This highly respected book presents strategic and managerial issues in order to emphasize that the decisions made by operations managers should be consistent with a corporate strategy shared by managers in all functional areas. It presents the operations tools and techniques for solving problems in the context of achieving a firm's overall goals and strategies, and provides a balanced treatment of manufacturing and services throughout. The book blends the latest in strategic issues with proven analytic techniques, and offers a wealth of interesting examples to engage readers and bring Operations Management to life. This sixth addition adds an increased emphasis on processes, to provide linkage between operational issues, as well as new problem-solving software and a website with innovative Internet resources. Other coverage includes operations as a competitive weapon, operations strategy, managing technology, total quality management, statistical process control, capacity, location, layout, supply-chain management, forecasting, inventory management, aggregate planning, resource planning, lean systems, and scheduling. For operations managers in a variety of fields.