Over recent years, a range of new information technologies has been Assignment

Over recent years, a range of new information technologies has been introduced to retail supply chains, with the promise of more - Assignment Example They include: Customer care Just in time Kaizen Total Quality Management (TQM) For operation manager, it is important to understand the need of these concepts and their impact for the success of overall business. These concepts can also be significant for enhancing employee morale and creating customer loyalty. Further, they can assist in providing direction to the company for its future planning. The role of operations manager is to oversee the manufacturing concern of the organization along with the successful implementation of these concepts. This paper discusses the implementation of the above-mentioned two concepts in form of Information Technology and Consumer Satisfaction. Moreover, a detailed discussion has been presented related to integrating technology for operations and business challenges confronted by retailer in terms of technology. Implementation of Information Technologies in Operation Management of Retail Industry The management of operations and information technol ogy in an integrated manner along with their strategic alignment is vital for business models in order to achieve success. Excellence in operational activities is the key driver to performance, which is driven by information. Information technology helps in redefining the probable business operations and models across various industries, providing new space for interactions, new channels and markets. Information technology is fundamental part of developing new products, managing customer relationships, designing new organizations and achieving operational success. Operations Management provides techniques and tools to evaluate, improve and place firm's operation in such a way that it best fits the competitive strategy, financial constraints and marketing priorities of the firm. It provides a link to successful execution and strategy. It helps in managing businesses such as capacity utilization, six sigma quality, inventory turns and order to delivery. Inventory Management The purpos e of inventory management is to balance the uncertainty in quantity demand and quantity supply. Inventory should be kept in a way that on demand side, it meets the cyclical demand, prospective demand and fluctuant demand. On supply side, it should maintain the operations of equipment and machinery and should prevent shortages (Loar, 1992). Before the advent of information technology in 1970s, companies used to stock up the surplus inventory to meet the uncertainty as well as flow of material. The cost of money was relatively lower than now, therefore companies could afford to pay for excess inventory in order to buffer against uncertainty and fluctuation in the part of procurement, production and distribution, which are three major stages in process of material flow. However, the increased cost of management since 1970s compounded the focus of asset productivity and contributed to increased attention to inventory management. As a result, number of different methodologies emerged whi ch includes MRP, JIT, Lean Six Sigma etc. (Loar, 1992). The advent of information technology has made the inventory management processes more proactive that companies nowadays can time phase the planning of inventory to minimize the impact of uncertainties. The advancement of information technology has given rise to higher possibility of enhancement in performance. The future demands inventory managem