionand Risk 565Problems and applications 569Selected further reading 570Useful web sites 570Chapter 19Risk management 571Introduction 571What is risk management? 573Assess the potential causes of and risksfrom failure 573Preventing failure occurring 586Mitigating the effects of failure 592Recovering from the effects of failure 593Summary answers to key questions 596Case study: The Chernobyl failure 597Problems and applications 599Selected further reading 600Useful web sites 600 11. Guide to operations in practice, examples,short cases and case studiesChapter Location Company/example Region Sector/activity Company sizeChapter 1 p. 3 IKEA Global Retail LargeOperations p. 8 Acme Whistles UK Manufacturing Smallmanagement p. 9 Oxfam Global Charity Largep. 14 Prt A Manger Europe/USA Retail Mediump. 21 Formule 1 Europe Hospitality Largep. 21 Mwagusi Safari Lodge Tanzania Hospitality Smallp. 27 Concept Design Services UK Design/manufacturing/ MediumdistributionChapter 2 p. 33 A tale of two terminals Dubai and UK Transport LargeOperations p. 41 Lower Hurst Farm UK Agricultural Smallperformance p. 43 Accident recovery General Healthcare Mediump. 44 Dabbawalas hit 99.9999% India General service Largedependabilityp. 47 BBC Global Media Largep. 49 Aldi Europe Retail Largep. 51 Hon Hai Precision Industry Taiwan/China Manufacturing Largep. 57 Mutiara Beach Resort, Penang Malaysia Hospitality MediumChapter 3 p. 61 Two operations strategies: Global/Europe Manufacturing service/ LargeOperations Flextronics and Ryanair transportstrategy p. 68 Giordano Asia Retail Largep. 74 Amazon what exactly is your Global Retail/business Largecore competence? servicesp. 77 Sometimes any plan is better Europe Military Largethan no planp. 80 Long Ridge Gliding Club UK Sport SmallChapter 4 p. 87 McDonalds USA Quick service LargeProcess design p. 90 Daimler-Chrysler, Smart car France Auto manufacturing Largep. 107 Heathrow UK Transport Largep. 109 The Central Evaluation Unit Belgium Non-governmental Large(European Union Directorate) organizationChapter 5 p. 113 Airbus A380 Europe Aerospace LargeThe design of p. 116 Dyson Global Design/manufacturing Largeproducts and p. 120 Square water melons Japan Retail/Agriculture Variousservices p. 122 Daniel Hersheson UK Hairdressing Smallp. 125 Art Attack! UK Media Smallp. 135 Chatsworth House UK Tourism MediumChapter 6 p. 139 Dell Global Computer LargeSupply network manufacturingdesign p. 145 Hon Hai, Quanta and Compal Taiwan Computer Largemanufacturingp. 147 Tata Nano India Manufacturing Largep. 149 Tesco Thailand Retail Largep. 151 High-tech subcontracting India/China Research and Medium/largedevelopmentp. 162 Disneyland Paris France Entertainment Large 12. xii Guide to operations in practice, examples, short cases and case studiesChapter Location Company/example Region Sector/activity Company sizeChapter 7 p. 178 Tesco Global Retail LargeLayout and flow p. 180 Surgery UK Healthcare Mediump. 185 Yamaha Japan Piano manufacturing Largep. 186 Cadbury UK Entertainment and Largemanufacturingp. 203 Weldon Hand Tools UK Manufacturing LargeChapter 8 p. 207 Airlines All Airlines LargeProcess p. 210 Robots All Security Varioustechnology p. 211 Yo! Sushi UK Restaurants Mediump. 213 IBM USA Disaster recovery Largep. 218 Farming Netherlands Agriculture Mediump. 220 QB House Asia Hairdressing Mediump. 224 SVT (Sveriges Television) Sweden Media Largep. 230 Rochem Ltd UK Food processing MediumChapter 9 p. 234 W.L. Gore and Associates Global Manufacturing and LargePeople, jobs researchand p. 237 Google Global e-services Largeorganization p. 247 McDonalds UK Restaurants Largep. 250 Lloyds TSB Europe Banking Largep. 256 Service Adhesives Europe Manufacturing LargeChapter 10 p. 269 BMW dealership UK Service and repair MediumThe nature of p. 273 Air France Global Airline Largeplanning and p. 281 Accident and Emergency All Healthcare Largecontrol p. 286 Chicken salad sandwich All Food processing Large(Part 1)p. 292 Robert Wiseman Dairies UK Milk distribution Largep. 294 Air traffic control All Air travel MediumChapter 11 p. 298 Britvic Europe Distribution LargeCapacity p. 304 Seasonal products and services All Various Variousplanning p. 309 British Airways London Eye UK Tourism Mediumand control p. 310 Lettuce growing Europe Agriculture Largep. 315 Seasonal products and services UK/Global Food processing/media Largep. 317 Greetings cards All Design Largep. 326 Madame Tussauds, Amsterdam Netherlands Tourism Mediump. 328 Holly Farm UK Agriculture/ SmallentertainmentChapter 12 p. 341 UK National Blood Service UK Healthcare LargeInventory p. 348 Croft Port Europe Beverages Largeplanning and p. 356 The Howard Smith Paper Group UK Distribution service Largecontrol p. 369 Trans-European Plastic France Manufacturing LargeChapter 13 p. 374 Siemens Europe Service and LargeSupply chain manufacturingplanning and p. 379 Ford Motor Company Global Auto manufacturing Largecontrol p. 384 Levi Straus & Co Global Garment design/ Largeretailingp. 385 TDG Europe Logistics services Largep. 397 Northern Foods Europe Food services Largep. 398 Seven-Eleven Japan Japan Retail Largep. 401 H&M, Benetton and Zara Global Design/manufacturing/ Largedistribution/retail 13. Guide to operations in practice, examples, short cases and case studies xiiiChapter Location Company/example Region Sector/activity Company sizeChapter 14 p. 407 Rolls Royce Global Aerospace LargeEnterprise p. 410 SAP Global IT services LargeResource p. 411 Chicken salad sandwich All Food processing SmallPlanning (Part 2)p. 414 SAP Global IT services Largep. 417 What a waste US Waste management Largep. 418 Psycho Sports Ltd All Manufacturing SmallChapter 15 p. 430 Toyota Motor Company Global Auto manufacturing LargeLean p. 440 Hospitals UK Healthcare Medium/largesynchronizationChapter 16 p. 458 The Millau Bridge France Construction LargeProject p. 465 The National Trust UK Heritage Variousplanning p. 47 Access HK Hong Kong Charity Smalland control p. 488 United Photonics Malaysia Malaysia Research and MediumSdn Bhd developmentChapter 17 p. 496 Four Seasons Hotel Global/UK Hospitality LargeQuality p. 499 Tea and Sympathy USA Hospitality Smallmanagement p. 500 Magic Moments UK Photography services Smallp. 505 Vitacress Europe Agriculture Largep. 507 Surgical Statistics US Healthcare Variousp. 512 IBM Canada IT services Largep. 516 Rendall Graphics Canada Manufacturing MediumChapter 18 p. 541 Heineken International (Part I) Netherlands Brewery LargeImprovement p. 548 Erdington UK Beverage Largep. 556 Xchanging Europe Process outsourcing Largep. 565 Geneva Construction and Europe Insurance LargeRisk (GCR)Chapter 19 p. 572 Cadburys Salmonella outbreak Global Confectionary LargeRisk p. 575 Not what you want to hear USA Airline Largemanagement p. 577 Viruses, threats and 30 years Global Internet Variousof spamp. 592 Otis Elevators Global Facilities services Largep. 597 Chernobyl Ukraine Power generation LargeChapter 20 p. 602 Taxing Quality Denmark Public service LargeOrganizing for p. 620 Heineken International (Part II) Netherlands Brewery Largeimprovement p. 622 Work-Out at GE Global Various ?Largep. 626 Singapore Libraries Singapore ? ?Chapter 21 p. 635 Ecological footprints All All AllCorporate p. 638 HP Recycling Program Global Manufacturing Largesocial p. 642 The Gap between perception, Global Retail Largeresponsibility reality and intention(CSR) p. 649 CSR as it is presented Various Various Various 14. Making the most of this book and MyOMLabCheck your understandingEach chapter opens with a set of Key questions to identify major topics. Summary answers concludethe chapter. You can check your understanding of each chapter by taking the Sample tests ofself-assessment questions on MyOMLab at www.myomlab.com.IntroductionOperations are judged by the way they perform. There aremany individuals and groups doing the judging and thereare many different aspects of performance on which theassessment is being made. The people doing the judging arecalled stakeholders and the aspects of performance theyare using are called performance objectives. And if we wantto understand the strategic contribution of the operationsfunction, it is important to understand how we can measureits performance. So this chapter starts by illustrating howoperations performance can impact on the success of thewhole organization. Second, we look at various perspectiveson, and aspects of performance. Finally, we examine howperformance objectives trade off against each other. On ourgeneral model of operations management the topics covered inthis chapter are represented by the area marked on Figure 2.1.Chapter 2Operations performanceKey questions Why is operations performanceimportant in any organization? How does the operations functionincorporate all stakeholdersobjectives? What does top management expectfrom the operations function? What are the performanceobjectives of operations andwhat are the internal and externalbenefits which derive from excellingin each of them? How do operations performanceobjectives trade off against eachother?Figure 2.1 This chapter examines operations performanceCheck and improve your understanding of this chapter using self assessmentquestions and a personalised study plan, audio and video downloads, and aneBook all at www.myomlab.com.56 Part One IntroductionSummary answers to key questionsCheck and improve your understanding of this chapter using self assessment questionsand a personalised study plan, audio and video downloads, and an eBook all atwww.myomlab.com. Why is operations performance important in any organization? Operations management can either make or break any business. It is large and, in most busi-nesses,represents the bulk of its assets, but also because the operations function gives theability to compete by providing the ability to respond to customers and by developing thecapabilities that will keep it ahead of its competitors in the future. How does the operations function incorporate all stakeholders objectives? At a strategic level, performance objectives relate to the interests of the operations stake-holders.They relate to the companys responsibility to customers, suppliers, shareholders,employees, and society in general. What does top management expect from the operations function? Operations can contribute to the organization as a whole by: reducing the costs achieving customer satisfaction reducing the risk of operational failure reducing the amount of investment providing the basis for future innovation. What are the performance objectives of operations and what are the internaland external benefits which derive from excelling in each of them? By doing things right, operations seek to influence the quality of the companys goods andservices. Externally, quality is an important aspect of customer satisfaction or dissatisfaction.Internally, quality operations both reduce costs and increase dependability. By doing things fast, operations seek to influence the speed with which goods and servicesare delivered. Externally, speed is an important aspect of customer service. Internally, speedboth reduces inventories by decreasing internal throughput time and reduces risks by delayingthe commitment of resources. By doing things on time, operations seek to influence the dependability of the delivery of goodsand services. Externally, dependability is an important aspect of customer service. Internally,dependability within operations increases operational reliability, thus saving the time and moneythat would otherwise be taken up in solving reliability problems and also giving stability to theoperation. By changing what they do, operations seek to influence the flexibility with which the companyproduces goods and services. Externally, flexibility can: produce new products and services (product/service flexibility); produce a wide range or mix of products and services (mix flexibility); produce different quantities or volumes of products and services (volume flexibility); produce products and services at different times (delivery flexibility). 15. Making the most of this book and MyOMLab xvPractice makes perfectWorked examples show how quantitative and qualitative techniques can be used in operationsmanagement. Problems and applications at the end of the chapter allow you to apply these techniques,and you can get more practice as well as guided solutions from the Study plan on MyOMLab atwww.myomlab.com.run continuously at its maximum rate. Different products will have different coating require-ments,so the line will need to be stopped while it is changed over. Maintenance will need tobe performed on the line, which will take out further productive time. Technical schedulingdifficulties might mean further lost time. Not all of these losses are the operations managersfault; they have occurred because of the market and technical demands on the operation.The actual capacity which remains, after such losses are accounted for, is called the effectivecapacity of operation. These causes of reduction in capacity will not be the only losses inthe operation. Such factors as quality problems, machine breakdowns, absenteeism andother avoidable problems will all take their toll. This means that the actual output of the linewill be even lower than the effective capacity. The ratio of the output actually achieved byan operation to its design capacity, and the ratio of output to effective capacity are called,respectively, the utilization and the efficiency of the plant:Utilization =actual outputdesign capacityEfficiency = actual outputeffective capacity306 Part Three Planning and controlWorked exampleSuppose the photographic paper manufacturer has a coating line with a design capacity of200 square metres per minute, and the line is operated on a 24-hour day, 7 days per week(168 hours per week) basis.Design capacity is 200 60 24 7 = 2.016 million square metres per week. Therecords for a weeks production show the following lost production time:1 Product changeovers (set-ups) 20 hrs2 Regular preventative maintenance 16 hrs3 No work scheduled 8 hrs4 Quality sampling checks 8 hrs5 Shift change times 7 hrs6 Maintenance breakdown 18 hrs7 Quality failure investigation 20 hrs8 Coating material stockouts 8 hrs9 Labour shortages 6 hrs10 Waiting for paper rolls 6 hrsDuring this week the actual output was only 582,000 square metres.The first five categories of lost production occur as a consequence of reasonably unavoid-able,planned occurrences and amount to a total of 59 hours. The last five categories areunplanned, and avoidable, losses and amount to 58 hours.Measured in hours of production.Design capacity = 168 hours per weekEffective capacity = 168 59 = 109 hrsActual output = 168 59 58 = 51 hrs51 hrs168 hrsactual outputdesign capacityUtilization = = = 0.304(30%)51 hrs109 hrsactual outputeffective capacityEfficiency = = = 0.468(47%)Effective capacityUtilizationEfficiencyChapter 11 Capacity planning and control 331These problems and applications will help to improve your analysis of operations. Youcan find more practice problems as well as worked examples and guided solutions onMyOMLab at www.myomlab.com.A local government office issues hunting licences. Demand for these licences is relatively slow in the first partof the year but then increases after the middle of the year before slowing down again towards the end ofthe year. The department works a 220-day year on a 5-days-a-week basis. Between working days 0 and 100,demand is 25 per cent of demand during the peak period which lasts between day 100 and day 150. After150 demand reduces to about 12 per cent of the demand during the peak period. In total, the departmentprocesses 10,000 applications per year. The department has 2 permanent members of staff who arecapable of processing 15 licence applications per day. If an untrained temporary member of staff can onlyprocess 10 licences per day, how many temporary staff should the department recruit between days 100and 150?In the example above, if a new computer system is installed that allows experienced staff to increase theirwork rate to 20 applications per day, and untrained staff to 15 applications per day, (a) does the departmentstill need 2 permanent staff, and (b) how many temporary members of staff will be needed between days 100and 150?A field service organization repairs and maintains printing equipment for a large number of customers.It offers one level of service to all its customers and employs 30 staff. The operations marketing vice-presidenthas decided that in future the company will offer 3 standards of service, platinum, gold and silver. It isestimated that platinum-service customers will require 50 per cent more time from the companys fieldservice engineers than the current service. The current service is to be called the gold service. The silverservice is likely to require about 80 per cent of the time of the gold service. If future demand is estimatedto be 20 per cent platinum, 70 per cent gold and 10 per cent silver service, how many staff will be neededto fulfil demand?Look again at the principles which govern customers perceptions of the queuing experience. For the followingoperations, apply the principles to minimize the perceived negative effects of queuing.(a) A cinema(b) A doctors surgery(c) Waiting to board an aircraft.Consider how airlines cope with balancing capacity and demand. In particular, consider the role of yieldmanagement. Do this by visiting the web site of a low-cost airline, and for a number of flights price the farethat is being charged by the airline from tomorrow onwards. In other words, how much would it cost if youneeded to fly tomorrow, how much if you needed to fly next week, how much if you needed to fly in 2 weeks,etc. Plot the results for different flights and debate the findings.Calculate the overall equipment efficiency (OEE) of the following facilities by investigating their use.(a) A lecture theatre(b) A cinema(c) A coffee machineDiscuss whether it is worth trying to increase the OEE of these facilities and, if it is, how you would goabout it.123456Problems and applications 16. Making the most of this book and MyOMLab (continued)Analyse operations in actionThe Operations in practice and Case study features in each chapter illustrate and encourage you toanalyse operations management in action. You can see and hear more about how theory is applied inpractice in the animations and video clips in the Multimedia library in MyOMLab at www.myomlab.com.298 Part Three Planning and controlOperations in practice Britvic delivering drinks to demand1Britvic is amongst Europes leading soft-drinkmanufacturers, a major player in a market consumingnearly ten billion litres a year. Annually, Britvic bottles,distributes and sells over 1 billion litres of ready-to-drinksoft drinks in around 400 different flavours, shapes andsizes, including brands such as Pepsi, Tango, Robinsons,Aqua Libra, Purdeys and J2O. Every year, Britvicproduce enough cans of soft drinks to stretch threetimes around the world, so it has to be a high-volumeand high-speed business. Its six UK factories containfactory lines producing up to 1,500 cans a minute, withdistribution organized on a giant scale. At the centre ofits distribution network is a National Distribution Centre(NDC) located at Lutterworth, UK. It is designed tooperate 24 hours a day throughout the year, handlingup to 620 truckloads of soft drinks daily and, togetherwith a national network of 12 depots, it has to ensurethat 250,000 outlets in the UK receive their orders ontime. Designed and built in collaboration with Wincanton,a specialist supply chain solutions company, whichnow manages Britvics NDC, it is capable of holdingup to 140 million cans in its 50,000-pallet High Baywarehouse. All information, from initial order to finaldelivery, is held electronically. Loads are scanned atBritvic factories and fed into the Business Planningand Control System that creates a schedule ofreceipts. This information is then fed to the WarehouseManagement System and when hauliers arrive at theNDC, data are passed over to the Movement ControlSystem that controls the retrieval of pallets from theHigh Bay.Over the year Britvic distribute over 100 millioncases. However, the demand pattern for soft drinks isseasonal, with short-term changes caused by bothweather and marketing campaigns. Furthermore,Britvics service policy of responding whenevercustomers want them to deliver has a dramatic impacton the NDC and its capacity planning. Our busiestperiods are during the summer and in the run-up toChristmas, where we expect over 200 trailers in andout each day that equates to about 3 million casesper week. In the quiet periods, especially afterChristmas, we have less than a million cases per week(Distribution Manager).Not only is demand on the NDC seasonal in ageneral sense, it can vary from 2,000 pallets one day,to 6,000 the next, as a result of short-term weatherpatterns and variable order patterns from largecustomers (supermarkets). Given the lack of spacein the High Bay, it is not possible to simply stock upfor the busy periods, so flexibility and efficiency arethe keys to success.The NDC uses a number of methods to cope withdemand fluctuation. Most importantly is the use anddevelopment of technology both within the NDC and outin Britvics supply chain. High levels of throughput andthe ability to respond quickly to demand fluctuationsdepend on the use of integrated information technologylinked to automated High Bay handling technology.Without the automation this plant simply couldntfunction. You realize how much you need this systemwhen it breaks down! The other day, multiple errorsin the system meant that in the space of 6 hourswe went from being ahead to having 50 loads waiting tobe processed. That equates to 1,350 pallets or nearly4 million cans.Human resource management is also key in managingcapacity. Every morning the shift manager receivesorders for the day, although further orders can be placedat any time during the day. The order information allowsthe multi-skilled workforce to be allocated effectively.The daily meetings also allow any problems to beaddressed and dealt with before they become critical.Finally, by outsourcing the NDC management toWincanton, the site is able to second employees fromother Wincanton-owned sites when demand is high.Our other sites around the country have different peaksand troughs throughout the year which helps us utilizeemployee numbers.Source: WincantonChapter 1 Operations management 27Case studyDesign house partnerships at Concept Design Services6I cant believe how much we have changed in a relativelyshort time. From being an inward-looking manufacturer,we became a customer-focused design and makeoperation. Now we are an integrated service provider. Mostof our new business comes from the partnershipswe have formed with design houses. In effect, we designproducts jointly with specialist design houses that havea well-known brand, and offer them a complete serviceof manufacturing and distribution. In many ways we arenow a business-to-business company rather than abusiness-to-consumer company. (Jim Thompson, CEO,Concept Design Services (CDS))CDS had become one of Europes most profitable home-warebusinesses. Originally founded in the 1960s, the com-panyhad moved from making industrial mouldings, mainlyin the aerospace sector, and some cheap homeware itemssuch as buckets and dustpans, sold under the Focusbrand name, to making very high-quality (expensive) stylishhomewares with a high design value.The move into Concept productsThe move into higher-margin homeware had been master-mindedby Linda Fleet, CDSs Marketing Director, whohad previously worked for a large retail chain of paintand wallpaper retailers. Experience in the decorative pro-ductsindustry had taught me the importance of fashionand product development, even in mundane products suchas paint. Premium-priced colours and new textures wouldbecome popular for one or two years, supported by appro-priatepromotion and features in lifestyle magazines. Themanufacturers and retailers who created and supportedthese products were dramatically more profitable than thosewho simply provided standard ranges. Instinctively, I feltthat this must also apply to homeware. We decided todevelop a whole coordinated range of such items, and toopen up a new distribution network for them to serve up-marketstores, kitchen equipment and speciality retailers.Within a year of launching our first new range of kitchenhomeware under the Concept brand name, we had over3000 retail outlets signed up, provided with point-of-saledisplay facilities. Press coverage generated an enormousinterest which was reinforced by the product placement onseveral TV cookery and lifestyle programmes. We soondeveloped an entirely new market and within two yearsConcept products were providing over 75 per cent of ourrevenue and 90 per cent of our profits. The price realiza-tionof Concept products is many times higher than for theFocus range. To keep ahead we launched new ranges atregular intervals.The move to the design house partnershipsOver the last four years, we have been designing, manu-facturingand distributing products for some of the moreprestigious design houses. This sort of business is likelyto grow, especially in Europe where the design housesappreciate our ability to offer a full service. We can designproducts in conjunction with their own design staff andoffer them a level of manufacturing expertise they cantget elsewhere. More significantly, we can offer a distribu-tionservice which is tailored to their needs. From thecustomers point of view the distribution arrangementsappear to belong to the design house itself. In fact they arebased exclusively on our own call centre, warehouse anddistribution resources.The most successful collaboration was with Villessi, theItalian designers. Generally it was CDSs design expertisewhich was attractive to design house partners. Not onlydid CDS employ professionally respected designers, theyhad also acquired a reputation for being able to translatedifficult technical designs into manufacturable and saleable Source: Alamy/Adrian Sherratt 17. Making the most of this book and MyOMLab xviiTake a different viewCritical commentaries, together with Further reading and Useful websites at the end of each chapter,show a diversity of viewpoint and encourage you to think critically about operations management.You can find the Useful websites in the Multimedia library of MyOMLab at www.myomlab.com.Therefore, some form of communication between the bottleneck and the input to the processis needed to make sure that activities before the bottleneck do not overproduce. This is calledthe rope (see Figure 10.16).Critical commentaryThe degree of difficulty in controlling operationsThe simple monitoring control model in Figure 10.15 helps us to understand the basic func-tionsof the monitoring and control activity. But, as the critical commentary box says, it isa simplification. Some simple technology-dominated processes may approximate to it, butmany other operations do not. In fact, the specific criticisms cited in the critical commentarybox provide a useful set of questions which can be used to assess the degree of difficultyassociated with control of any operation:9 Is there consensus over what the operations objectives should be? How well can the output from the operation be measured? Are the effects of interventions into the operation predictable? Are the operations activities largely repetitive?Figure 10.17 illustrates how these four questions can form dimensions of controllability.It shows three different operations. The food processing operation is relatively straightforwardto control, while the child care service is particularly difficult. The tax advice service is some-wherein between.Chapter 10 The nature of planning and control 291Figure 10.16 The drum, buffer, rope conceptMost of the perspectives on control taken in this chapter are simplifications of a far moremessy reality. They are based on models used to understand mechanical systems such ascar engines. But anyone who has worked in real organizations knows that organizationsare not machines. They are social systems, full of complex and ambiguous interactions.Simple models such as these assume that operations objectives are always clear andagreed, yet organizations are political entities where different and often conflicting objectivescompete. Local government operations, for example, are overtly political. Furthermore,the outputs from operations are not always easily measured. A university may be able tomeasure the number and qualifications of its students, for example, but it cannot measurethe full impact of its education on their future happiness. Also, even if it is possible towork out an appropriate intervention to bring an operation back into control, mostoperations cannot perfectly predict what effect the intervention will have. Even the largestof burger bar chains does not know exactly how a new shift allocation system will affectperformance. Also, some operations never do the same thing more than once anyway.Most of the work done by construction operations is one-offs. If every output is different,how can controllers ever know what is supposed to happen? Their plans themselves aremere speculation.A private health-care clinic has been offered a leasing deal where it could lease a CAT scanner at a fixedcharge of A2,000 per month and a charge per patient of A6 per patient scanned. The clinic currently chargesA10 per patient for taking a scan. (a) At what level of demand (in number of patients per week) will the clinicbreak even on the cost of leasing the CAT scan? (b) Would a revised lease that stipulated a fixed cost ofA3,000 per week and a variable cost of A0.2 per patient be a better deal?Visit sites on the Internet that offer (legal) downloadable music using MP3 or other compression formats.Consider the music business supply chain, (a) for the recordings of a well-known popular music artist, and(b) for a less well-known (or even largely unknown) artist struggling to gain recognition. How might thetransmission of music over the Internet affect each of these artists sales? What implications does electronicmusic transmission have for record shops?Visit the web sites of companies that are in the paper manufacturing/pulp production/packaging industries.Assess the extent to which the companies you have investigated are vertically integrated in the paper supplychain that stretches from foresting through to the production of packaging materials.456Chapter 6 Supply network design 167Carmel, E. and Tjia, P. (2005) Offshoring InformationTechnology: Sourcing and Outsourcing to a Global Workforce,Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. An academic bookon outsourcing.Chopra, S. and Meindl, P. (2001) Supply Chain Management:Strategy, Planning and Operations, Prentice Hall, UpperSaddle River, NJ. A good textbook that covers both strategicand operations issues.Dell, M. (with Catherine Fredman) (1999) Direct from Dell:Strategies that Revolutionized an Industry, Harper BusinessLondon. Michael Dell explains how his supply networkstrategy (and other decisions) had such an impact on theindustry. Interesting and readable, but not a critical analysis!Schniederjans, M.J. (1998) International Facility Locationand Acquisition Analysis, Quorum Books, New York. Verymuch one for the technically minded.Vashistha, A. and Vashistha, A. (2006) The Offshore Nation:Strategies for Success in Global Outsourcing and Offshoring,McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Another topical book onoutsourcing.Selected further readingwww.locationstrategies.com Exactly what the title implies.Good industry discussion.www.cpmway.com American location selection site. You canget a flavour of how location decisions are made.www.transparency.org A leading site for international busi-ness(including location) that fights corruption.www.intel.com More details on Intels Copy Exactly strategyand other capacity strategy issues.www.opsman.org Lots of useful stuff.www.outsourcing.com Site of the Institute of Outsourcing.Some good case studies and some interesting reports, newsitems, etc.www.bath.ac.uk/crisps A centre for research in strategic pur-chasingand supply with some interesting papers.Useful web sitesNow that you have finished reading this chapter, why not visit MyOMLab atwww.myomlab.com where youll find more learning resources to help youmake the most of your studies and get a better grade? 18. PrefaceIntroductionOperations management is important. It is concernedwith creating the services and products upon which weall depend. And all organizations produce some mixtureof services and products, whether that organization islarge or small, manufacturing or service, for profit ornot for profit, public or private. Thankfully, most com-panieshave now come to understand the importanceof operations. This is because they have realized thateffective operations management gives the potential toimprove both efficiency and customer service simulta-neously.But more than this, operations management iseverywhere, it is not confined to the operations function.All managers, whether they are called Operations orMarketing or Human Resources or Finance, or what-ever,manage processes and serve customers (internalor external). This makes, at least part of their activitiesoperations.Operations management is also exciting. It is at thecentre of so many of the changes affecting the businessworld changes in customer preference, changes insupply networks brought about by internet-basedtechnologies, changes in what we want to do at work,how we want to work, where we want to work, andso on. There has rarely been a time when operationsmanagement was more topical or more at the heart ofbusiness and cultural shifts.Operations management is also challenging. Promot-ingthe creativity which will allow organizations torespond to so many changes is becoming the primetask of operations managers. It is they who must findthe solutions to technological and environmentalchallenges, the pressures to be socially responsible, theincreasing globalization of markets and the difficult-to-defineareas of knowledge management.The aim of this bookThis book provides a clear, authoritative, well structuredand interesting treatment of operations management asit applies to a variety of businesses and organizations.The text provides both a logical path through the activ-itiesof operations management and an understandingof their strategic context.More specifically, this text is: Strategic in its perspective. It is unambiguous intreating the operations function as being central tocompetitiveness. Conceptual in the way it explains the reasons whyoperations managers need to take decisions. Comprehensive in its coverage of the significant ideasand issues which are relevant to most types ofoperation. Practical in that the issues and challenges of makingoperations management decisions in practice arediscussed. The Operations in practice feature, whichstarts every chapter, the short cases that appearthrough the chapters, and the case studies at the endof each chapter, all explore the approaches takenby operations managers in practice. International in the examples which are used. Thereare over 120 descriptions of operations practice fromall over the world. Balanced in its treatment. This means we reflect thebalance of economic activity between service andmanufacturing operations. Around seventy-five percent of examples are from service organizations andtwenty-five percent from manufacturing.Who should use this book?Anyone who is interested in how services and productsare created. Undergraduates on business studies, technical orjoint degrees should find it sufficiently structured toprovide an understandable route through the subject(no prior knowledge of the area is assumed). MBA students should find that its practical discus-sionsof operations management activities enhancetheir own experience. Postgraduate students on other specialist mastersdegrees should find that it provides them with a well-groundedand, at times, critical approach to the subject.Distinctive featuresClear structureThe structure of the book uses a model of operationsmanagement which distinguishes between design, plan-ningand control, and improvement. 19. Illustrations-basedOperations management is a practical subject and cannotbe taught satisfactorily in a purely theoretical manner.Because of this we have used examples and boxed shortcases which explain some issues faced by real operations.Worked examplesOperations management is a subject that blends qualit-ativeand quantitative perspectives; worked examplesare used to demonstrate how both types of techniquecan be used.Critical commentariesNot everyone agrees about what is the best approachto the various topics and issues with operations man-agement.This is why we have included critical com-mentariesthat pose alternative views to the one beingexpressed in the main flow of the text.Summary answers to key questionsEach chapter is summarized in the form of a list of bulletpoints. These extract the essential points which answerthe key question posed at the beginning of each chapter.Preface xixCase studiesEvery chapter includes a case study suitable for classdiscussion. The cases are usually short enough to serveas illustrations, but have sufficient content also to serveas the basis of case sessions.Problems and applicationsEvery chapter includes a set of problem type exercises.These can be used to check out your understandingof the concepts illustrated in the worked examples.There are also activities that support the learningobjectives of the chapter that can be done individuallyor in groups.Selected further readingEvery chapter ends with a short list of further readingwhich takes the topics covered in the chapter further, ortreats some important related issues. The nature of eachfurther reading is also explained.Useful websitesA short list of web addresses is included in each chapterfor those who wish to take their studies further. 20. To the Instructor Teaching and learning resources for the 6th editionNew for the sixth editionWe have a regular opportunity to listen to the views ofusers of the book and are always keen to receive feedback.Our research for the 6th edition resulted in maintainingthe successful structure of previous editions and incorp-oratingthe following key changes: An even greater emphasis has been placed on the ideaof process management, making the subject morerelevant to every functional areas of the organization. A whole new chapter on Corporate Social Respons-ibility(CSR) has been added, and reflects a greateremphasis on this issue throughout the book. The Operations in Practice sections that are used tointroduce the topic at the beginning of each chapterhave been refreshed. The Worked examples have been extended to providea better balance between qualitative and quantitative-basedtechniques. Many of the cases at the end of the chapter and shortcases are new (but the old ones are still available onthe web site), and provide an up-to-date selection ofoperations issues. The Problems and Study activities sections havebeen merged. This makes each chapter morecompact. The book has been visually redesigned to aidlearning.Instructors resourcesA completely new instructors manual is available tolecturers adopting this textbook, together withPowerPoint presentations for each chapter and aTestbank of assessment questions. Visit www.pearsoned.co.uk/slack to access these.In addition a new Operations in Practice DVD isnow available. Please contact your local PearsonEducation Sales Consultant (www.pearsoned.co.uk/replocator) for further details and to request a copy.Finally, and most importantly, a new set of onlineresources to enable students to check their understand-ing,practice key techniques and improve their problem-solvingskills now accompanies the book. Please seebelow for details of MyOMLab.The key to greater understanding and better grades in Operations Management!MyOMLab for instructorsMyOMLab is designed to save you time in preparing and delivering assignments and assessments for yourcourse, and to enable your students to study independently and at their own pace. Using MyOMLab, youcan take advantage of: A wide range of engaging resources, including video, powerpoint slides and animated models with audiocommentary. Hundreds of self-assessment questions, including algorithmically-generated quantitative values whichmake for a different problem every time. A Homework feature, allowing you to assign work for your students to prepare for your next class orseminar. A Gradebook which tracks students' performance on sample tests as well as assessments of your owndesign.If you'd like to learn more or find out how MyOMLab could help you, please contact your local Pearsonsales consultant at www.pearsoned.co.uk/replocator or visit www.myomlab.com. 21. To the Student . . .Making the most of this bookAll academic textbooks in business management are, tosome extent, simplifications of the messy reality whichis actual organizational life. Any book has to separatetopics, in order to study them, which in reality areclosely related. For example, technology choice impactson job design which in turn impacts on quality control;yet we have treated these topics individually. The firsthint therefore in using this book effectively is to look outfor all the links between the individual topics. Similarlywith the sequence of topics, although the chaptersfollow a logical structure, they need not be studied inthis order. Every chapter is, more or less, self-contained.Therefore study the chapters in whatever sequence isappropriate to your course or your individual interests.But because each part has an introductory chapter,those students who wish to start with a brief overviewof the subject may wish first to study Chapters 1, 4, 10and 18 and the chapter summaries of selected chapters.The same applies to revision study the introductorychapters and summary answers to key questions.The book makes full use of the many practical exam-plesand illustrations which can be found in all opera-tions.Many of these were provided by our contacts incompanies, but many also come from journals, mag-azinesand newspapers. So if you want to understandthe importance of operations management in everydaybusiness life look for examples and illustrations of oper-ationsmanagement decisions and activities in newspapersand magazines. There are also examples which you canobserve every day. Whenever you use a shop, eat a mealin a restaurant, borrow a book from the library or rideon public transport, consider the operations managementissues of all the operations for which you are a customer.The case exercises and study activities are there toprovide an opportunity for you to think further aboutthe ideas discussed in the chapters. Study activities canbe used to test out your understanding of the specificpoints and issues discussed in the chapter and discussthem as a group, if you choose. If you cannot answerthese you should revisit the relevant parts of the chapter.The case exercises at the end of each chapter will requiresome more thought. Use the questions at the end of eachcase exercise to guide you through the logic of analysingthe issue treated in the case. When you have done thisindividually try to discuss your analysis with other coursemembers. Most important of all, every time you analyseone of the case exercises (or any other case or examplein operations management) start off your analysis withthe two fundamental questions: How is this organization trying to compete (or satisfyits strategic objectives if a not-for-profit organization)?, What can the operation do to help the organizationcompete more effectively?The key to greater understanding and better grades in Operations Management!MyOMLab for studentsMyOMLab has been developed to help students make the most of their studies in operations management.Visit the MyOMLab at www.myomlab.com to find valuable teaching and learning material including: Self-assessment questions and a personalized Study Plan to diagnose areas of strength and weakness,direct students learning, and improve results. Unlimited practice on quantitative techniques and solving problems. Audio downloads, animated models and electronic flashcards to aid exam revision. Video clips and short cases to illustrate operations management in action. 22. Ten steps to getting a better grade inoperations managementI could say that the best rule for getting a better grade isto be good. I mean really, really good! But, there areplenty of us who, while fairly good, dont get as good agrade as we really deserve. So, if you are studying oper-ationsmanagement, and you want a really good grade,try following these simple steps:Step 1 Practice, practice, practice. Use the Key questionsand the Problems and applications to check your under-standing.Use the Study plan feature in MyOMLab andpractice to master the topics which you find difficult.Step 2 Remember a few key models, and apply themwherever you can. Use the diagrams and models todescribe some of the examples that are contained withinthe chapter. You can also use the revision pod casts onMyOMLab.Step 3 Remember to use both quantitative and qualitativeanalysis. Youll get more credit for appropriately mix-ingyour methods: use a quantitative model to answer aquantitative question and vice versa, but qualify thiswith a few well chosen sentences. Both the chapters ofthe book, and the exercises on MyOMLab, incorporatequalitative and quantitative material.Step 4 Theres always a strategic objective behind anyoperational issue. Ask yourself, Would a similar oper-ationwith a different strategy do things differently?Look at the Short cases, Case studies, and Operations inpractice pieces in the book.Step 5 Research widely around the topic. Use websitesthat you trust weve listed some good websites at theend of each chapter and on MyOMLab. Youll get morecredit for using references that come from genuineacademic sources.Step 6 Use your own experience. Every day, youreexperiencing an opportunity to apply the principlesof operations management. Why is the queue at theairport check-in desk so long? What goes on behindthe hole in the wall of your banks ATM machines?Use the videos on MyOMLab to look further atoperations in practice.Step 7 Always answer the question. Think What isreally being asked here? What topic or topics does thisquestion cover? Find the relevant chapter or chapters,and search the Key questions at the beginning of eachchapter and the Summary at the end of each chapter toget you started.Step 8 Take account of the three tiers of accumulatingmarks for your answers.(a) First, demonstrate your knowledge and under-standing.Make full use of the text and MyOMLabto find out where you need to improve.(b) Second, show that you know how to illustrate andapply the topic. The Short cases, Case studies andOperations in practice sections, combined withthose on MyOMLab, give you hundreds of differentexamples.(c) Third, show that you can discuss and analyse theissues critically. Use the Critical commentarieswithin the text to understand some of the alterna-tiveviewpoints.Generally, if you can do (a) you will pass; if you can do(a) and (b) you will pass well, and if you can do allthree, you will pass with flying colours!Step 9 Remember not only what the issue is about, butalso understand why! Read the text and apply yourknowledge on MyOMLab until you really understandwhy the concepts and techniques of operations man-agementare important, and what they contribute to anorganisations success. Your new-found knowledge willstick in your memory, allow you to develop ideas, andenable you to get better grades.Step 10 Start now! Dont wait until two weeks before anassignment is due. Log on (www.myomlab.com), readon, and GOOD LUCK!Nigel Slack 23. About the authorsNigel Slack is the Professor of Operations Managementand Strategy at Warwick University. Previously he hasbeen Professor of Service Engineering at CambridgeUniversity, Professor of Manufacturing Strategy at BrunelUniversity, a University Lecturer in Management Studiesat Oxford University and Fellow in Operations Manage-mentat Templeton College, Oxford.He worked initially as an industrial apprentice in thehand-tool industry and then as a production engineerand production manager in light engineering. He holdsa Bachelors degree in Engineering and Masters andDoctors degrees in Management, and is a charteredengineer. He is the author of many books and papers inthe operations management area, including The Manu-facturingAdvantage, published by Mercury BusinessBooks, 1991, and Making Management Decisions (withSteve Cooke), 1991, published by Prentice Hall, ServiceSuperiority (with Robert Johnston), published in 1993by EUROMA and Cases in Operations Management (withRobert Johnston, Alan Harrison, Stuart Chambers andChristine Harland) third edition published by FinancialTimes Prentice Hall in 2003, The Blackwell EncyclopedicDictionary of Operations Management (with MichaelLewis) published by Blackwell in 2005, OperationsStrategy together with Michael Lewis, the second editionpublished by Financial Times Prentice Hall in 2008 andPerspectives in Operations Management (Volumes I toIV) also with Michael Lewis, published by Routledgein 2003. He has authored numerous academic papersand chapters in books. He also acts as a consultant tomany international companies around the world in manysectors, especially financial services, transport, leisureand manufacturing. His research is in the operations andmanufacturing flexibility and operations strategy areas.Stuart Chambers is a Principle Teaching Fellow atWarwick Business School, where he has been since 1988.He began his career as an undergraduate apprentice atRolls Royce Aerospace, graduating in mechanical engi-neering,and then worked in production and generalmanagement with companies including Tube Invest-mentsand the Marley Tile Company. In his mid-thirtiesand seeking a career change, he studied for an MBA, andthen took up a three-year contract as a researcher inmanufacturing strategy. This work enabled him to helpexecutives develop the analyses, concepts and practicalsolutions required for them to develop manufacturingstrategies. Several of the case studies prepared from thiswork have been published in an American textbookon manufacturing strategy. In addition to lecturing ona range of operations courses at the Business Schooland in industry, he undertakes consultancy in a diverserange of industries and is co-author of several operationsmanagement books.Robert Johnston is Professor of Operations Manage-mentat Warwick Business School and its Deputy Dean.He is the founding editor of the International Journalof Service Industry Management and he also serves onthe editorial board of the Journal of Operations Man-agementand the International Journal of Tourism andHospitality Research. He is the author of the marketleading text, Service Operations Management (withGraham Clark), now in its 3rd edition (2008), publishedby Financial Times Prentice Hall. Before moving toacademia Dr Johnston held several line managementand senior management posts in a number of serviceorganizations in both the public and private sectors.He continues to maintain close and active links withmany large and small organizations through his research,management training and consultancy activities. As aspecialist in service operations, his research interestsinclude service design, service recovery, performancemeasurement and service quality. He is the author orco-author of many books, as well as chapters in othertexts, numerous papers and case studies. 24. AcknowledgementsDuring the preparation of the fifth edition of this book,the authors conducted a number of faculty workshopsand the many useful comments from these sessions haveinfluenced this and the other books for the Warwickgroup. Our thanks go to everyone who attended thesesessions and other colleagues. We thank Pr hlstrm ofStockholm School of Economics and Alistair Brandon-Jones of Bath University for assistance well beyond thecall of duty, Alan Betts of ht2.org for case writing helpand support, and Shirley Johnston for case writing helpand support. Also, Professor Sven ke Hrte of LuleaUniversity of Technology, Eamonn Ambrose of Univer-sityCollege, Dublin, Colin Armistead of BournemouthUniversity, Ran Bhamra, Loughbrough University, RuthBoaden of Manchester Business School, Peter Burcher ofAston University, John K Christiansen of CopenhagenBusiness School, Philippa Collins of Heriot-Watt Univer-sity,Henrique Correa of Rollins College, Florida, PaulCoughlan, Trinity College Dublin, Simon Croom, Univer-sityof San Diego, Stephen Disney, Cardiff University,Doug Davies of University of Technology, Sydney, TonyDromgoole of the Irish Management Institute, Dr J.A.C.de Haan of Tilburg University, Carsten Dittrich, Univer-sityof Southern Denmark, David Evans of MiddlesexUniversity, Paul Forrester of Keele University, KeithGoffin, Cranfield University, Ian Graham of EdinburghUniversity, Alan Harle of Sunderland University,Norma Harrison of Macquarie University, CatherineHart of Loughborough Business School, Chris Hillamof Sunderland University, Ian Holden of Bristol Busi-nessSchool, Matthias Holweg, Cambridge University,Mickey Howard, Bath University, Brian Jefferies of WestHerts College, Tom Kegan of Bell College of Techno-logy,Hamilton, Denis Kehoe, Liverpool University, MikeLewis, Bath University, Peter Long of Sheffield HallamUniversity, John Maguire of the University of Sunder-land,Charles Marais of the University of Pretoria, RogerMaull, Exeter University, Bart McCarthy, NottinghamUniversity, Harvey Maylor of Cranfield University, JohnMeredith Smith of EAP, Oxford, Michael Milgate ofMacquarie University, Keith Moreton of StaffordshireUniversity, Chris Morgan, Cranfield University, AdrianMorris of Sunderland University, Steve New, OxfordUniversity, John Pal of Manchester Metropolitan Univer-sity,Peter Race of Henley College, Reading University,Ian Sadler of Victoria University, Richard Small, SupplyNetwork Solutions, Andi Smart, Exeter University, AmrikSohal of Monash University, Alex Skedd of NorthumbriaBusiness School, Martin Spring of Lancaster University,Dr Ebrahim Soltani of the University of Kent, R. Strattonof Nottingham Trent University, Dr Nelson Tang of theUniversity of Leicester, David Twigg of Sussex Univer-sity,Helen Valentine of the University of the West ofEngland, Professor Roland van Dierdonck of the Univer-sityof Ghent, Dirk Pieter van Donk of the University ofGroningen and Peter Worthington.Our academic colleagues in the Operations Manage-mentGroup at Warwick Business School also helped,both by contributing ideas and by creating a lively andstimulating work environment. Our thanks go to JannisAngelis, Nicola Burgess, Dan Chicksand, MichaelisGiannakis, Zoe Radnor, Michael Shulver, RhianSilvestro, Nick Wake, Dick Wheeler, Helen Walker,and Paul Walley. We are also grateful to many friends,colleagues and company contacts. In particular thanksfor help with this edition goes to Philip Godfrey andCormac Campbell and their expert colleagues at OEE,David Garman and Carol Burnett of The OakwoodPartnership, Clive Buesnel of Xchanging, Hans Mayerand Tyko Persson of Nestl, Peter Norris and Mark Fisherof the Royal Bank of Scotland, John Tyley of LloydsTSB, Joanne Chung of Synter BMW, Michael Purtill ofFour Seasons Hotel Group, Catherine Pyke and NickFudge of Lower Hurst Farm, Johan Linden of SVT,John Matthew of HSPG, Dan McHugh of Credit SwissFirst Boston, David Nichol of Morgan Stanley, LeighRix of The National Trust, and Simon Topman of AcmeWhistles. Mary Walton is coordinator to our groupat Warwick Business School. Her continued efforts atkeeping us organized (or as organized as we are capableof being) are always appreciated, but never more sothan when we were engaged on the book.We were lucky to receive continuing professional andfriendly assistance from a great publishing team. Especialthanks to Matthew Walker, Elizabeth Wright and ColinReed.Finally, all six editions were organized, and largelyword processed by Angela Slack. It was, yet again, anheroic effort. To Angela our thanks.Nigel SlackStuart ChambersRobert Johnston 25. Publishers acknowledgementsWe are grateful to the following for permission to reproducecopyright material:FiguresFigure 15.11 from Strategies for implemeting JIT in Just in TimeManufacture IFS/Springer-Verlag (Voss, C.A., and Harrison, A.1987) Springer; Figure 17.4 adapted from A conceptual modelof service quality and implications for future research, Journalof Marketing, vol. 49, Fall, pp. 4150 (Parasuraman, A. et al.1985), American Marketing Association.TablesTable 8.1 after E-commerce and its impact on operations man-agement,International Journal of Production Economics, 75,pp. 18597 (Gunasekaran, A., Marri, H.B., McGaughey, R.E.and Nebhwani, M.D. 2002), Elsevier; Table S9.2 adapted fromAdapted from Barnes, Frank C. (1983) Principles of MotionEconomy: Revisited, Reviewed, and Restored, Proceedingsof the Southern Management Association Annual Meeting(Atlanta, G.A. 1983), p. 298.In some instances we have been unable to trace the owners ofcopyright material, and we would appreciate any informationthat would enable us to do so.PhotographsThe publisher would like to thank the following for their kindpermission to reproduce their photographs:3 Alamy Images: Neil Cannon. 7 Alamy Images: Chris Rout(c); Golden Pixels/LLC (b). Corbis: Claudio Peri/epa (br).Getty Images: Siri Stafford (tl). Rex Features: Action Press (t).8 ACME. 9 Rex Features: Brian Rasic. 14 Alamy Images:Alex Segre. 27 Alamy Images: Adrian Sherratt. 33 AlamyImages: Craig Ingram. 34 Rex Features: Jurgen Hasenkopf.41 Alamy Images: David Hoffman Photo Library (tl); StuartPearce (b). Courtesy of Arup: (cr). Honda: (tr). Rex Features:Per Lindgren. 42 Alamy Images: David Hoffman Photo Library(cl). Rex Features: Per Lindgren (bl). 43 Corbis: BernardoBucci. 44 Alamy Images: David Hoffman Photo Library (tl).Getty Images: AFP (b). Rex Features: Per Lindgren (cl). 46 AlamyImages: David Hoffman Photo Library. Rex Features: PerLindgren (bl). 47 BBC Photo Library: Jeff Overs. 49 AlamyImages: Bildagentur-online (b); David Hoffman Photo Library(tl). Rex Features: Per Lindgren (cl). 57 Alamy Images: TimGraham. 61 Corbis: Thomas White (b); Ulrich Perrey/epa (t).68 Alamy Images: Rob Crandell. 74 Alamy Images: BernhardClassen. 87 Getty Images: AFP. 90 Getty Images. 92 Corbis:Construction Photography (cr); Heinz von Heyenaber (br).Acknowledgements xxv93 Getty Images: Burje/Triolo Productions (tr). Rex Features:Richard Jones (cr). 94 Alamy Images: Directphoto.org (t).Getty Images: David Sacks (b). 95 The Royal Bank ofScotland Group plc. 107 Alamy Images: Michael Jones.113 Rex Features: Action Press. 116 Alamy Images: AdrianSherratt. 120 Getty Images. 122 Photographers Direct: MartinKarius. 139 Corbis: Gianni Giansanti /Sygma. 145 RexFeatures: Image Source. 147 Getty Images: AFP. 151 GettyImages: AFP. 162 Corbis: Jacques Langevin. 178 Alamy Images:British Retail Photography. 186 Cadbury World: (t). Corbis:Marijan Murat/epa (b). 207 Rex Features: Action Press. 210Corbis: Yiorgos Karahalis. 211 YO! Sushi: Jonathan Roberts.213 Rex Features. 216 Rex Features. 220 PhotographersDirect: Andy Maluche. 224 SVT Bengt O Nordin. 230 PressAssociation Images: ECKEHARD SCHULZ/AP. 234 AlamyImages: Ashley Cooper. 237 Alamy Images: David Hancock.247 Corbis: Reuters. 248 Getty Images. 250 Rex Features:Voisin Phanie. 251 Getty Images: Williams & Hirakawa.269 BMW Group. 273 Getty Images: AFP. 281 AlamyImages: Ian Miles/ Flashpoint Pictures. 292 Robert WisemanDairies. 294 Courtesy of Arup. 298 Wincanton. 304 AlamyImages: Medical-on-Line. 309 British Airways. 310 Corbis:G Flayols /Photocuisine. 317 Press Association Images: OrlinWagner/AP. 341 Alamy Images: Van Hilversum. 356 HowardSmith Paper Group. 369 Alamy Images: Archive BerlinFotoagentur GmbH. 374 Alamy Images: Imagebroker. 379Getty Images: Getty Images News. 384 Corbis: Joes Luis Pelaez.385 TDG Logistics. 387 Virgin Atlantic. 398 Getty Images: AFP.402 Press Association Images: JAVA/ABACA. 407 Rolls-Royce plc. 410 Courtesy of SAP (UK) Limited. 414 AlamyImages: Bon Appetit. 417 Alamy Images: A T Willett. 418Corbis: Mark Cooper. 430 Corbis: Denis Balihoudr. 440 RexFeatures: Burger/Phanie. 458 Corbis: Jane-Philippe Arles/Reuters. 465 Alamy Images: Oleksandr Ivanchenko. 475 Imagecourtesy of Silicon Graphics, Inc. 2003 Silicon Graphics,Inc. Used. 488 Corbis: Eric K K Yu. 496 Four Seasons Hotels:Robert Miller. 499 Corbis: Eleanor Bentall. 500 AlamyImages: Les Gibbons. 505 Alamy Images: Daniel Jones. 541Getty Images. 548 Rex Features: Dan Tuffs. 556 Rex Features:Charles Knight. 572 Science Photo Library Ltd: Simon Fraser.577 Alamy Images: Imagina Photography. 592 Alamy Images:Dinodia Images. 602 Rex Features: Action Press. 622 GettyImages: Paul Vismara. 633 Rex Features: Design Pics Inc.638 Photographers Direct: Awe Inspiring Images. 642 AlamyImages: PSL Images. 649 Corbis: Ultraf.All other images Nigel Slack, Stuart Chambers and RobertJohnstonEvery effort has been made to trace the copyright holders andwe apologise in advance for any unintentional omissions. Wewould be pleased to insert the appropriate acknowledgementin any subsequent edition of this publication. 26. Key operations questionsChapter 1 Operations management What is operations management? Why is operations management important in all types of organization? What is the inputtransformationoutput process? What is the process hierarchy? How do operations processes have different characteristics? What are the activities of operations management?Chapter 2 Operations performance Why is operations performance important in any organization? How does the operations function incorporate all stakeholdersobjectives? What does top management expect from the operations function? What are the performance objectives of operations and what arethe internal and external benefits which derive from excelling ineach of them? How do operations performance objectives trade off againsteach other?Chapter 3 Operations strategy What is strategy and what is operations strategy? What is the difference between a top-down and a bottom-up viewof operations strategy? What is the difference between a market requirements and anoperations resources view of operations strategy? How can an operations strategy be put together? 27. Part OneINTRODUCTIONThis part of the book introduces the idea of the operations function in differenttypes of organization. It identifies the common set of objectives to whichoperations managers aspire in order to serve their customers, and it explainshow operations can have an important strategic role. 28. IntroductionOperations management is about how organizations producegoods and services. Everything you wear, eat, sit on, use,read or knock about on the sports field comes to you courtesyof the operations managers who organized its production.Every book you borrow from the library, every treatment youreceive at the hospital, every service you expect in the shopsand every lecture you attend at university all have beenproduced. While the people who supervised their productionmay not always be called operations managers that is what theyreally are. And that is what this book is concerned with thetasks, issues and decisions of those operations managers whohave made the services and products on which we all depend.This is an introductory chapter, so we will examine what wemean by operations management, how operations processescan be found everywhere, how they are all similar yet different,and what it is that operations managers do.Chapter 1Operations managementKey questions What is operations management? Why is operations managementimportant in all types oforganization? What is the inputtransformationoutput process? What is the process hierarchy? How do operations processes havedifferent characteristics? What are the activities of operationsmanagement?Check and improve your understanding of this chapter using self assessmentquestions and a personalised study plan, audio and video downloads, and aneBook all at www.myomlab.com. 29. Chapter 1 Operations management 3(All chapters start with an Operations in practice example that illustrates some of the issues that will be covered in the chapter.)Love it or hate it, IKEA is the most successful furnitureretailer ever. With 276 stores in 36 countries, it hasmanaged to develop its own special way of sellingfurniture. The stores layout means customers oftenspend two hours in the store far longer than in rivalfurniture retailers. IKEAs philosophy goes back tothe original business, started in the 1950s in Swedenby Ingvar Kamprad. He built a showroom on theoutskirts of Stockholm where land was cheap andsimply displayed suppliers furniture as it would bein a domestic setting. Increasing sales soon allowedIKEA to start ordering its own self-designed productsfrom local manufacturers. But it was innovation inits operations that dramatically reduced its sellingcosts. These included the idea of selling furniture asself-assembly flat packs (which reduced productionand transport costs) and its showroomwarehouseconcept which required customers to pick the furnitureup themselves from the warehouse (which reducedretailing costs). Both of these operating principles arestill the basis of IKEAs retail operations process today.Stores are designed to facilitate the smooth flowof customers, from parking, moving through the storeitself, to ordering and picking up goods. At the entranceto each store large notice-boards provide advice toshoppers. For young children, there is a supervisedchildrens play area, a small cinema, and a parent andbaby room so parents can leave their children in thesupervised play area for a time. Parents are recalled viathe loudspeaker system if the child has any problems.IKEA allow customers to make up their minds intheir own time but information points have staff whocan help. All furniture carries a ticket with a codenumber which indicates its location in the warehouse.(For larger items customers go to the information desksfor assistance.) There is also an area where smaller itemsare displayed, and can be picked directly. Customersthen pass through the warehouse where they pick upthe items viewed in the showroom. Finally, customerspay at the checkouts, where a ramped conveyor beltmoves purchases up to the checkout staff. The exitarea has service points and a loading area that allowscustomers to bring their cars from the car park andload their purchases.Behind the public face of IKEAs huge stores is acomplex worldwide network of suppliers, 1,300 directsuppliers, about 10,000 sub-suppliers, wholesale andtransport operations include 26 Distribution Centres.This supply network is vitally important to IKEA. Frompurchasing raw materials, right through to finishedproducts arriving in its customers homes, IKEA relieson close partnerships with its suppliers to achieveboth ongoing supply efficiency and new productdevelopment. However, IKEA closely controls all supplyand development activities from IKEAs home town oflmhult in Sweden.But success brings its own problems and somecustomers became increasingly frustrated withovercrowding and long waiting times. In response IKEAin the UK launched a 150 m programme to design outthe bottlenecks. The changes included: Clearly marked in-store short cuts allowing customerswho just want to visit one area, to avoid having to gothrough all the preceding areas. Express checkout tills for customers with a bag onlyrather than a trolley. Extra help staff at key points to help customers. Redesign of the car parks, making them easier tonavigate. Dropping the ban on taking trolleys out to the carparks for loading (originally implemented to stopvehicles being damaged). A new warehouse system to stop popular productlines running out during the day. More childrens play areas.IKEA spokeswoman Nicki Craddock said: We knowpeople love our products but hate our shoppingexperience. We are being told that by customersevery day, so we cant afford not to make changes.We realized a lot of people took offence at being herdedlike sheep on the long route around stores. Now if youknow what you are looking for and just want to get in,grab it and get out, you can.Operations in practice IKEA1Source: Alamy Images 30. Operations management is a vital part of IKEAssuccessIKEA shows how important operations managementis for its own success and the success of any type oforganization. Of course, IKEA understands its market andits customers. But, just as important, it knows that theway it manages the network of operations that design,produce and deliver its products and services must beright for its market. No organization can survive in thelong term if it cannot supply its customers effectively.And this is essentially what operations management isabout designing, producing and delivering productsand services that satisfy market requirements. For anybusiness, it is a vitally important activity. Consider justsome of the activities that IKEAs operations managersare involved in. Arranging the stores layout to gives smooth andeffective flow of customers (called process design) Designing stylish products that can be flat-packedefficiently (called product design) Making sure that all staff can contribute to thecompanys success (called job design) Locating stores of an appropriate size in the mosteffective place (called supply network design) Arranging for the delivery of products to stores(called supply chain management) Coping with fluctuations in demand (called capacitymanagement) Maintaining cleanliness and safety of storage area(called failure prevention) Avoiding running out of products for sale (calledinventory management) Monitoring and enhancing quality of service tocustomers (called quality management) Continually examining and improving operationspractice (called operations improvement).And these activities are only a small part of IKEAstotal operations management effort. But they do givean indication, first of how operations managementshould contribute to the businesses success, andsecond, what would happen if IKEAs operationsmanagers failed to be effective in carrying outany of its activities. Badly designed processes,inappropriate products, poor locations, disaffectedstaff, empty shelves, or forgetting the importanceof continually improving quality, could all turn apreviously successful organization into a failing one.Yet, although the relative importance of these activitieswill vary between different organizations, operationsmanagers in all organizations will be making the sametype of decision (even if what they actually decideis different).4 Part One IntroductionWhat is operations management?Operations management is the activity of managing the resources which produce and deliverproducts and services. The operations function is the part of the organization that is responsiblefor this activity. Every organization has an operations function because every organizationproduces some type of products and/or services. However, not all types of organization willnecessarily call the operations function by this name. (Note that we also use the shorter termsthe operation and operations interchangeably with the operations function). Operationsmanagers are the people who have particular responsibility for managing some, or all, of theresources which compose the operations function. Again, in some organizations the operationsmanager could be called by some other name. For example, he or she might be called thefleet manager in a distribution company, the administrative manager in a hospital, or thestore manager in a supermarket.Operations in the organizationThe operations function is central to the organization because it produces the goods andservices which are its reason for existing, but it is not the only function. It is, however, one ofthe three core functions of any organization. These are: the marketing (including sales) function which is responsible for communicating theorganizations products and services to its markets in order to generate customer requestsfor service;Operations managementOperations functionOperations managersThree core functions 31. the product/service development function which is responsible for creating new andmodified products and services in order to generate future customer requests for service; the operations function which is responsible for fulfilling customer requests for servicethrough the production and delivery of products and services.In addition, there are the support functions which enable the core functions to operateeffectively. These include, for example: the accounting and finance function which provides the information to help economicdecision-making and manages the financial resources of the organization; the human resources function which recruits and develops the organizations staff aswell as looking after their welfare.Remember that different organizations will call their various functions by different namesand will have a different set of support functions. Almost all organizations, however, willhave the three core functions, because all organizations have a fundamental need to selltheir services, satisfy their customers and create the means to satisfy customers in the future.Table 1.1 shows the activities of the three core functions for a sample of organizations.In practice, there is not always a clear division between the three core functions or betweencore and support functions. This leads to some confusion over where the boundaries of theoperations function should be drawn. In this book we use a relatively broad definition ofoperations. We treat much of the product/service development, technical and informationsystems activities and some of the human resource, marketing, and accounting and financeactivities as coming within the sphere of operations management. We view the operations func-tionas comprising all the activities necessary for the day-to-day fulfilment of customer requests.This includes sourcing products and services from suppliers and transporting products andservices to customers.Working effectively with the other parts of the organization is one of the most importantresponsibilities of operations management. It is a fundamental of modern management thatfunctional boundaries should not hinder efficient internal processes. Figure 1.1 illustrates someof the relationships between operations and some other functions in terms of the flow ofinformation between them. Although it is not comprehensive, it gives an idea of