Operations Management System

POM is a system. Figure gives an overview of the production function. In this model the inputs include people, raw materials, equipment and information that are relevant to the conversion process. People (managers and workers) use the information and physical factors to produce outputs. Some equipment such as land, plants, buildings, machines and warehouses, are relatively permanent. Other physical resources, such as materials and supplies, are consumed in the process of producing outputs.

The conversion process incorporates planning, operating and controlling the system. It is the merging of time and place and the transformation of inputs to make them more usable and accessible to consumers. Various tools and techniques are available to facilitate the transformation process. Because decisions of time and place are handled primarily by the marketing function of the firm, the emphasis in transformation is in form of the output—that is, the creation and production of goods and services and may even be information, such as may be provided by a consultancy firm.

The last part of the model shows that operations are influenced by a number of external variables. These factors include customers, suppliers, socio-technical factors, politico-legal factors and physical factors. Production system is an open system that is in continuous interaction with its surroundings. The production model may be regarded as a subsystem of the total management system.