Running head: ROLE OF OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT PAPER 1

Role of Operations Management Paper

ISCOM/471

September 17, 2012

Steve Elzey
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Role of Operations Management Paper

From local upscale specialty foods stores to regional providers of low-cost mortgage

services to global plastics manufacturers, operations management is vital to the success of any

organization. This paper defines operations management and its role in business today. Further,

it explains how Riordan Manufacturing, an industry leader in the field of plastic injection

molding, uses operations management.

Operations Management

Operations management is the “design, operation, and improvement of the systems that

create and deliver the firm’s primary products and services” (Chase & Jacobs, 2006, p. 9).

Operations management is concerned with the management of processes relative to a product or

service. To compete in the marketplace, an organization must manage its operations efficiently

and effectively. For this reason, the focus of an operations manager is to produce—and deliver

goods at the lowest possible cost using the least amount of resources.

In doing so, operations managers make three types of decisions: strategic decisions,

tactical decisions, and operations planning and control decisions. Strategic decisions are long-

term decisions. Strategic decisions support the organization’s strategic plan. Tactical decisions

are intermediate-term decisions. Tactical decisions support the organization’s strategic decisions.

Operations planning and control decisions are short-term decisions. Operations planning and

control decisions support the organization’s tactical decisions.

The Role of Operations Management

Today, the role of operations management in business is significant. The development of

operations-related concepts such as manufacturing strategy paradigms, reengineering of business

processes, and e-commerce have pushed organizations to employ tools to improve their service
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quality and productivity. In the 1980s, four Harvard Business School researchers realized that

“manufacturing executives could use their factories’ capabilities as strategic competitive

weapons” developing manufacturing strategy paradigms (Chase & Jacobs, 2006, p. 16).

In the 1990s, another Harvard Business School researcher realized that organizations

must “become lean to remain competitive in the global economic recession [by] seeking

innovations in the processes by which they run their operations” (Chase & Jacobs, 2006, p. 18).

In the 2000s, The Internet and the World Wide Web single-handedly changed the way

operations managers coordinate and execute production and distribution functions.

Riordan Manufacturing

Riordan Manufacturing is a global plastics manufacturer of plastic beverage containers,

custom plastic parts, and plastic fan parts” (University of Phoenix, 2012). Riordan

Manufacturing produces its plastic beverage containers in Albany, Georgia; custom plastic parts

in Pontiac, Michigan; and plastic fan parts in Hangzhou, China. Riordan Manufacturing conducts

its research in San Jose, California.

Riordan Manufacturing uses operations management to design plastic products; track

products during manufacturing; and ship products to automotive parts manufacturers, aircraft

manufacturers, the Department of Defense, beverage makers and bottlers, and appliance

manufacturers. Riordan Manufacturing focuses its operations in six areas: production, inventory,

supply chain, project process, strategic planning, sustainability study, and communications.

Production

In a memorandum to the Senior Vice President of R&D, the Product Development

Manager requests an outline of items that Riordan Manufacturing needs to consider as it

coordinates with another organization on the design of a Pyramid Bottle Cap (University of
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Phoenix, 2012). The Senior Vice President of R&D, Kenneth Collins, will need to make several

tactical or intermediate-term decisions before he can compile the outline. For example, he will

need to consider the most efficient ways Riordan Manufacturing can outsource the production of

the new caps to the other organization within its strategic constraints. The Product Development

Manager, Craig Mulligan, will in turn make several operations planning and control or short-

term decisions such job allocation and priority.

Supply Chain

Each facility of Riordan Manufacturing requires more or less inputs to produce its

outputs. The R&D department at the corporate headquarters in San Jose, California requires

minimal inputs such as labor or raw materials to develop its proof-of-concept models or initial

working models of potentially new products. The custom plastic fabrication facility in Pontiac,

Michigan requires its own set of dies for the injection molding process for each custom project.

For this reason, the facility has to “maintain sufficient stocks of a wide variety of raw materials

in order to quickly respond to customer requests for new custom plastic parts” (University of

Phoenix, 2012).

Conclusion

Local, regional, and global organizations use operations management to compete in the

marketplace. The success—or failure of these organizations depends on their ability—or

inability to manage their internal operations. This paper defined operations management and its

role in business today. Further, it explained how Riordan Manufacturing, an industry leader in

the field of plastic injection molding, uses operations management.

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References

Apollo Group, Inc. (2011). Riordan Manufacturing, Inc. Operations – Production.

Retrieved from ISCOM/471 – Operations Management course website.

Chase, R. B., Jacobs, F. R., & Aquilano, N. J. (2006). Operations management for competitive

advantage (11th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies.