mgt530-operations-management

name	MGT530-Operations-Management
description	Knowledge base from William J. Stevenson, Operations Management, Fourteenth Edition, for applying operations-management frameworks.

Operations Management

Author: William J. Stevenson | Edition: Fourteenth Edition | Pages: 929 | Numbered chapters: 19 | Chapter supplements: 4 | Appendices: 4 | Generated: 2026-08-21

Core Frameworks

• Transformation system and whole-system lens. Use inputs -> transformation -> outputs, with measurement, feedback, and control, to locate value, variation, and corrective action. Optimize the supply chain and total system, not a local department's ratio.
• Mission-to-operations hierarchy. Translate mission into goals, organization and functional strategies, tactics, and daily operations. Use order qualifiers as the market entry ticket and order winners as the reason to buy. Choose and align low cost, responsiveness, and differentiation; use the Balanced Scorecard to execute and measure the strategy.
• Variability tax. First remove assignable causes and avoidable demand, supplier, and process variation. Then choose deliberate buffers: capacity cushion, inventory, time, flexibility, or price. Treat every buffer as a cost paid to absorb uncertainty.
• Six-step forecasting process. Define purpose and horizon; prepare data; select judgmental, time-series, or associative methods; forecast; measure error; and revise. Use e = A - F, MAD/MSE/MAPE, tracking signals, and control-chart patterns. A shorter decision horizon is usually more accurate; a forecast is not a promise.
• Design-to-delivery alignment. Use Quality Function Deployment (QFD) to convert customer "whats" into technical "hows"; use the Kano model to protect basic requirements before performance and excitement features; use concurrent engineering, service blueprinting, life-cycle assessment, and the Three Rs before launch. Standardize the platform and customize at the edge when variety matters.
• Reliability and availability. Define the success event and operating horizon first. Required independent components use Rs = product(Ri); alternative independent paths use Rs = 1 - product(1 - Ri); steady availability is A = MTBF/(MTBF + MTTR). Include switches, shared causes, repair waiting, and stated conditions.
• Capacity and constraints. Use design capacity, effective capacity, and actual output together: efficiency = actual/effective, utilization = actual/design. Convert product-mix demand into processing time, calculate TC = FC + vQ and Q_break-even = FC/(R-v), then apply the Theory of Constraints cycle: identify, exploit, subordinate, elevate, repeat. Add cushion when uncertainty justifies it.
• Decision theory under uncertainty. Build a payoff table with alternatives as rows and states of nature as columns. Under risk, EMV_i = sum(p_j V_ij); under uncertainty, explicitly choose maximin, maximax, Laplace, or minimax regret. Use decision trees backward, value information with EVPI, and test probability/payoff sensitivity before committing.
• Volume-variety-process fit. Match project, job shop, batch, repetitive, or continuous process to volume, variety, customization, and flexibility. Match product, process, fixed-position, or cellular layout to flow and movement. For a line, cycle time = available time/demand and N_min = ceil(sum task times/cycle time); respect precedence and compare idle time.
• Work measurement chain. Improve the method before measuring it, then use OT -> NT = OT*PR -> ST = NT*AF. Choose stopwatch study for short repetitive work, predetermined times for fitting elemental data, and work sampling for varied work. Distinguish unit-time from cumulative-average learning curve estimates.
• Quality built into the system. Use quality at the source, prevention, TQM, DMAIC, PDSA, poka-yoke, and Pareto focus. Stabilize first with SPC, then test capability: use x-bar/R for measured data, p for defective proportions, and c for defect counts. Specifications are customer limits, not control limits; use Cp for centered processes and Cpk when centering is uncertain.
• Plan at the right granularity. Use level, chase, or mixed aggregate plans; disaggregate into the Master Production Schedule (MPS); check it with rough-cut capacity planning; then feed MRP and detailed scheduling. For inventory, use EOQ = sqrt(2DS/H) for stable carryover, ROP = expected lead-time demand + safety stock for timing, and newsvendor logic for one-period items.
• MRP, ERP, and lean flow. MRP performs MPS + BOM + inventory records -> gross-to-net explosion -> lead-time-offset releases; close the loop with CRP. Lean applies five principles: value, value stream, flow, pull, and perfection. Lower WIP only as capability improves; use SMED, takt, cells, kanban, heijunka, jidoka, poka-yoke, TPM, and supplier cooperation to make pull reliable.
• Network, schedule, and optimize. Use SCOR (Plan, Source, Make, Deliver, Manage Returns), total-cost sourcing, risk mapping, visibility, and reverse logistics. Choose a scheduling rule after naming the objective: SPT favors flow time, EDD favors due dates, FCFS favors fairness, and CR emphasizes urgency. For projects, use WBS, PERT/CPM, critical paths, buffers, and crash slopes. For queues, keep rho < 1 and compare waiting cost with capacity cost. For LP, formulate variables, objective, constraints, and nonnegativity, then inspect binding constraints, slack, shadow prices, and sensitivity ranges.

How to Use This Skill

• No argument: load Core Frameworks, then use the indexes to choose the relevant chapter.
• Topic or framework: identify the linked chapter and read it before answering; use glossary.md for a quick definition and patterns.md for an actionable method.
• Chapter request: ask for ch03, ch05S, appendix C, or a topic such as EOQ, Cpk, or PERT.
• Quantitative problem: classify the problem, write assumptions and units, select the formula/model, calculate, and perform a boundary or reasonableness check. Use the appendix files for probability lookup and answer verification.

Chapter Index

Ref	Chapter or supplement	Primary use
ch01	Introduction to Operations Management	transformation, systems, variation, ethics
ch02	Competitiveness, Strategy, and Productivity	strategy, qualifiers/winners, productivity
ch03	Forecasting	methods, seasonality, error, control
ch04	Product and Service Design	QFD, Kano, concurrent design, services
ch04S	Supplement: Reliability	series, parallel, life, availability
ch05	Strategic Capacity Planning for Products and Services	capacity, bottlenecks, cost-volume
ch05S	Supplement: Decision Theory	payoffs, EMV, EVPI, trees
ch06	Process Selection and Facility Layout	volume-variety, layouts, line balance
ch07	Work Design and Measurement	methods, standards, sampling, ergonomics
ch07S	Supplement: Learning Curves	repetition, unit and cumulative time
ch08	Location Planning and Analysis	screening, factor rating, network location
ch09	Management of Quality	TQM, Six Sigma, PDSA, quality cost
ch10	Quality Control	SPC, charts, runs, capability
ch11	Aggregate Planning and Master Scheduling	level/chase plans, MPS, ATP, RCCP
ch12

Appendix Index

Appendix	File	Use
A	Selected Problem Answers	cross-chapter verification
B	Reference Tables	normal and Poisson lookup rules
C	Working with the Normal Distribution	standardization and tail areas
D	Ten Things to Remember Beyond the Final Exam	final system-level check

Topic Index

• ABC analysis -> ch12
• Aggregate planning -> ch11
• Capacity and bottlenecks -> ch05, ch16
• Decision theory -> ch05S
• Forecasting -> ch03
• Inventory and EOQ/ROP -> ch12
• Lean, JIT, and kanban -> ch14
• Linear programming -> ch19
• Location and network design -> ch08, ch15
• Maintenance and availability -> ch04S, ch14S
• MRP, ERP, and MPS -> ch11, ch13
• Operations strategy and productivity -> ch02
• PERT, CPM, and projects -> ch17
• Process selection and layouts -> ch06
• Quality, SPC, and capability -> ch09, ch10
• Queues and waiting lines -> ch18
• Reliability and robust design -> ch04, ch04S
• Scheduling and sequencing -> ch16
• Service design and blueprinting -> ch04
• Supply chain, sourcing, and risk -> ,

Supporting Files

• glossary.md - alphabetized terms with chapter references.
• patterns.md - concrete operations techniques and methods.
• cheatsheet.md - compact decision rules, formulas, trade-offs, and tells.

Scope & Limits

This skill extracts and operationalizes the audited chapter files from Stevenson's textbook. It preserves textbook formulas and decision conventions but does not replace the chapter files when assumptions, table constants, or model conditions matter. Numerical recommendations require current data, units, and local context; qualitative, ethical, safety, sustainability, and stakeholder effects must be assessed alongside calculated results. It does not provide implementation-specific legal, regulatory, software, or industry advice beyond the book's scope.