Operations Research

Due to companies growth there is a need for them to be smarter than ever before. Operations research is the answer to this particular situation. In the current financial climate it’s imperative to know that your business is operating efficiently and that every dollar invested is spent adequately. That being said, as managers, it is not always easy to know which decisions are best for your company.

Operations Research (OR) Defined

Operations Research (OR) considered a sub-field of mathematics dealing with the application of advanced analytical methods to help make better decisions. The term management science and decision science are sometimes used as more modern-sounding synonyms. OR arrives at optimal (or near-optimal) solutions to complex decision-making problems by employing techniques from other mathematical sciences, such as modeling, statistical analysis, and optimization.

Furthermore as a research field, operations research has overlapped with other disciplines, notably industrial engineering and organizational psychology (I/O) mainly due to the emphasis on human-technology interaction and their focus on practical applications. This type of research is often concerned with determining the maximum (of profit, performance, or yield) or minimum (of loss, risk, or cost) of some real-world objective.

Philosophies and Methodology for Operations

Continuous Improvement shares values with Operation’s Research

Total Quality Management
- Focusing on Deming’s 14 rules
Kaizen
- Plan, Do, Check, and Act
Six Sigma
- DMAIC, DMADV and DPSS
Lean Thinking
- Identify Value and Stream, Flow, Pull and Perfection
Theory of Constraints
- Identify Constraint, Exploit Constraints, Subordinate processes and Repeat cycle.