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Once the business has decided where they are going to locate themselves, they decide on the quantity of products that they will produce. Forecasting is a difficult task. Only then can they calculate the capacity requirements of the production facility. They do this by forecasting the demand for their product and then calculate the capacity needs of the production facility. These are the maximum number of products that can be produced over a set period and under normal working conditions.

Like forecasting, capacity planning is difficult. However, if failing to balance capacity and projected demand, it can be detrimental to the business’s bottom line which a qualification in operations management will help with. If capacity is set too low, implying that the production is less than what it should be, then demand will not be able to be met, resulting in the loss of sales and customers. If capacity is set too high, whereby more products are manufactured than planned, this will result in the wastage of resources and operating costs will be inflated.

The position that an Operations Manager fulfils, is both a very demanding and responsible one. It is not a suitable career for one who does not pay attention to detail, or who may lack organisational skills. Study Operations management for a well rounded career and knowledge set. This career requires one to be mathematically minded and to make good judgement calls based on insightful research. Estimation in place of accuracy will result in costing the business a financial loss. The bottom line is always paramount to any business. Thus, the selection process to recruit an Operations Manager is quite stringent as it is a well-defined role where specific criteria must be met, not unlike other key positions.

Study operations management