Operations Rules: Delivering Customer Value through Flexible Operations

by David Simchi-Levi

An expert offers a set of rules that will help managers achieve dramatic improvements in operations performance.In recent years, management gurus have urged businesses to adopt such strategies as just-in-time, lean manufacturing, offshoring, and frequent deliveries to retail outlets. But today, these much-touted strategies may be risky. Global financial turmoil, rising labor costs in developing countries, and huge volatility in the price of oil and other commodities can disrupt a company's entire supply chain and threaten its ability to compete. In Operations Rules, David Simchi-Levi identifies the crucial element in a company's the link between the value it provides its customers and its operations strategies. And he offers a set of scientifically and empirically based rules that management can follow to achieve a quantum leap in operations performance.

Flexibility, says Simchi-Levi, is the single most important capability that allows firms to innovate in their operations and supply chain strategies. A small investment in flexibility can achieve almost all the benefits of full flexibility. And successful companies do not all pursue the same strategies. Amazon and Wal-Mart, for example, are direct competitors but each focuses on a different market channel and provides a unique customer value proposition—Amazon, large selection and reliable fulfillment; Wal-Mart, low prices—that directly aligns with its operations strategy. Simchi-Levi's rules—regarding such issues as channels, price, product characteristics, value-added service, procurement strategy, and information technolog—-transform operations and supply chain management from an undertaking based on gut feeling and anecdotes to a science.

Genres: Business

253 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 24, 2010

Reviews

[abigail garrison · Rating 1 out of 5]

0 stars. genuinely hate business books. never in my life have I ever been so bored by the topic of supply chains. all of the theory bogged down any real throughts and there was a lack of general substance from any of the company cases. i just don't think that every single supply chain issue has 4-5 different characteristics that all NEED to be evaluated. this book was such a bad read but i had to for class :)

[Derek · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although it doesn't cover every concept in Operations 101, this is a great book which covers some of the most important ideas in the field. I most like the way David blended operations, business, and IT considerations and highlighted how they interact.

The book is dry. However, executives who understand these concepts are at an advantage over those who don't.

[Cedric Crumbley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful supply chain journey. I enjoyed the in-depth case studies. Plus the supply chain terms reminded me of college classes trying memorize supply chain terminology. This book is a lot easier to read than my college textbook.

[Michael Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. Mix between operations and strategy for the C suite. Perhaps a good book for someone not exposed to either.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

While definitely written for very large organizations, there were some good insights for smaller businesses as well - particularly the sections on IT, considerations for 'greening' a business, and the listing of barriers to success. A bit dry, but let's face it, operations management isn't the sexy end of most businesses.

[Suinda Estévez]

Es un excelente libro de las reglas básicas de las operaciones de manufactura. No se basa en fórmulas elobaras ni análisis numéricos complejos, sino en hacer entender cómo funciona la operación, con algunas básicas