Operation Management Reflection Paper

The assignment is a reflection paper that discusses the thought process behind an action plan for producing kidney dialysis fluid. The author considers factors such as quality, cost, storage, and market potential, and suggests ways to improve the production process through automation and research and development.

Running head: OPERATION MANAGEMENT REFLECTION PAPER 1
Operation Management Reflection Paper
Name
Institutional Affiliation

OPERATION MANAGEMENT REFLECTION PAPER 2
Management operation: thought process behind an action plan
The process of brainstorming on a plan to make kidney dialysis fluid was mainly based
on quality, cost, and storage. Questions asked in the action plan sought to answer quality and
availability expectations for not only the patients but also the hospitals and dialysis centers,
which are target as the market for the product. In my view, the target market was also a
consideration since it is important to know how substantial the target market is and if it can
support the business once operations begins. This consideration would include hospitals known
to have dialysis machines and any specialized knowledge needed in the operation. Common
complications arising from dialysis like anemia, low blood pressure and fluid retention were also
studied for the possibility of research and development coming up with a fluid concentration
causing less related complications (Biernacki & Pittsburgh, n.d).
We also addressed the availability of delivery schedules with consideration for any
necessary pre-dialysis periods by the hospital and to plan production volumes, which would
determine required technology and it, cost, a factor, which would be included in the budget to be
presented to potential investors (Symons & Goldstein, 2011). Production personnel required
would help in the knowledge of which steps in the production process could be automated. In
addition, we also believed that it would help to approximate the number of employees needed,
including the average expected salary, which would form part of the budget. Knowledge of raw
materials would influence location of production industry based on the cost and difficulty of their
transportation. Because being cost effective is one of the goals in doing business, the cheaper
method of storage, which is hiring a warehouse whose maintenance would be the owner’s
responsibility was chosen.

OPERATION MANAGEMENT REFLECTION PAPER 3
I believe this approach would also help in searching for potential suppliers and think of
suitable ways to test supplies for quality. Before any production plant is set up, it must adhere to
standards set by environmental organizations and follow all set legal procedures by the
government.
In my opinion, I presume that improving the process would mean to make it much faster
and possibly with better results. Automation is a precise, fast, and labor-intensive way of
improving the process and can be applied to quality assurance, mixing, and size reduction
processes.
We gathered our information from medical journals on the dialysis process, optimal
composition of the fluid, complications arising from dialysis, and the defined limits of what
dialysis can and cannot do. After this research, we discovered that there is room for improvement
in this field and that the process is very delicate, requiring precise amounts of its different
components. Each individual in the tutorial group was assigned a facet of the report, which they
were to analyze in depth.
The best primary system definition assumed in our inquiry is that of ‘a system to define
chemical inputs to achieve a predicted chemical product’, which means that the various
components were defined by their specific measurements and used to make the kidney dialysis
fluid. However, an alternative definition which would apply is ‘a system to define chemical
inputs to improve a predicted chemical product’, which in this case meant that as much as
production of a dialysis fluid has a standard formula, through research and development we
intend to create a similar or better product using different means.

OPERATION MANAGEMENT REFLECTION PAPER 4
Bibliography
Biernacki, A., & Pittsburgh. (n.d). Kidney care begins with kidney smart. Retrieved March 18,
2018, from Divata Kidney Care.
Symons, J. M., & Goldstein, S. L. (2011). Pediatric Renal Replacement Therapy in the Intensive
Care Unit. In Pediatric Critical Care. Elsevier Inc.
Hemodialysis, A. (2006). Clinical practice guidelines for hemodialysis adequacy, update 2006.
American journal of kidney diseases: the official journal of the National Kidney
Foundation, 48, S2.
Block, G. A., Raggi, P., Bellasi, A., Kooienga, L., & Spiegel, D. M. (2007). Mortality effect of
coronary calcification and phosphate binder choice in incident hemodialysis patients.
Kidney international, 71(5), 438-441.