TECHNOLOGY AND
OPERATIONS
MANAGEMENT
OBJECTIVES:
• Exhibit knowledge and understanding of technology and the role in manufacturing and service
operations
• Describe the different types of technology and their role in manufacturing and service operations
• Explain how manufacturing and service technology is strengthening the value chain
• Explain the benefits and challenges of using technology
• Describe the processes of technology development and adoption
SELECTION OF EQUIPMENT AND
TECHNOLOGY
Requires considering:
• Cost
• Quality
• Capacity
• Flexibility
BASIS FOR DECISION MAKING
Documentation indicating:
• Capacity
• Size
• Tolerances for each option
• Maintenance Requirements
SELECTION OF EQUIPMENT AND
TECHNOLOGY
• Provides competitive advantage through added flexibility in meeting customer requirements,
lower costs or higher quality
• Innovation and Equipment Modification
MODERN TECHNOLOGY
• Allows OM to enlarge scope of their processes
ATTRIBUTE TO LOOK FOR IN NEW
EQUIPMENT
FLEXIBILITY
• Ability to respond with little penalty in time, cost or customer value
PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY
• Technological advances that enhance production and productivity
9 AREAS OF TECHNOLOGY
1. Machine Technology
2. Automated Identification Systems (AIS)
3. Process Control
4. Vision Systems
5. Robots
6. Automated Storage and Retrieval System (ASRSs)
7. Automated Guided Vehicles (AGVs)
8. Flexible Manufacturing Systems(FMSs)
9. Computer Integrated Manufacturing (CIM)
MACHINE TECHNOLOGY
• Machinery performing operations undergone progress in both precision and control
• Machines are more productive
• Intelligence available for control via computer chips
• Increases speed, reduces waste, enhances flexibility
COMPUTER NUMERICAL CONTROL (CNC) – machinery with its own computer and memory
EXAMPLE OF MACHINE TECHNOLOGY
Machinery at a Turbine Blade Plant
• Total time of Grinding Process from 10 days to 2 hours
• Process Improvement from 8,100 feet of travel to 1,800 feet
• Total throughput time for a turbine blade from 22 days to 7 days
AUTOMATIC IDENTIFICATION SYSTEMS
(AISS) AND RFID
• A system for transforming data into electronic form i.e barcodes, computer keyboards, radio
frequencies, optical characters, etc.
• Controlled by digital electronic signals
RFID
• A wireless system in which integrated circuits with antennas send radio waves
EXAMPLES OF AIS AND RFID
• Nurses reduce errors in hospital by matching bar codes on medication to ID bracelets on patients
• RFID tags in agriculture monitor the temperature at which fruit is kept. They can also track what
chemicals and fertilizers have been used on the fruit
• Transponders attached to cars allow McDonald’s to identify and bill customers who can now zip
through the drive through line without having to stop and pay
• FedEx tags major airplane parts which allows them to be scanned so maintenance data (part
number, installation date, country of origin) can be tracked
PROCESS CONTROL
• The use of information technology to monitor and control a physical process
• Used to determine and control temperatures, pressures, and quantities in petroleum refineries,
petrochemical processes, cement plants, steel mills, nuclear reactors, and other process-focused
facilities
TYPICAL PROCESS CONTROL SYSTEMS
OPERATIONS
• Sensors collect data
• Devices read data on some periodic basis, perhaps once a minute or once every second
• Measurements are translated into digital signals, which are transmitted to a computer
• Computer Programs read the file (the digital data) and analyze the data
• The resulting output may take numerous forms --- messages on computer consoles or printers,
signals to motors to change valve settings, warning lights or horns, or statistical process control
charts
VISION SYSTEMS
• System that use video cameras and computer technology in inspection roles
• Are widely used when the items being inspected are very similar
ROBOTS
• A flexible machine with the ability to hold, move or grab items
• It functions through electronic impulses that activate motors and switches
• Used to perform tasks that are especially monotonous or dangerous or those that can be
improved by substitution of mechanical or human effort
AUTOMATED STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL
SYSTEM (ASRSS)
• Computer-controlled warehouses that provide for the automatic placement of parts into and from
designated places within a warehouse
• Developed due to the tremendous labor involved in error-prone warehousing
• Commonly used in distribution facilities of retailers and also found in inventory and test areas of
manufacturing firms
AUTOMATED GUIDED VEHICLES (AGVS)
• Electronically guided and controlled cart used to move materials, parts or equipment
EXAMPLE OF AGV USE:
• Offices to move mail
• Hospitals and jails to deliver meals
FLEXIBLE MANUFACTURING SYSTEM (FMSS)
• A system that uses an automated work cell controlled by electronic signals from a common
centralized computer facility
• Bridge the gap between product-focused and process focused facilities
• Produces low volume high variety
COMPUTER-INTEGRATED MANUFACTURING
(CIM)
• A manufacturing system in which CAD, FMS, inventory control, warehousing, and shipping are
integrated.
• Reduces the distinction between low-volume/high variety and high-volume/low variety
production
TECHNOLOGY IN SERVICES
• Use of self-serve kiosks by McDonald’s
• User-friendly computer software that enables customers to design own window specifications
• POS Terminals download prices for retail stores
• RFID in Pharmacies to reduce counterfeiting and theft
TECHNOLOGY IMPACT ON SERVICES
Service Industry Example
Financial Services Debit Cards, electronic fund transfer, ATM, Internet stock trading, online banking via cellphone
Education Online newspaper, online journals, interactive assignments via Web CT, blackboard and smart phones
Automated one-man garbage trucks, optical mail scanners, flood warning systems, meters allowing
Utilities and Government homeowners to control energy usage and costs
wireless orders from waiters to the kitchen, robot butchering, transponders on cars that track sales at drive -
Restaurants and Foods throughs
Communications Interactive TV, eboks via Kindle 2
Hotels Electronic check-in/checkout, electronic key/lock systems. Mobile web bookings
Point-Of-Sale (POS) terminals, e-commerce, electronic communication between store and supplier, bar
Wholesale / Retail Trade coded data, RFID
Transportation Automated toll booths, satellite-directed navigation systems, Wi-Fi in automobiles
Health care Online patient- monitoring systems, online medical information systems, robotic surgery
Ticketless travel, scheduling, Internet purchases, boarding passes downloaded as two-dimensional bar codes
Airlines on smart phones
