Question

please read instructions on the first picture and follow it

Discussion Board: Chapter 1 Due: Jun 28, 2019 at 11:59 PM Please read the article titled Evolution of Operations Planning and Control: from production to supply chains In at least three paragraphs, describe how and why the focus of operations planning and control has changed over time. While one might argue that answers consisting of sentences quoted from articles do not represent plagiarism, I do not consider them acceptable, and you will receive 0 points. The post (one with all the answers) should reflect your interpretation of the articles. It should be written in clear language with correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar. Both content and form are important. If you create multiple posts, your grade will be based on your first post only.

Answer 1

Business Management is an area subjected to constant evolution due to the increasing complexity in operations to address the complex and turbulent environment. This article charts out the journey of the first and last managerial functions, ie, Planning, in particular operational planning and control over the past 50 years. Manufacturing firms in order to withstand the the pressure of competition is forced to adapt new techniques, principles and systems in order to provide the superior quality products to their customers. There has has happened a total shift in the prime objective of the organization from profit maximization to customer satisfaction and value addition. This mental revolution or change in philosophy has brought such notable changes in the area of operational planning and control which got accelerated by the developments in Information and Communication technologies(ICT). Operational planning which was only considered as an in house function is now been expanded to supply chain extending the concept to outside the organization too. It is because of the realization that product quality cannot be ensured only by operational efficiency, each and every aspect related to the process of converting inputs to outputs need to be of exceptional quality. This article has parted the evolution of operational planning and control to 5 stages pertaining to 5 decades spanning to 50 years.

• The period upto the 1960's-Inventory control & scheduling/ Shop floor control
• The 1970's- Materials requirement planning/ MRP era
• The 1980's- Master production scheduling/ MRP II
• The 1990's- Sales and operations planning & Enterprise resource planning(ERP)
• The 2000's- Supply Chain Planning

The concept of operational planning or thrust on it started with the Scientific Management of F W Taylor. He has stressed on the point that every aspect of operations should be scientifically defined like time, scope, cost, materials, machinaries and tools etc. The concepts like EOQ, ROP, Gantt chart etc which came into existence during this period are still in use today. This period also witnessed the introduction of computers starting with the automation of inventory management system and later extending it to automation of the total operational planning and control process. In 1970's there was a shift from inventory control and scheduling to a new era of materials requirement planning(MRP). A new method of planning materials and other component purchases based on bill of material(BOM) was introduced which changed the whole concept of forecasting. MRP increased the efficiency of operational planning by ensuring continuous and uninterrupted supply of materials and other components. Master production scheduling(MRP II) came into picture in 1980's which brought with it a fundamental paradigm shift making the operations more efficient and effective. The concepts like JIT, OPT and TOC made the focus shift to the basic elements of the production system for quality improvements. Many specialists further studied on it and a new concept of Drum Buffer Rope(DBR) was combined to TOC. There were new concept introduced like the strategic choices MTO, ATO and MTS. The MRP II system provided a better and broader perspective to inventory management which made the production planning and control process better further. A new concept callied ATP was appreciable which got introduced during this time helped the companies to get a faster look at what is available for immediate deliver.

The 1990's witness an era of ERP and sale and operations planning. Since it had the ability to provide a broad range of functions many firms using MRP II shifted to ERP which enabled them for long range planning. With introduction of S&OP, firms were able to implement a four level structure for operational planning and control which made it possible to do chase strategy and level strategy. This decade also witnessed new approaches like lean production, agile manufacturing, time based production and business process re-engineering. With the entry into the new century, ie, by 2000 the whole perspective shifted to the inclusion of supply chain with suppliers at one end of the chain and customers at the other. The whole shift happened with the realization that in order to provide the customer satisfaction it is important to consider the competitive priorities like quality, delivery, cost and flexibility. The concept of TQM came into limelight ensuring quality from one end of the supply change from the other.