COURSE OVERVIEW:

Welcome to the Operations Management & Product Development course. This program will provide you with the knowledge and analytical frameworks needed to understand how organisations plan, design, execute, and refine the processes that produce goods and deliver services. You will explore what operations management is, why every professional participates in operational decision-making, and how effective planning, workflow design, and strategic alignment ensure products and services meet customer expectations. This course also examines the principles of product development, from idea screening to final design, and the process-analysis tools used to improve efficiency and performance.

This course begins by examining what operations management is and why, in practice, we are all operations managers—regardless of job title—because every role contributes to processes, workflow, and customer outcomes. You will explore the planning processes phase, including how to assign workloads, how to create realistic timelines, and how to manage supply chain and logistics effectively to support smooth operations. This section also examines how to implement plans, source and purchase materials, and monitor processes to ensure they remain aligned with performance goals. These foundational activities set the stage for understanding the broader principles that guide operational success.

You will then explore operations strategy, including its competitive dimensions such as cost, quality, speed, flexibility, and innovation. This section explains how to develop an operations strategy that aligns with organisational goals and customer requirements. You will also examine the four basic product/process principles, the role of the operations management team, and the differences between producing goods and providing services, helping you understand how operational priorities shift depending on the nature of the output.

A further part of the course focuses on product development. You will explore the product design process, including idea screening, preliminary design testing, and the refinement process leading to the final design. This section also examines Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA) guidelines and why they are essential for simplifying production, reducing cost, and improving product quality. You will learn how product design decisions influence operational requirements and long-term process performance.

The program also examines process selection and process analysis, starting with how to use the SIPOC diagram to identify suppliers, inputs, processes, outputs, and customers. You will learn how to create process flowcharts, how to make them effective, and how to analyse the resulting diagrams to identify improvement opportunities. This section highlights the key points in any process that should be examined and measured, the activities that do not add value to the product, and the characteristics that distinguish one process from another.

The next learning area explores operational models such as make-to-order (pull) and make-to-stock (push) systems, helping you understand how demand patterns shape operational design. You will examine process performance metrics, including the basic measurements commonly used by operations managers to track efficiency, quality, and throughput. This section also introduces additional metrics that offer a more complete understanding of process behaviour and operational health.

By the end of this course you will be able to understand the foundations of operations management, design and improve processes, evaluate product development stages, apply analytical tools such as SIPOC and flowcharts, measure performance effectively, and align operational decisions with strategic objectives—resulting in improved efficiency, innovation, and customer satisfaction.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:

By the end of this course, you will be able to understand:

·       What is operations management?

·       Why are we all operations managers?

·       The planning processes phase

·       How to assign workloads?

·       How to create timelines?

·       How to properly manage supply chain and logistics?

·       How to implement the plans?

·       How to source and purchase?

·       How to monitor the processes?

·       The operations strategy

·       The competitive dimensions of operations

·       How to develop an operations strategy?

·       The four basic product/process principles

·       The operations management team

·       Producing goods vs. providing services

·       The product design

·       How to screen of ideas?

·       The preliminary design testing

·       The final design

·       The basic DFMA guidelines

·       The process selection

·       The process analysis

·       The SIPOC diagram

·       How to flowchart the process?

·       How to create an effective flowchart?

·       How to analyse the process?

·       The several key points in any process, that you should examine and measure

·       The activities that do not add value to the product

·       The characteristics of processes

·       Make-to-order vs. make-to-stock (Pull vs. Push)

·       The process performance metrics

·       The basic metrics that operations managers commonly use

·       Other process performance metrics that will help you get a more complete picture

COURSE DURATION:

The typical duration of this course is approximately 2-3 hours to complete. Your enrolment is Valid for 12 Months. Start anytime and study at your own pace.

ASSESSMENT:

A simple 10-question true or false quiz with Unlimited Submission Attempts.

CERTIFICATION:

Upon course completion, you will receive a customised digital “Certificate of Completion”.