Abstract
Industrial production has always been a propulsion element in any economy, be it from a perspective of value-creation, employment potential, or its impact on sustainability and technological innovation; the ability to manage operations and supply chain is therefore a key skill for a company’s competitiveness. If this has always been true, today as never before, in a world hit hard by a medical emergency first, and then by economic and social ones, the reflection on the most appropriate management practices in manufacturing has become a central element for individual companies, entire sectors and countries. The ability to analyze the need of change in the operations and to select and implement appropriate choices can only be based on robust approaches of analysis and diagnosis of manufacturing systems, the measurement of the current and prospective performance, and the knowledge of the foundations of Operations and Supply Chain Management. This book is written from the perspective of those who – be it a young student, a master participant, a manager or entrepreneur – are interested in approaching the main methods and practices of Operations and Supply Chain Management to improve company’s performance. Accordingly, the text is characterized by a managerial point of view, accompanied by multiple quantitative insights and examples of application of the main tools and algorithms illustrated.