Software is Changing Operations Management. How Does It Affect Businesses?
It’s no secret that we are living in a digital age and software is a leading part of it. What’s more, it is here to stay. You may have noticed that a software system has been implemented within at least one area of your company that manages, controls and optimises operations. However, even though software for Operations Management has grown in an accelerated way, especially in the manufacturing industries, many buyer-provider relationships are stuck in an analogue world when it comes to externally sourced operations and services.
That analogue world increases the complexity, which means that a critical component, such as the operations analytics, is hard to reach. In addition, repetitive analogue tasks can, at some point, overload the worker, and many of them can be easily automated by a software system. At the same time, analogue does not prioritise knowledge management on platforms such as the cloud, so vital information doesn’t have the right treatment for future uses.
Of course, we are not claiming that analogue is wrong; on the contrary, the goal instead should be to find out the areas where digital and analogue can most contribute.
What does Operations Management mean for a Company?
The Operations Management role implies taking crucial decisions for the company, a role such as the chief operating officer (COO) or operations manager. Strategic and tactical operations decisions determine how well the organisation can accomplish their goals. These are decisions that also provide opportunities for the organisation to achieve unique competitive advantages that attract and keep customers.
“Operations managers understand that digital has indeed unlocked a new wave of performance improvement opportunities. IoT technologies make it possible to leverage the wealth of data hitherto locked in production equipment and improve their reliability, performance, and flexibility.” — Capgemini
What significant impact does software have on Operations Management?
According to Accenture research, you can gain a competitive advantage in business operations by integrating the right…