Module 8 • Operations management


furniture, medical and other industries. A major difference between textiles and clothing is that the former is capital-intensive and clothing is labour- intensive. Textiles need vast sums to create a job. Clothing may need no more than working capital. Overprotection in this sector, as elsewhere in the economy, may protect existing jobs in the capital-intensive industries but at the expense of many more potential jobs in downstream ones.


The report is designed to protect jobs. But its mix of frozen and slow-motion reform may end up by destroying more jobs than it creates.


Questions: 1. According to the article, why is the textile industry not competitive? 2. What role is government protection playing in this industry and why? 3. What do capital- intensive and labour-intensive mean?


Types of management decisions to improve productivity


Workforce management Lay-out


Production and staffing plans


Inventory management and control


Competitive choices How should we lead, motivate, hire and train our employees?


How should we physically arrange inputs (people, material and equipment) in the transformation process?


What should be our output rates and staffing levels for the next three months?


What are the best methods of reducing inventory wisely?


Should our emphasis be on low price, high quality design, fast delivery time, or many product choices?


IMPORTANT Make it easy to make/provide the goods or services without error. Measuring productivity


Two methods are used to measure productivity; these are labour productivity and total factor productivity. Labour productivity measures output per hour in a plant, industry or a nation. Total factor productivity includes labour inputs, plus plant and equipment inputs, energy inputs and material inputs.


The following are examples of the many productivity ratios used: 1. Units produced per day, week or month Kilowatt hours of electricity per day, week or month


2. Units produced per day, week or month Direct production labour hours per day, week or month


3. Units produced per day, week or month Defective units produced per day, week or month


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