Operations Management at QLS Level 3

The course will explore the theory and practice of the following broad areas, all of which are fundamental to operating effectively in a business environment:

Section 1 – Management introduction

• What management is
• The roles of a manager
• Five key theories of motivation
• Organisational structures

Section 2 – Operations Management

• The concept of resources
• How operations management is relevant to smaller organisations
• What operations management is
• How operations management is relevant to the business as a whole
• Key methods and theories of how operational decisions are made
• The relevance of operations management to quality, customer service and working with suppliers
• The uses of technology in operations management

Section 3 – Strategic Management

• What strategic management is within an organisation
• How it relates to operations management
• The drivers of strategy including five key models of strategic management.
• Strategic performance tools

Section 4 – Process Design

• The objectives of process design
• Design and the environment
• Types of processes (batch, high volume etc.).
• The concept of the product process matrix
• Process mapping
• How to improve existing processes

Section 5 – Capacity Planning

• What capacity planning is
• Why it is important and how it is different in different industries
• Forecasting fluctuations in demand over the long and short terms
• Mathematical models
• Three specific models of capacity planning

Section 6 – Inventory Management

• What inventory is
• How different sectors have different ideas of inventory
• The analysis of volume against cost
• Mathematical concepts
• The re-ordering of goods

Section 7 – Supply Chain Management

• Suppliers to the business
• How to develop a supply chain
• How to choose suppliers
• Methods of procurement
• The benefits and drawbacks of global sourcing
• Supply chain behaviour

Section 8 – Lean Operations and JIT (Just in Time)

• How they can be utilised in practice
• The Lean philosophy
• Value stream mapping and its four key stages
• JIT techniques including factory layout, TPM, SMED etc.

Section 9 – People Management

• The structure of organisations
• The nature of control and communication within organisations
• Recruitment including interview techniques, advertising, psychometric testing etc.
• The resolution of grievances
• Training, motivation and rewards

At the end of this course successful learners will be given the option to receive a Certificate of Achievement from the Quality Licence Scheme and a Learner Unit Summary (which lists the components the learner has completed as part of the course).

The course has been endorsed under the Quality Licence Scheme.  This means that Kendal Publishing Ltd has undergone an external quality check to ensure that the organisation and the courses it offers, meet defined quality criteria. The completion of this course alone does not lead to a regulated qualification* but may be used as evidence of knowledge and skills gained. The Learner Unit Summary may be used as evidence towards Recognition of Prior Learning if you wish to progress your studies in this subject. To this end the learning outcomes of the course have been benchmarked at Level 3 against level descriptors published by Ofqual, to indicate the depth of study and level of demand/complexity involved in successful completion by the learner.

The course itself has been designed by Kendal Publishing Ltd to meet specific learners’ and/or employers’ requirements which cannot be satisfied through current regulated qualifications.   The Quality Licence Scheme endorsement involves robust and rigorous quality audits by external auditors to ensure quality is continually met.  A review of courses is carried out as part of the endorsement process.

The Quality Licence Scheme is part of the Skills and Education Group, a charitable organisation that unites education and skills-orientated organisations that share similar values and objectives. With more than 100 years of collective experience, the Skills and Education Group’s strategic partnerships create opportunities to inform, influence and represent the wider education and skills sector.

The Skills and Education Group also includes two nationally recognised awarding organisations; Skills and Education Group Awards and Skills and Education Group Access. Through our awarding organisations we have developed a reputation for providing high-quality qualifications and assessments for the education and skills sector. We are committed to helping employers, organisations and learners cultivate the relevant skills for learning, skills for employment, and skills for life.

Our knowledge and experience of working within the awarding sector enables us to work with training providers, through the Quality Licence Scheme, to help them develop high-quality courses and/or training programmes for the non-regulated market.

*Regulated qualification refers to those qualifications that are regulated by Ofqual / CCEA / Qualification Wales

Paper Based Version

The course comes to you as a paper-based pack delivered by courier.

You will be given guidance through the Study Guide on the nuts and bolts of studying and submitting assignments.

Postal assignments cannot be accepted without prior permission from the tutor.

Online Version

Our online courses are fully digitised versions of the paper-courses, so you can study on any PC or smart device when connected to the internet.

As with the paper course, your online learning programme is completely flexible, so you can study at a pace that suits you.

All of our online course content is broken down into bite size chunks to make your learning more manageable and effective.

The course contains a number of assignments which your tutor will mark and give you valuable feedback on. We call these Tutor Marked Assignments (TMAs). You need only send the TMAs to your tutor for comment, not the self-assessment exercises which are also part of the course to help you gauge your progress.

This course can be taken over a 12 month period but you can complete it as fast or as slowly as you wish.

You will have access to a tutor via email who will mark your work and guide you through the course and will assist you with any problems you may have. In addition you will be supplied with a comprehensive Study Guide which will help you through the study and assessment process.