How will automation affect operations management practices over the Research Paper

How will automation affect operations management practices over the next decade - Research Paper Example Automation is classified into three categories depending on the purpose; firstly, automation that performs duties beyond human capability or human operators cannot accomplish task within desired duration. The second is automation of duties that human operators perform poorly, and finally, automation of risky or undesirable activities (Singh, Tiwari & Singh, 2009, p.9). Essentially, automation has reduced the number of human resource in operation; similarly, it has reduced human interaction. Further, the cost of automation is very high and requires specialized workers to handle and maintain these systems. Besides, the benefits of automation, there are process that cannot be easily automated. Automation will fuel development of more customized products and shorten production duration. Furthermore, through automation, higher quality goods will be produced as a result of improved product and process design. Some processes will became fully automated, thus requiring minimal human supervis ory control. Similarly, automation will have profound effects on management of human resource and other operations. Essentially, automation will affect the organizational structure by shrinking management levels. This paper will explore how automation will affect designing of products and services and operational processes used to create goods and services over the next decade. Similarly, the paper also outlines the possible effects of automation on other operations management practices such as controlling, planning, and management. How Automation will affect design of products, Services, and operation processes Design in operation management encompasses design of products, services and the operation process. Design automation that is actively evolving... The growth rate of automation is increasing at a high rate due to international competition and availability of skilled labor and capital. Besides, automation is significant because it can lead to higher quality products and higher productivity. Automation is geared to solving a specific problem, thus the problem determines the level of automation. Furthermore, automation helps to performs duties beyond human capability or human operators cannot accomplish within desired duration, or even those duties that human operators perform poorly or/and risky and undesirable activities. Automation will affect product design and process design in future. Design automation, which is actively evolving, will result in development of technology that will automate the design of products from concept design, through design layout and detail design. Primarily, design automation will cut the process duration and increase productivity. Generally, design automation impacts development process in that it speeds design process by 30 percent. Additionally, automation will result in greater levels of customization of products and facilitate faster product designing. Furthermore, customers will access products of higher quality due to improved product designs and processes. Similarly, the operation processes will evolve to be more specialized and subjected to more formal operating controls. In addition, automation will help managers to improve the planning process by aiding in decision-making. Through easy to use and accurate decision support tools, better planning mechanisms will be utilized, hence promote productivity of organizations. Such tools will eliminate human biases and hasten the decision making process.