Operations_and_Materials_Management

Operations and Materials Management Princess Nelson January 16, 2011 BUS 210 Frank Caccamo Operations and Materials Management is what we are discussing in this paper. Operations or operating systems are the value creation activities that convert a company’s inputs into finished good and products. Material management is the set of activities that control the flow of resources into and out of the operating systems. We will discuss three different types of companies and observe how employee do their jobs, the kinds of Operations and Material management cost companies have, and how do companies design their operating system to set a tone or an advantage over the other companies. The three companies I have chosen were all international companies called Office Max, Bed Bath and Beyond and Wet Seal. Office Max is a retail of goods such as copiers, printers, computers, office furniture, and mostly everything a people would need to operate an office. Bed Bath and Beyond is a linens store that supply linens, appliances and things to decorate a person’s house with. The third and final company is Wet Seal this a fashion clothing and accessories retail store All three of these companies have a different way that they operate during the input, output, and operations stages. Office Max has local businesses worldwide that monitor their own input and output. They work closely with the main manufacturing offices for their products. They are different because they make their own products that they sell. There is no middle man or other company that needs to be watched because we manage our own furniture, copiers, and other electronics. That helps tremendously when they need supplies for employees because they use their own created calculators, furniture, and other things to save on costs. Bed Bath and Beyond has a materials management department of its own in the corporate office. That department takes care of both the input and output. In terms of the input, the employees do extensive research about potential products. They compare prices and quality to find the lowest possible costs that has the highest quality for their customers. Even when they have chosen something, they check other companies often for any better prices and quality. The manager in that department negotiates prices all the time in order to get the cheapest price available without having to make their customers go down on quality. With output, this company manages the number of workers that modify products such as sewing and custom work. They always make sure that they have enough workers for the different seasons. They also monitor the outcome of the work before any items or linens have been shipped out to the customer. This eliminates returns and saves money. Wet Seal is also international. This companies clothes and accessories are created oversees. The operations and input are monitored extremely close because of this. Because of child labor, this company does random checkups on their distributors overseas to make sure that everything is in order. They monitor these places very closely to make sure that the quality of the products is suitable for their customers, and that the prices are considerably low. (HM, 2009) In terms of output, this company does regular inventory checks to make sure everything is suitable before putting the items on the floor for customers to purchase. All three of these companies incur some type of cost when it comes to monitoring the input and output of the company. The second company most likely incurs the most costs because there is a department dedicated to materials management that consists of three employees. The main costs of this, though, would be the time spent on monitoring and researching the best ways to get products and materials for a cheaper cost than other companies with a higher quality. Office Max does not have a department dedicated to this, but there are production departments at each location where the manager should be the person that is handling the operations. The third company is different because most of the operations are done oversees by another company. Taking the time to do random inspections does cost. One of the biggest concerns with operating systems is efficiency. This is why most company’s operating systems are designed to pick up on habits and trends that customers create. They also design their systems to be very user friendly. The first company, which is the first one I spoke of, has a very user friendly and efficient operating system which helps employees along when they are trying to assist a customer. This helps to not waste time which saves money. Overall, operations and materials management are a huge part of the way a business is run. If the input and output are not monitored appropriately then a business does not have control over their products. Moreover, being efficient in that category assists in a company’s success. Reference HM (2009). Browse. Retrieved January 25, 2009 from http://www.hm.com/us/abouthmcom/customerservice/faq/aboutquality__faqcs2.n html