I am working on a study about the differences between definitions of these two terms in the context of service management. All hints will be acknowledged.
I do not realize if there is any recent recent studies dealing with the subject you are talking about, but under my long time experience on the field, on a day by day basis, production term is just related to manufacturing, it means taking raw materials and transforming them into either intermediate or final products using processes established by Engineering. Organization and management of the involved direct people is the key role of this function to ensure effectiveness (direct hours/product unit).
If we add to the manufacturing activities the ones related to planning, supply chain management, on field engineering (on detail drawings, tooling and control tests), quality assurance and final acceptance (issuing the CoC), then we would talk about operations. Within the organization of a company, VP Operations is in charge of production, supply chain, quality and logistics/storage.
Hi, Anton:
Perhaps we can try to understand the differences by looking at whether any relationships matter to production and operations managers?
A recent research study (Riccobono et al., 2014) shifted the focus of production, operations and supply chain management business relationships from the vertical to the horizontal side. The main intent was to provide managerially oriented arguments regarding the linkages between the achievement of operations-related goals and decisions related to horizontal business relationships!
Specifically, the authors addressed the following research question: Does a linkage exist between production and operations objectives and the decisions a company makes about horizontal agreements, particularly horizontal governance mode choice? This study brings interesting results and findings in terms of how and why production management considerations should play a crucial role in the type of strategic decisions that are usually reserved for finance and strategy managers. Operations managers should be fully involved in such decisions if they are to be well acquainted about how their choices impact on operational objectives!
- Riccobono, F., Bruccoleri, M., Harrigan, K. R., & Perrone, G. (2014). Do horizontal relationships matter to production and operations managers?. International Journal Of Production Research, 52(16), 4731-4746.
Hope this helps!
Nadeem
Historically (in my 50+ years in the field), production management was the initial term when the emphasis was on manufacturing. We even had machine tools in the production management class at HBS in 1956-7. By the time I was teaching there in 1965, they were gone. As service sectors became increasingly significant that label did not work because there was no product. So the field was broadened to include services, etc. and the label changed to production and operations management and then to operations management.
production management+operations management=supply chain management
Operations management deals with process of input through a process to an output within the framework of production system while operations research involved designing an integrated syatem of man-machine relationship for greater output through the use of models, mathematical and interdisplinary knowledge.
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