Operations Management and Supply Chain Management

Question One - Define the term "operations management".

Operations management is the management of systems or processes that convert or transform resources (inputs) into goods and services (outputs).

Question Two - Explain operations management's role in business.

Operations management's role in business is quiet an important function to ensure success, development, effectiveness and efficiency. Operations management can be used in business tasks such as forecasting future figures and trends, capacity planning for future growth, inventory management, quality assurance, the motivation and training of employees, and the location and analysis of business facilities.

Question Three - Describe the correlation between operations management and information technology.
Operations management is supported by information technology as managers use IT in the making of their operations management decisions. Questions such as what resources are needed and in what amounts, when and where work is to be scheduled, who is to perform specific duties and how it is to be conducted are all questions supported by the data/information behind information technology.

Question Four - Explain supply chain management and is role in a business.
Supply chain management (SCM) is the management of information between and among stages in a supply chain. It essentially maximises total supply chain effectiveness and profitability. SCM plays a vital role in businesses as it allows firms to know exactly where a product is in terms of the supply chain; if a resource is at a supplier or manufacturer, or if a product is in transportation or at a retailer. SCM allows businesses to be more effective with communicating information about the location of such resources between the different functional areas of a business.
Question Five - List and describe the five components of a typical supply chain.

• Plan - this is the initial stage of the supply chain, where a business drafts and plans the product or service they wish to make. It is at this stage that all components of their product/service are to be considered.
  

• Source - the second stage of the supply chain involves the finding and purchasing of materials relevant to the product a business wishes to make.
  

• Make - the third stage of the supply chain is concerned with the actual transformation of inputs into outputs.
  

• Deliver - the fourth stage of the supply chain is concerned with the delivery of finished product to retailers and customers, for on-selling or person use.
  

• Return - the final stage of the supply chain is concerned with the return of feedback from all business functions concerned with the supply chain, as a way of self evaluation and improvement.
  

Question Six - Define the relationship between information technology and the supply chain.

Information technology has positive influence upon the supply chain:

• It significantly improves forecasting and operations
• Provides companies with greater visibility over different supply chain levels
• Creates integration and linkage between the different functional areas of a business with external suppliers and transporters.
• Allows a faster response to consumer demands within the supply chain
• Can increase the competitive edge a business has through development of supply chain planning software and supply chain execution software
  

Networks and Wireless

Question One - Explain the business benefits of using wireless.

Wireless technology is the live connection users have to each other based on satellite or radio transmissions. The use of wireless technology improves business:

• As it provides universal access to information and applications
  
• Automises business processes, making redundant inefficient processes and centralising critical information
• Emphasises user convenience
• Increases the timeliness of access to information
• Provides the ability to conduct business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Question Two - Describe the business benefits associated with VoIP.

Voice over IP (VoIP) is a method by which business can use the Internet as a medium for audible communications instead of hard-wired telecommunications networks. Business benefits associated with the use of this technology include ease of communication between geographically spread business functional areas, increase of speed in communications, digital web conferencing and the minimisation of costs. Costs are dramatically reduced as companies can avoid relying upon the telecommunications industry to communicate their information in a near instantaneous form.
The most recognisable form of VoIP is the program Skype. The Beta platform is displayed above. Skype utilises VoIP to connect businesses, families and friends across the globe. With a suitable Internet connection, microphone and webcam, two parties on opposite sides of the globe can connect together and talk "face-to-face".

2009 Film Up In the Air features the introduction of VoIP as a method of making employees redundant from a company. The trailer for the film can be viewed at the following link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7k6FwXJhNk

Question Three - Compare LANs and WANs.

A Local Area Network (LAN) connect computers together that reside in a particular geographical region, usually the premises of a business that forms the LAN. LAN's are mostly based on Ethernet connections, routers, firewalls and the Internet, allowing those connected to a LAN to share data and Internet connections. Firewalls provide unauthorised access to the shared data.

A Wide Area Network (WAN) connects computers together over a wider geographical region. Whereas LANs rely upon cabled connections, WAN's rely upon the Internet and other forms of wireless technology to connect computers together. WANs are implemented, for example, in university campuses that have multiple locations in different geographical regions, and in businesses that have offices located in multiple states.

Question Four - Describe RFID and how it can be used to help make a supply chain more effective.

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is a method of tracking inventory through small, near unidentifiable tags that rely upon radio waves to transmit data. Passive RFID tags have no internal power flow, but have the ability to detect faint signals and transmit data back towards the antenna. Active RFID tags operate upon the same basis, however have an active power flow.

RFID can make a supply chain more effective as the technology can provide a low cost method of tracking a products position within the supply chain. Downstream users of the product, such as customers, can track the progress of an item through the supply chain, from manufacturer, to transporter, to supplier and to retailer to track when are where their product may be.

Question Five - Identify the advantages and disadvantages of deploying mobile technology.

Mobile technology is any form of technology that can travel with its user, however it may not provide real-time data unless connected to an Internet service. Mobile devices include phones and laptops. Advantages of deploying mobile technology include:

• Ubiquity - the pervasive nature of technology means mobile devices can be used anywhere at anytime, often at a lower cost to other alternatives.
• Convenience - users of mobile technology can access real-time data given a connection to appropriate servers
• Instant connectivity - complicated boot-up processes associated with hard-wired networks are bypassed through the use of mobile technology
• Customisation - mobile technology can be easily customised depending on location, tastes and preferences.

Disadvantages of deploying mobile technology include:

• Decrease of security - mobile devices left unattended can easily become a gateway for thieves and fraudsters to utilise, which may result in identity theft
• Synchronisation - mobile devices may often need synchronising to a main server to keep up-to-date with relevant information, which can take time
• Cost - as mobile technology is constantly being updated, it is costly to keep with the times, as mobile technology can be rendered "yesterday's news" when new products are released
• Storage and memory issues - the small, portable nature of mobile devices often leads to smaller storage options for data, which can lead to slow mobile devices once hard drives and memory disks become filled.
  

Databases and Data Warehouses

Question One - List, describe, and provide an example of each of the five characteristics of high quality information.

Accuracy - this feature refers to all information being entered accurately in reflection of the relevant collected. For example, the spelling of names correctly is an issue related to the accuracy of information.

Completeness - this characteristic refers to information being completely entered. A common example of this would the entry of addresses, and ensuring all parts of an address are entered; street number, street name and type, city, state and postcode.

Consistency - this characteristic of high quality information refers to information being in agreement with each other, in terms of both content and formatting. An example of this would be the consistent formatting of cells in a spreadsheet containing currency amounts.

Uniqueness - this refers to the duplication of singular transactions, which has the ability to misrepresent store records. An example of this would be ensuring to record a unique customer only once within a database.

Timeliness - this characteristic refers to how up-to-date information is kept, and if this is appropriate in terms of the firm’s requirements. For example, information that must be updated on a regular basis needs to be updated wither daily or hourly, a frequency of which is determined by the firm itself.

Question Two - Define the relationship between a database and a database management system.

A database is an information system that maintains information about object, events, people and places. The database management system is the system which is used when searching, or querying the database for information. The database management system also manages the database to ensure full utilisation.

Question Three - Describe the advantages an organisation can gain by using a database.

Through the use of a database, an organisation can avoid:

• Data redundancy - the storage of the same data in multiple locations, a waste of hard disk space
• Data isolation - where data from one program cannot be accessed by another
• Data inconsistency - where various copies of data do not agree, and employees are presented with the issue of having to determine which is correct.

The use of a database can also ensure that data security (keeping the data safe from theft etc.), integrity (data meeting the constraints of it’s type) and independence (the separation between data and applications) is maintained

Question Four - Define the fundamental concepts of the relational database model.

A relational database is a type of database that stores information in the form of logically related, two dimensional tables. The figure above is one such example of a relational database. The fundamental concepts are:

• Entities - a person, place, object, event or transaction about which information is stored
• Entity Classes - a collection of similar entities
• Attributes - characteristics or properties of an entity class
• Keys - keys within a relational database are divided into two main formats. A primary key is a field that uniquely identifies a given entity in a database table. A foreign key is the primary key of one table that appears as an attribute in another table.
• Relationships - it is the foreign key that provides the relationship between database tables and hence allows a user to search vast amounts of data located in multiple fields with only one query.

Question Five - Describe the benefits of a data-driven website.

A data-driven website is an interactive website that is constantly updated in relation to the relevant needs of the firm’s customers. The benefits of such websites are as follows:

• Development - website owner can make any change at any time.
• Content management - there is no static layer between the website owner and website designer, so content does not have the chance to be misunderstood or slowly updated.
• Future expandability - fast growth is encouraged through data-driven websites.
• Minimisation of human error - data-driven websites have “error-tapping” mechanisms to ensure that all information entered is correct in content and format.
• Cutting of production and update costs - the removal of the middle man (website programmers and developers) cuts costs for any firm.
• Increased efficiency - computer systems are trained to keep record of certain templates and layouts, so that these do not need to be created each time the data-driven website is updated.
• Improved stability - content cannot be lost as there is no need to rely upon layouts specific to programmer’s abilities.

A well known example of a data driven website is Wikipedia, which can be found at the following link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page This website is of of many data driven websites, where users have the ability to interact with and modify content as they please. Monitored by administrators, Wikipedia can be likened to a "data farm", where information is created from the infinite amounts of data submitted by users of the website.

Question Six - Describe the roles and purposes of data warehouses and data marts in an organisation.

Data warehouses and data marts play an integral function within organisations, as they are the primary storage facilities for the abundant amounts of data organisations generate on a daily basis. Data warehouses aggregate information into a single repository, making is far more easier for employees to access data, utilise it and assist them in making business decisions and performing business analysis activities. Essentially, instead of the employee looking at a database and calculating totals they may need, an employee can access a data warehouse or data mart to find this information already sorted and organised in a manner appropriate to their need.