What are the impact of computers and robotics on productivity ?

The impact of computers and robotics on productivity :

1. Automation

The total or near total use of machines to do work

2. Robotics

- The use of programmable machines to perform a variety of tasks by manipulating materials and tools

- Robots work quickly, accurately, and steadily

- Robots are effective in tedious, repetitious, and hazardous tasks

3. Computer manufacturing systems

Computer-aided design (CAD)

Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM)

Computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM)

4. Continuous Process.

A manufacturing process in which a firm produces the same product(s) over a long period of time

5. Flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) 

A single production system that combines electronic machines and computer-integrated manufacturing.

6. Intermittent process

A manufacturing process in which a firm's manufacturing machines and equipment are changed to produce different products

7. Technological displacement

Automation cuts manufacturing time, reduces error, and simplifies retooling procedures

-Many robots work with humans to make jobs safer and easier

-Automation will bring change to many jobs; many workers will have to retrain or seek jobs in other sectors of the economy

Summarize how technology can make American firms more productive and competitive in the global marketplace.

Summarize how technology can make American firms more productive and competitive in the global marketplace.

Productivity is the average level of output per worker per hour. From 1979 to 2011, U.S. productivity growth averaged a 4.2% increase. More specifically, productivity in 2011 increased 2%. Although a 2% increase was lower when compared to our average productivity growth over the 1979 to 2011 time period, 11 other nations that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks each year had larger growth in productivity than the United States.

Several factors must be considered if U.S. firms are going to increase productivity and their ability to compete in the global marketplace.

Automation, the total or near-total use of machines to do work, has for some years been changing the way work is done in factories. A growing number of industries are using programmable machines called robots. Computer-aided design, computer-aided manufacturing, and computer-integrated manufacturing use computers to help design and manufacture products.

A flexible manufacturing system (FMS) combines electronic machines and CIM to produce smaller batches of products more efficiently than on the traditional assembly line. Instead of having to spend vast amounts of time and effort to retool the traditional mechanical equipment on an assembly line for each new product, an FMS is rearranged simply by reprogramming electronic machines.

An FMS is sometimes referred to as an intermittent process.

Explain how purchasing, inventory control, scheduling, and quality control affect production.

Explain how purchasing, inventory control, scheduling, and quality control affect production.

The major areas of operations control are purchasing, inventory control, scheduling, and quality control.

Purchasing involves selecting suppliers. The choice of suppliers should result from careful analysis of a number of factors, including price, quality, reliability, credit terms, and shipping costs.

Inventory control is the management of stocks of raw materials, work-in-process, and finished goods to minimize the total inventory cost.

Scheduling ensures that materials and other resources are at the right place at the right time.

Quality control guarantees that products and services are produced in accordance with design specifications. The major objective of quality control is to see that the organization lives up to the standards it has set for itself on quality. A number of different activities including quality circles, inspection, total quality management, and six sigma can be used to encourage employee participation and to improve quality.

Discuss the components involved in planning the production process.

Discuss the components involved in planning the production process.

Planning for production involves three major phases:

• design planning, 
• site selection and facilities planning, and 
• operational planning. 

First, design planning is undertaken to address questions related to the product line, required production capacity, and the use of technology.

Then production facilities, human resources, and plant layout must be considered. Operational planning focuses on the use of production facilities and resources.

The steps for operational planning include

1. selecting a planning horizon,
2. estimating market demand,
3. comparing market demand with capacity, and
4. adjusting production of products or services to meet demand.

Describe how research and development leads to new products and services.

Describe how research and development leads to new products and services.

Operations management often begins with product research and development and often referred to as R&D. The results of R&D may be entirely new products or services or extensions and refinements of existing products or services.

R&D activities are classified as basic research (aimed at uncovering new knowledge), applied research (discovering new knowledge with some potential use), and development and implementation (using new or existing knowledge to produce goods and services).

If a firm sells only one product or provides only one service, when customers quit buying the product or service, the firm will die. To stay in business, the firm must, at the very least, find ways to refine or extend the want-satisfying capability of its product or service.

Understand the importance of service businesses to consumers, other business firms, and the nation's economy.

Understand the importance of service businesses to consumers, other business firms, and the nation's economy.

The application of the basic principles of operations management to the production of services has coincided with the growth and importance of service businesses in the United States. Today of American workers are employed in the service industry. In fact, the American economy is now characterized as a service economy.

For a service firm, planning often begins with determining who the customer is and what needs the customer has. After customer needs are identified the next step is to develop a plan that will enable the firm to deliver the services that their customers want or need.


Although it is often more difficult to measure customer satisfaction, today's successful service firms work hard at providing the services customers want. For example, compared with manufacturers, service firms often listen more carefully to customers and respond more quickly to the market's changing needs.

Outline how the conversion process transforms raw materials, labor, and other resources into finished goods or services.

Outline how the conversion process transforms raw materials, labor, and other resources into finished goods or services.

A business transforms resources into goods and services in order to provide utility to customers. Utility is the ability of a good or service to satisfy a human need. Form utility is created by people converting raw materials, finances, and information into finished products.

Conversion processes vary in terms of the major resources used to produce goods and services (focus), the degree to which resources are changed (magnitude of change), and the number of production processes that a business uses.

Explain the nature of production.

Explain the nature of production.

Operations management consists of all the activities that managers engage in to create goods and services.

Operations are as relevant to service organizations as to manufacturing firms.

Today, U.S. companies are forced to compete in an ever-smaller world to meet the needs of more-demanding customers. As a result, U.S. manufacturers have used innovation to improve productivity.

Because of innovation, fewer workers are needed, but those workers who are needed possess the skills to use automation and technology.

In an attempt to regain a competitive edge, manufacturers have taken another look at the importance of improving quality and meeting the needs of their customers. They also have used new techniques to motivate employees, reduced costs, used computer-aided and flexible manufacturing systems, improved control procedures, and used green manufacturing.

Competing in the global economy is not only profitable but also an essential activity that requires the cooperation of everyone within an organization.

A number of career options are available for employees in operations management.