Below is a collection of Operations Haiku, a poem made up of three phrases with 5, 7, and 5 syllables, respectively. Many of which are contributed by my students in the undergraduate operations management course.
Plan schedule control,
operations management,
inputs into goods.
When in a process,
one step affects another,
not isolated.
Managing supplies,
so very complicated,
demand keeps changing.
Buy a new machine,
decrease utilization,
let’s make some money.
One, what’s the mission,
two, manage the bottleneck,
three, forecast demand.
“The Simulation”
Capacity blocks,
the profit is hurting now,
more stations needed.
Efficiency and control,
both in a line,
good operation.
Order fulfillment,
make-to-stock, make-to-order,
consider trade-offs.
Teamwork is crucial,
inaction is an action,
late shipments you see.
Bottlenecks hinder,
causing the process to linger,
this needs a thinker.
Increase your throughput,
eliminate bottlenecks,
watch your profits soar!
The “Goal” Haiku
Efficient robots,
make operations faster,
Jonah disagrees.
To operate well,
we need good management teams,
and no bottleneck.
Thanks Professor Lim,
for sharing all your knowledge,
you’re the very best!
Find the bottleneck,
adjust your operations,
reap the benefits.
The number one goal,
manage your operations,
profits will follow.
Look at the system,
composed of many pieces,
works in harmony.
