what are some aspects of operations?
- efficiency
- quality
- capacity utilisation
- providing flexibility
how can you make sure you have good quality service?
- test products (blind taste tests)
- meet customer needs + demands
- feedback/surveys
- SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely)
what is capacity?
the maximum total level of output or production a business can produce in a given time period
what does capacity depend on?
- the level of demand for a product
- the flexibility of production lines
- availability of skilled staff
what does sub-contracted mean?
getting a business to create a production on their behalf
what does outsourced mean?
finding a new team to do a job that you used to do tourself
what does efficiency mean?
how successful the production/ distribution of a product is in a given time period/aim
what are the advantages of efficiency?
- efficient use of inputs allows businesses to maximise production and therefore satisfy the needs of more customers
- efficient use of inputs means fewer inputs are needed to produce a given level of output which reduces costs
- lower unit costs enable a business to gain a competitive advantage because a business can lower prices and still maintain the same profit margin on products
- where consumers are desiring high quality, cost saving from efficiency can be used to improve the quality of product
what are the 4 factors of production?
- labour (workers)
- capital (machinery)
- land (space, raw mats)
- enterprise (bringing all 3 together)
what is meant by buffer stock?
holding emergency stock, which is not to be dropped into
what are economies of scale?
saving costs because the business is big and can bulk buy, take risks and have access to new technology
what is lean production?
not having waste, not doing things that don’t need to be done
what are the advantages of JIT?
- less pay for storage
- eliminates waste
- stops over production
what are the disadvantages of JIT?
- doesn’t consider emergencies
- can’t bulk buy
- compromise quality
what is quality control?
a ‘top down approach’ where an external inspector passes judgment before reaching customer - ‘takes defect out’
what is quality assurance?
a ‘bottom up approach’ where there is a responsibility on self - checking by workers - ‘build quality in’
what are the 4 different flexibility types?
production = ability to change product priority
volume = ability to change output on demand
delivery = links to JIT
mix = different variation of a product, cheaply, efficiently
what is mass production?
limited and fixed range of choices enables businesses to produce on a large scale in order to lower costs
what is mass customisation?
products designed for the individual, produced using large-scale methods - more expensive
what is collaborative customisation?
between business + customer, products change to customers wants
what is adaptive customisation?
ability to adapt the product
what is cosmetic customisation?
offering a range of products off the shelf
what is transparent customisation?
business adapts products to meet customers needs without them knowing thats what they want
what are 3 benefits of mass customisation?
- can charge high prices
- greater customer loyalty
- competitive advantage
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what is business?16
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Managers, Leadership and decisions9
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Marketing23
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operations26
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finance20
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Formulas30
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3.7.1 - strategic missions and objectives6
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3.7.2 - financial ratios13
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3.7.3 - overall performance5
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3.7.4 - political and legal change8
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3.7.5 - economic change21
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3.7.6. social and technological15
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3.7.7 porters 5 forces2
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3.7.8 - investment appraisal9
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3.8.1 - strategic direction5
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3.8.2 - strategic positioning7
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3.9.1 - assessing change in scale19
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3.9.2 - assessing innovation8
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3.9.3 - internationalisation23
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3.9.4 - digital technology7
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3.10.1 - managing change14
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3.10.2 culture12
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3.10.3 - managing strategic implementation12
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3.10.4 - strategic decision making16
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Handy's culture model4
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business examples for theories0
