New Features:

• Expanded coverage of the supply chain and its management: The Third Edition of Operations Now discusses key functional components of the supply chain and how to adapt and extend the techniques of operations management to management of supply chains. The introductory Chapter 1 now links operations management to supply chain management; Chapter 3 on strategy now includes greatly expanded coverage of supply chain strategy to balance the more traditional coverage of operations strategy; Chapter 6 on quality now includes stronger linkages to supply chain management; Chapter 10 on demand forecasting expands and further integrates coverage of supply chain management; and Chapter 14 on capacity now includes enhanced linkages between capacity and supply chain management. In the previous edition, a single chapter was devoted to supply chain management topics. Operations Now 3e now devotes two entire chapters to the subject:
  
• Chapter 9 “Supply Chain Management” which includes a new section on purchasing
• Chapter 12 “Logistics”, a completely new chapter devoted to logistics and transportation.

Finally, the book now carries a new sub-title reflecting its new emphasis: “Supply Chain Profitability and Performance.”Operations Now 3e is now poised to satisfy those schools that are seeking to include more supply chain coverage in their introductory operations management course or schools that are transforming their introductory operations course into an integrative introductory course covering core topics in both subject areas.

• Selected chapters thoroughly revised and updated. Chapter 3, “Strategy and Value”, Chapter 4, “Processes”, Chapter 7 “Quality Tools”, and Chapter 9 “Supply Chain Management” have each been thoroughly revised and updated according to reviewer recommendations and new developments in the field.
• End-of-Chapter problems and test bank questions linked to AACSB guidelines. In response to increasing demand on the part of business schools that course objectives and assessment material reflect and correspond to AACSB curriculum guidelines, the instructor’s/solutions manual and the test bank accompanying Operations Now indicate which chapter objectives, end-of-chapter questions and problems, and test-bank questions link up with and conform to AACSB guidelines. Objectives, problems and test questions that fulfill one or more of these guidelines are identified by an icon designating the guideline that the objective or question fulfills. ( A separate icon for each guideline is included; the instructor’s resource manual includes a key that matches each icon to each AACSB guideline.)
• Enhanced Pedagogy: A number of new pedagogical features have been added to the new edition of Operations Now to make it even more student-friendly and to offer the instructor additional ease and flexibility with assignments and reinforcement of key concepts. Among these enhancements are:
• Advanced problems. The Second Edition contained 50% more problems than the First Edition. The Third Edition adds still more problems, this time of a new category, thus increasing not only the number but also the variety of problems. “Advanced Problems” are now included at the end of every chapter where quantitative analysis is required. These problems are more integrative, and require more effort in terms of extracting and identifying relevant information, thereby giving students more opportunities to hone and refine their problem-solving skills.
• Application cases. The Second Edition of Operations Now included two categories of cases: Video Cases, to be analyzed in conjunction with the OM videos supplied on the accompanying DVD, and Interactive Cases, to be analyzed in conjunction with the java-based models and simulations offered on the DVD and website. A third category of case study, entitled “Application Cases” has been added to the Third Edition. These cases, of a more traditional nature, do not reference assets on either the DVD or OLC but instead offer a more complex scenario for the student to address and provide recommendations about.
• Solved problems. Although previous editions of the book contained an example of and solution of each type of problem introduced in the book, with a corresponding annotated Excel spreadsheet, found on the DVD and website, that illustrated how each of these example problems could be solved in Excel, reviewers indicated they wanted end-of-chapter solved problems as well. The Third Edition maintains the examples with solutions found in earlier editions of the book, but adds a section of solved problems at the end of each relevant chapter. There is a solved problem for each type of problem in the chapter. The solved problems are explained in a step-by-step fashion.
• Callbacks. With the Second Edition, chapter-opening vignettes were introduced, each of which presented a real company faced with a business dilemma or scenario that had special relevance to the conceptual material contained in that chapter. The Third Edition further integrates these vignettes into the body of the chapter through the use of a “Callback” icon. The icon is placed in the margin of the texts at those points in the narrative where the topic being discussed has particular relevance to the chapter opening vignette. Accompanying the identifying icon is a short gloss, placed directly beneath the icon, describing how the vignette relates to the conceptual material in the narrative.
• Subtitles added to chapter names. Subtitles have been added to the titles of each chapter in order to better describe chapter content.
• Solutions to selected problems now available to students. At the request of reviewers, the Third Edition will provide students with complete solutions to selected problems in the text. The selected solutions will appear on the student edition of the Online Learning Center. As with previous editions, solutions to all the problems will be available only to instructors, found either on the Instructor’s Resource CD ROM or on the password-protected instructor’s edition of the OLC.