ABSTRACT
Production and operations management relates to the creation of goods and services through effective use of people, material, and machines. In the past, when the field was related primarily to manufacturing, it was called production management. Later, the name was expanded to production and operations management (POM) or more simply, operations management (OM), to include service industries as well. POM is the business function that primarily plans, organizes, coordinates, and controls the resources needed to produce a company’s goods or services. It is further considered as the central part or “hub” of every company, whether it (1) is large or small, (2) provides a physical good or a service, and (3) is for profit or not for profit. Without operations, there would be no goods or services to sell to customers. Accordingly, every company has a production/operations function. In fact, the other organizational functions exist to provide support to the production/operations function. The marketing function provides promotions for the merchandise and information on customer requirements, and the finance function provides the required capital investments. It is the operations function, however, that plans and coordinates all the resources needed to design, produce, and deliver the merchandise to the various retail locations.
