The 4 Ms of

Operation
A POWERPOINT PRESENTATION FROM GROUP 3
The operations plan is an
important part of the business
plan because it simply states
the details in operating the
business. Operations
management, on the other
hand, controls the
implementation of the business
plan.
A strong operations plan should
have the four operational
aspects, called, The 4 Ms of
Operation.
 4 Ms Operation #1

Methods
The methods aspect represent the day-to-day
operation of a business. It describes how an
entrepreneur will run the business from all facets
of the business such as manufacturing of goods,
service delivery process, distribution of goods and
services, logistics for delivery of goods, and
inventory management, to name a few.
The Entrepreneur must also set standard
operating procedures (SOPs) both in
manufacturing goods and rendering of
services. These SOPs must be monitored to
validate compliance. The entrepreneur
must also critically consider the effects of
these processes to the environment and to
the public.
Manufacturing of goods (Schaper and
Volery, 2004)

The entrepreneur who will engage his

or her own products will have to consider
the basic guidelines and principles in
manufacturing. Manufacturing is the
process of translating raw materials into
finished goods that are acceptable to the
costumer’s standards.
It consists of three elements:

• Inputs- the materials or ingredients to be used in

creating the product.
• Process- the transformation phase where inputs
were processed by manpower and machines to
come up with the final product.
• Output- The final product of the process stage,
which is intended to be sold to target costumers.
Example
The entrepreneur must also consider the most efficient
manufacturing site in which the manufacturing process will
take place. Depending on the entrepreneur’s objective and
financial capacity, he or she can opt to have any of the
following manufacturing sites:

• Home-based- this option is the cheapest and highly

flexible. Most start-ups do not have the capacity to establish
a manufacturing site.
• Commercial space for rent- this advisable if the
business really requires a commercial space for the
processing of goods and if the home option is not viable
anymore. It gives the entrepreneur a more specialized and
• Commercial space purchase- This option requires
the biggest amount of capital expenditure, but it also
provides the entrepreneur substantial freedom and
flexibility to design and run the commercial space.
Compared with renting, purchasing commercial
space is considered more of an investment than an
expense.
LOCATION-for delivery of raw materials and finished
goods, the transportation routes from manufacturing site
should be efficient. It should be accessible to major types
of transportation vehicles. It must operate in an
environmental-friendly manner.

INTERNAL LAYOUT/FLOOR PLAN- affects efficiency of

business operations. Each space should be maximized to
save on manufacturing cost.
Product-based layout- facilities are
prearranged according to the flow of the
manufacturing operations.

Process-based layout- facilities are

grouped according to their function.
MANUFACTURING PROCESS

FLOW- a step by step guide of the employees

and the manufacturing equipment. The
objective of The Process flow is to ensure that
the right inputs are properly used in production,
that the process is performed according to the
set standards, and that the acceptable outputs
are produced.
4 Ms #2