Operational level strategies are essential for businesses to remain competitive and profitable. They involve the application and allocation of resources to ensure that all company activities are adapted to the overall objectives. Examples of operational-level systems include automated machines (ATMs) for recording bank deposits, systems for recording the number of hours worked each day by employees in a factory, and inventory management. Quality improvement needs often compete with operational support needs, and computational models and algorithms can be used to control process variables.
Amazon's use of drones for delivery is an example of an operational strategy. In addition, robust optimization approaches can be used to take into account the uncertainty in the demand for operational reserves. Process engineering deals with the optimization of production and operations, which is an important contribution to improving profit margins. Poor inventory management can shut down a factory or cause a supply chain to malfunction, while optimal inventory management at the operational level can improve a company's profits as well as its efficiency.
Most of the existing literature focuses on managing the inventory of end products in manufacturing industries, but other types of inventory are more common in the process industry, such as oil, petroleum products or petrochemical products. At the operational and control levels, software process models provide tools for comparing process improvement proposals. Quality improvement needs often compete with operational support needs and often have a lower priority than them. For example, if some parts of the facility were to change from office space to short-term accommodation, greater fire and personal safety would be needed.
It is also important that security personnel have an adequate understanding of fire safety systems from at least one operational level. To help managers make sound decisions in relation to operations, it is important to analyze the meaning of operational strategy and the types of operations strategies. This includes understanding how to refine processes, reduce costs, and adequately satisfy the market through high-level logistics management. Operational-level strategies are adapted to all company activities and focus on the application and allocation of resources.
