ch. 3

• Inputs


  • 6.5 billion live Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota
  • Skim milk powder
  • Sugars, such as sucrose and dextrose
  • Flavouring
  • Water
  • Plastic
  • Machinery
  • Employees' labour including supervisors and cleaners
• Processes


  • Fermenting the milk solution
  • Homogenising the milk
  • Blending milk
  • Moulding plastic bottles
  • Filling bottles
  • Sealing bottles
  • Packaging bottles into packs of 5 and 10
• Outputs


  • 65ml bottles of Yakult Original and Yakult Lite
  • Packaged in packs of five or ten
  • Wrapped in polyethylene film
  • Healthy probiotic milk drinks good for gut health
  • Final products that retailers purchase and provide to customers
• Automated production lines


  • Comprises of machinery and equipment arranged in a sequence with components added to a good as it proceeds through each step, with the process controlled by computers
• Robotics


  Machines capable of carrying out actions or jobs automatically, programmable by a computer
• Computer aided design


  Digital design software that aid the creation, modification, and optimization of a design and the design process
• Computer aided manufacturing


  The use of software to direct and control manufacturing processes
• Artificial intelligence


  Computer systems that can perform tasks normally requiring human comprehension or reasoning, such as visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages
• Online services


  Any information and services provided over a connected group of pages on the internet
• Manufacturing businesses


  Use resources and raw materials to produce a finished physical good
• Service businesses


  Provide intangible products, usually with the use of specialized expertise
• Inputs


  • Materials
  • Capital equipment
  • Labour
  • Information
  • Time
  • Cash (financial resources)
• Processes


  The conversion/transformation of inputs (resources) into outputs (goods or services)
• Outputs


  • Final products
  • Results of the operations process
• Operations management


  All the activities in which managers engage to produce a good or service
• Efficiency


  How well a business uses its resources to achieve its stated objectives
• Effectiveness


  The degree to which a business achieves its stated objectives
• forecasting


  is a materials planning tool that predicts customer demand for an upcoming period using past data and market trends
• master production schedule 


  a plan that details what is to be produced and when
• master requirement planning 


  is a process that itemises the types and quantities of materials required to meet production targets set out in the MRP
• just in time 


  a materials management strategy that ensures that the right amount of material inputs will arrive only as they are needed in the production process
• quality control


  the use of inspections at regular intervals in the production process to check for problems and defects
• quality assurance


  involves a business achieveing a certified standard of quality in its production after an independent body assesses its operations system
• total quality management


  an ongoing, business-wide commitment to excellence that is applied to every aspect of the businesses operations; customer focus, continous improvement, employee empowerment
• reduce 


  aims to limit the amount of waste produced in the first place
• reuse 


  focuses on finding new uses for items that would otherwise become waste
• recycle 


  involves converting waste materials into new products
• lean management 


  an approach that improves the efficiency and effectiveness of operations by eliminating waste and improving quality
• pull


  relates to avoiding overproduction and stockpiling by enabling customer demand to dictate the rate at which products are delivered.
• one-piece flow


  involves focusing on 'one-piece at a time', minimising interruptions within the operations system
• takt


  is the average time that passes between production starting on one unit of a product and the start of production of the next unit
• zero-defects 


  involves the business striving for perfection
• corporate social responsibility 


  refers to the responsibility a business has above and beyond its legal obligations to the wellbeing of employees, customer, the community and the environment.
• global sourcing of inputs 


  the practice of seeking materials and other resources from anywhere in the world
• overseas manufacture 


  the production of a good in a country that is different to the location of the business' headquaters
• global outsourcing 


  the contracting of non-core business activities to an external business located anywhere in the world