Role of Operations Management

Running head: ROLE OF OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

Role of Operations Management

Role of Operations Management

Operations management, as defined by Chase, Jacobs, and Aquilano (2006), is the design, operations, and improvement of systems that create and deliver a company’s products and services. In other words, any activity that relates to the management of the entire business process that produces goods and services falls into the operations category. Operations management plays a vital role in the operation of a large self-storage facility; from organizational structure and customer service to sales and marketing. This paper identifies the role of operations management in the daily procedures of managing a storage facility and why this role is so important.

Atlantic Self Storage is the largest self-storage facility in northeast Florida, with 45 locations throughout three counties to meet the demands of storage customers within the community. With so many facilities spread over a large distance, Atlantic Self Storage needed to find a way to streamline business practices in order to remain competitive, enhance customer relations, and run efficiently among every facility in the organization.

Operations management within a self-storage facility not only deals with the needs and demands of consumers, but also involves numerous internal processes that aid the company in running efficiently and productively. Issues ranging from employees, accounting, maintenance, competition, and customer service must be handled in a professional and well-organized manner in order to insure that resources are not uselessly wasted throughout the company. Atlantic Self Storage uses operations management to ensure that all processes, both internal and external, run as smoothly as possible to stay in-line with the company’s goals and objectives.

Each storage facility is managed by either a single resident manager, or a resident manager team. These resident managers live on-site,...