Operations management (OM) is the process that effectively plans, organizes, coordinates, and controls the operations responsible for the production of goods and services. Countless decisions must be made at all levels of an organization. Without proper operations management, there is a higher chance of having various departments in conflict with each other. Operations management ensures that you are able to effectively manage various attributes in the manufacturing organization such as people, equipment, information, and technology.
Product Quality- The quality of a product refers to its capability of meeting or exceeding a customer’s expectations. Operations management ensures that products meet the quality standards and offers opportunities to identify areas where quality can be improved. One of the main functions of operations management ensures that products are designed to be reliable and durable to meet customer’s expectations of quality over quantity. Here, reliability and durability refer to products that last a long time before they encounter breakdowns and that can withstand damage. Enforcing a quality management process can ensure the efficient delivery of products and services that consumers can rely on.
Waste Reduction - Waste reduction is one of the most important components of operations management. Various techniques can be used to identify and eliminate waste within manufacturing operations, such as lean manufacturing strategies and JIT scheduling to manage inventory costs. Lean manufacturing identifies 7 wastes that are commonly found in manufacturing operations which aim to eliminate overproduction, loss of time, and defective items. Eliminating waste within your operation will allow you to increase profits by eliminating unnecessary costs and ultimately improving the overall production process within the operation.
Collaboration - Adequately implementing operations management strategies require collaboration between many individuals at all levels of the organization. Many business strategies involved in operations management include supply chain configuration, sales, capacity to hold money, and optimal utilization of human resources. All of these decisions benefit from having multiple departments involved in the decision-making process to ensure that all departments are benefiting from the decisions. For example, it is important to include people in charge of finances in the product design process as it will ensure quality materials can be chosen for a reasonable price.
We now have a consistent tool for our planning and scheduling that is used by most of the departments, from supervisors, production planners, purchasing, IT staff, and management.
Operations management can be challenging to implement. A software that is becoming extremely common among manufacturing operations is advanced planning and scheduling software. This software can provide thorough insight within the various components of the production operations. APS software like PlanetTogether will take your facility to the next level by helping you optimize and increase the efficiency of your operations.
If quality/rework is the pain: start with process stability + quality controls; then protect constrained resources so fixes “stick.”
If on-time delivery is the pain: prioritize constraint-based scheduling + fast rescheduling when demand or supply shifts.
If waste/cost is the pain: remove the biggest waste drivers (waiting, changeovers, excess WIP) and re-sequence to reduce downtime.
If teams are misaligned: create one shared plan across production, materials, and customer priorities.
If volatility is constant: run quick what-if scenarios before changing the live schedule.
Effective operations management depends on coordinating people, equipment, information, and technology across the organization—otherwise, functions can end up working at cross purposes.
Many teams use APS as a practical way to turn operations strategy into a consistent, shared planning and scheduling process across departments.
As manufacturers face higher product variety, shorter delivery expectations, and cost pressure, APS has become an increasingly common capability. These systems help planners save time and stay agile as priorities shift—updating production schedules and inventory plans with less friction. APS can also integrate with ERP/MRP to close common gaps in planning and scheduling flexibility, accuracy, and efficiency.
With PlanetTogether APS, manufacturers can:
By leveraging the operational data you already maintain in your ERP environment, APS can help move operations toward higher production efficiency and stronger lean/JIT execution—without relying on manual rework and disconnected plans.
Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS) helps manufacturers plan and sequence production using real-world constraints—like labor, machine capacity, changeovers, and material availability—so schedules are realistic and executable on the floor. This introductory video explains what APS is, how it differs from basic ERP/MRP planning, and why it’s increasingly used to improve on-time delivery, throughput, and responsiveness.
If you’re responsible for operations management, production planning, scheduling, or supply chain execution, APS provides a clearer way to coordinate people, equipment, and priorities—especially when demand shifts, constraints tighten, or production disruptions occur. The video also touches on how finite capacity scheduling supports better decision-making than manual or spreadsheet-based scheduling when competing orders and bottlenecks collide.
Finally, you’ll learn how APS systems (like PlanetTogether APS) can integrate with ERP/MRP data to close common planning gaps—turning static plans into continuously updated schedules that align production realities with customer commitments.
Even strong operations management breaks down when planning and scheduling rely on manual handoffs, disconnected spreadsheets, or reactive expediting. The result is usually the same: missed delivery dates, wasted capacity, rising overtime, and inventory that grows faster than service levels improve.
Our infographic, “The Money Is in the Planning,” highlights the most common (and most expensive) ways manual planning undermines manufacturing profitability. It’s a quick, practical resource for operations leaders who want to pinpoint where planning friction is turning into margin leakage.
If your team is working toward more reliable schedules and better coordination across production, maintenance, and customer delivery priorities, this infographic will help you connect day-to-day planning problems to measurable business impact—and why APS is often the next step for modern operations management.
In the infographic, you’ll see how poor planning can drive:
Operations management is how a manufacturer designs, runs, and improves the processes that turn inputs (labor, materials, equipment, data) into finished goods. It spans planning, scheduling, quality, inventory coordination, and continuous improvement—so work is executed predictably and profitably.
Start with KPIs tied to outcomes: on-time delivery (OTD), throughput, cycle/lead time, schedule adherence, OEE or utilization, scrap/rework rate, and WIP/inventory turns. The “best” KPI set depends on whether your main constraint is capacity, materials, demand volatility, or quality instability.
It reduces waste by stabilizing processes (less rework), sequencing work to minimize changeovers and waiting, and synchronizing materials with real capacity. The goal isn’t cost cutting in isolation—it’s removing friction that creates delays, excess WIP, and firefighting.
ERP/MRP is strong for planning and transactions, but detailed scheduling often needs constraint-based logic (finite capacity, setups, downtime, labor skills, material readiness) plus rapid re-optimization when priorities change. That’s where APS is commonly used to create a feasible schedule from real constraints.
Consider APS when schedules break frequently, planners spend too much time manually reshuffling, bottlenecks drive chronic lateness, or you need quick what-if analysis for rush orders, downtime, or supplier variability. APS is most valuable when complexity and volatility make spreadsheet scheduling unreliable.
Ready to turn operations priorities into a realistic, constraint-based schedule? Request a PlanetTogether APS demo.