Introduction to Operations Management
MIT Sloan School of Management's introduction to designing, planning, controlling, and improving manufacturing and service operations. Class sessions mix concept explanations, worked examples, and case discussions covering process analysis, quality management, supply chain design, procurement, and product development. Toward the end of the term, students form teams to run a virtual factory through a web-based simulation exercise, applying the course's planning and control concepts under changing demand and constraints. Materials available through MIT OpenCourseWare include lecture notes, case materials, and the simulation exercise itself, offered free under a Creative Commons license with no certificate attached. The course suits anyone wanting a structured grounding in operations concepts used across manufacturing and service industries, taught through MIT's standard case-based format rather than pure theory.