The supply chain management part of business can be oriented towards detail and difficult to realize what employees actually do. There are many things that an operations manager of a company is charged with completing. For example, a person in operations could be responsible for putting together a Houston Contract Warehouse, so the company he/she works for can store their products there and possibly ship them from there as well. Then, maybe someone else from Operations at the storage facility would be in charge of the Houston Fulfillment, meaning they would keep track of the inventory in the unit. Below is a list of responsibilities of a person who works in the supply chain management part of a company:

1. These people make decisions about how the product will be manufactured such as where, when, and how to use the machines to make the product. The Operations team would have the ability to determine when it is most cost effective to use the machines and how much should be put through the machines each day. Then, as far as the machines, this group of employees would figure out how to run everything as efficiently as possible in order to keep up with inventory needs and management requirements.

2. Another responsibility that falls on Operations is the decision about the best way to transport inventory. For example, an Operations is charged with figuring out if a truck, airplane, boat, or train is the most cost efficient and product efficient way to ship the items. This all depends on how much the product cost to make, the areas it will be taken to, and the cost of each transport option. For instance, it would most likely be best to ship clothing to China on plane because fashions go out of style quickly and the product probably cost a lot to make, both of which most likely easily outweigh the cost of the airplane to take the items.

3. Operations make decisions about how much of the product to keep in stock. It costs money to keep inventory because it cost money to create the item, so it is worth money. The more something cost to make and the longer you hold it in inventory, the more money is wasted. It is important to keep some kind of inventory, but you do not want to face a stock-out and risk upsetting either another business customer or a consumer. So, deciding on inventory levels to keep can be a very difficult task. Some companies find it is most effective to bring inventory in “Just-In Time” which means the products are shipped literally, just in time to be sold or used to build another product. A lot of car companies use this Operations decision because it is easier than keeping expensive automobile parts around that could easily be broken or misplaced if not used right away.

4. Finally, operations managers and employees must choose where and how they will keep inventory. This decision depends on what the product is meant for. For example, a grocery item like ice cream would need to be kept in a very cool environment before making it to the grocery or the ice cream shop.

The decisions made by an Operations team are absolutely essential to a business. Without people involved in Operations a company could not run because none of the products would ever get to the customer without these people.