Operations Management processes - Assignment Example

Operations Management Teacher’s Table of Contents Operations Management: Cooking - In - Time References After I completed my schooling, I had to travel to another city for my higher studies. This meant a lot of new responsibilities (which I never had before) and a lot of new experiences. I grew up in a joint family system and hence had the pleasure of tasting cuisines of all sorts regularly owing to the fact that there were a number of females in our house and they all loved to cook. The last of my days at home were spent in cooking lessons.

It is highly uncommon for a male to cook in our society and hence I did not have the slightest of experiences of cooking anything. From Mathematics and Sciences, I was now learning about a hundred different types of Salan’s, Kebab’s, Tikka’s, Sheer Qorma’s and what not. As I left for college, I remember seeing my mother crying tears of happiness and my father’s proud face. I had just one primary task; to make them far more proud of myself. Little did I know, studies would be the least of my concerns in the days to come.

My crash course yielded great results. Yes, I was not a master-chef by far, but I managed. I did however miss the food at home dearly. As time passed by, my studies grew far tougher than they were ever before and the bar somehow managed to keep rising and rising. I had far more on my plate than I could chew and I was somehow always desperately short of time. There came a time when I had to sacrifice my sleep in order to stay at par with everything that was going around me. College is by no means a walk in the park.

Eventually, I had to give up on my sleep. I love my sleep. This was the edge of reason for me and I started to scrutinize my daily tasks in order to streamline them and in hopes of finding more time. I realized how much time does cooking take, and time was precisely what I needed the most. I was attending one of my classes and I came across a definition and I just couldn’t help notice how similar it was to the definition of cooking. “Manufacturing process flow design is a method to evaluate the specific processes that raw materials, parts, and subassemblies follow as they move through the plant.

” (Chase et al,. 2005) In my opinion, the most difficult task is to decide what exactly to cook. This is by no means a small task. You have to look at what time of the day it is, for some odd reason, Biryani just doesn’t taste as good in the morning as it does at night. The problem doesn’t end here. Once that you have decided what to cook, you have to look at what resources do you have available at home. For example, the supposed Biryani constitutes of rice, chicken or beef, potatoes and about 10 different spices.

The absence of even one of these ingredients results in a near complete disaster. Now the funny thing is, spices are common used in almost all continental dishes and therefore, one has to keep them well stocked. Too much capacity generates excessive costs (Chase et al, 2005), and therefore I have to limit my shopping. The very thought of shopping in the midst of a testing or examination period gives me the shivers. But, alas, one cannot get away from the grim realities of life. Shopping became second nature to me.

I became an expert shopper, however, I must admit, this happened at the cost of more time spent. And then finally the task of cooking; I can assure you, this is no child’s play. Not many men would be aware of the perils of cooking and how imperative it is to be spot on all the while. Cooking is like solving a Mathematical equation. One cannot jump forward to step 3 without performing step 2. The slightest of mistakes and one fails to solve the riddle. Imagine preparing rice for the Biryani while the chicken is being made separately and then, the fusion of the two ingredients along with the spices as the catalysts which help complete the process.

Now imagine doing so while completing your homework, preparing for the next day’s classes, watching television and staying connected with friends and family. One could of course go to eat, or order food at home. One could also get ready-to-cook meals. One could also live in the campus hostel or eat everyday at a different friends place. Heck, one could also hire a maid to help with the cooking and other household tasks. However, I do not belong from a family who can afford either of these alternatives along with my education and therefore, I have to manage on my own.

And lastly, none of these would taste the same as my cooking. Designing a customer-pleasing product is an art (Chase et al. 2005). Don DeLillo once said, “Hardship makes the world obscure.” My world has truly been obscured by what I do on a day to day basis. At times I wonder how do I manage, but somehow, I do. I never complain about my life as I know how truly blessed I am to have what I have and to be able to do what I do. Flow Chart Showing the Process of Cooking References Chase, R., Jacobs, R.

, Aquilano, N. (2005). Manufacturing Process Selection and Design. Operations Management for Competitive Advantage, 11th Edition (pp. 215). The McGraw?Hill Companies. Chase, R., Jacobs, R., Aquilano, N. (2005). Service Process Selection and Design. Operations Management for Competitive Advantage, 11th Edition (pp. 267). The McGraw?Hill Companies. Chase, R., Jacobs, R., Aquilano, N. (2005). Manufacturing Process Selection and Design. Operations Management for Competitive Advantage, 11th Edition (pp. 220). The McGraw?

Hill Companies Maltoni, Valeria. (2010). Ten Books that Stand the Test of Time. Retrieved on August 27, 2011, from:http://www.conversationagent.com/2010/06/ten-books-that-stand-the-test-of-time.html