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.