7 Why did U s, managers ignore the operations side of the business for so long? B What role should operations management play in an organization's strategy? 9 How does an organization's use of projects affect its operations system? PLANNING OPERATIONS precede control As we have noted in several places throughout this book, planning must we need to Therefore, before we can introduce operations management control Lechrtiques, review a few of the more important decisions related to planning operations Four key decisions-capacity, location, process, and layout-provide the lorg-terru strategic direction for operations planning They determine the proper size of an operating system, where the physical facilities should be located, the best methods for transforming inputs into outputs, and the most effeient layout of equipment and work stations. Once these decisions have been made, three short-term decisions the aggregate plan, the r ter schedule, and a materials requirements plan-need to be established. These provide th o tactical plans for the operating system. In this section, we'n review these seven types planning decisions(Figure 18-3)