Question 1

What is Batch production?

Accepted Answer

a method that involves completing one operating at a time on all units before performing the next -bread production and furniture making

Question 2

What is Capital intensive?

Accepted Answer

production methods that make more use of machinery relative to labour

Question 3

What is the definition of Capital productivity?

Accepted Answer

the amount of output each unit of capital (e.g. one machine) produces

Question 4

What is Cell production?

Accepted Answer

involves producing a family of products in a small self-contained unit (a cell ) within a factory - furniture manufacture

Question 5

What is division of labour?

Accepted Answer

specialization in specific tasks or skills by an individual

Question 6

What is downsizing?

Accepted Answer

the process of reducing capacity, usually by laying off staff

Question 7

What is efficiency?

Accepted Answer

producing a level of output where average cost is minimised

Question 8

What is Flow production?

Accepted Answer

large-scale production of a standard product, where each operation on a unit is performed continuously one after the other, usually on a production line - e.g. car manufacture

Question 9

What is job production?

Accepted Answer

a method of production that involves employing all factors to complete one unit of output at a time e.g. ship building and construction to making birthday cakes

Question 10

What is Kaizen?

Accepted Answer

a Japanese term that means continuous improvement

Question 11

What is Labour intensive?

Accepted Answer

production methods that make more use of labour relative to machinery

Question 12

What is meant by labour productivity?

Accepted Answer

the amount of output each unit of labour (e.g. one worker) produces

Question 13

What is lean production?

Accepted Answer

an approach to operations that focuses on the reduction of resources use

Question 14

What is outsourcing?

Accepted Answer

giving work to subcontractors to reduce costs

Question 15

What is production?

Accepted Answer

the transformation of resources into goods or services

Question 16

What is the definition of productivity?

Accepted Answer

the output per unit of input per time period

Question 17

What is Specialisation?

Accepted Answer

in business, the production of a limited range of goods

Question 18

What is standardisation?

Accepted Answer

using uniform resources and activities or producing a uniform product

Question 19

What is production?

Accepted Answer

- Production takes place when resources, raw materials or components, are changed into finished products. - Land, labour, capital and enterprise are used in the production process. - The use of land, and a tractor, to grow crops is an example of primary production. - Secondary production would be the assembly of parts to make a car in a factory. - A large part of our economy operates in the tertiary industry. This is defined as ‘bringing a product into being’, ie retail sales and the sales of services such as banking and hair dressing.

Question 20

What are the advantages of job production?

Accepted Answer

- quality is high because workers are skilled - Workers are well motivated because work is varied - What is Products can be custom made - Production is easy to organise

Question 21

What is the disadvantages of job production?

Accepted Answer

- high labour costs due to skilled workers - production may be slow - long lead times - a wide range of specialist tools may be needed - generally an expensive method production

Question 22

What is advantages of batch production?

Accepted Answer

- workers are likely to specialise in one process - Unit costs are lower because output is higher - Production is flexible since different orders can be met - more use of machinery is made

Question 23

What is disadvantages of batch production?

Accepted Answer

- more complex machinery may be needed - Careful planning and co-ordination is needed - Less motivation because workers specialize - If batches are small, costs will still be high - Money may be tied up in work-in-progress

Question 24

What is the advantages of flow production?

Accepted Answer

- Very low unit costs due to economies of scale - output can be produced very quickly - modern plant and machines can allow some flexibility - production speed can vary according to demand

Question 25

What are the disadvantages of flow production?

Accepted Answer

- products may be too standardised - huge set-up costs before production can begin - worker motivation can be very low -repetitive tasks - Breaks in production can be very expensive

Question 26

What are the advantages of cell production?

Accepted Answer

- Less space needed as no need for linear production lines - Product flexibility improved as areas can adapt their production to meet customization requests - Team working encouraged as the cell productivity will improve - Allows pooling of skills workers with particular skill sets can be put to work in areas suiting them

Question 27

What are the disadvantages of cell production?

Accepted Answer

- limiting aspirations people may feel they are 'locked in their cell' and cant move to other, particularly in low skilled cells - Loss of awareness workers may feel isolated from other teams and as such not feel part of the organisation - Waiting on other cells there will be times where production from one cell is required for another to work, delays affect whole business

Question 28

What is productivity?

Accepted Answer

- Productivity measures the output, per unit of input, per time period. - Therefore, output can be increased if productivity is raised. If more can be produced in the same period, or with the same raw materials, then this will make the business more efficient. - Productivity is measured in 2 ways: - Labour Productivity - Capital Productivity

Question 29

How do you calculate labour productivity?

Accepted Answer

labour productivity = number of units produced/ number of workers

Question 30

What can labour productivity calculation tell you?

Accepted Answer

- By monitoring this measure you can assess the ongoing efficiency of your workforce. - Whilst this is helpful as a measure of productivity, there are drawbacks. Unless each worker is producing units individually, with no external input, how do you identify the more efficient workers in a group? - How do you know which workers to include? All staff, or just the ones involved in the process?

Question 31

How do you calculate capital productivity?

Accepted Answer

capital productivity = number of units produced/ units of capital

Question 32

What can the capital productivity calculation tell you?

Accepted Answer

- It can be easier to identify the productivity of each unit as usually machines can have built in counters that we collate information on production as it goes. Scrap would need to be deducted from this total. - It would be expected that newer machines would be more efficient, but the business would have to weigh up the cost of the machinery versus the increased output levels

Question 33

How is productivity linked to competitiveness?

Accepted Answer

If a business can raise productivity, then this means it can produce more output with the same levels of resources. ie workers can produce more in the same time or you can produce more units from the same raw materials, or both. The UK has a very poor record on productivity, this is being said to influence our overall competitiveness, particularly in a post Brexit market.

Question 34

What factors influence productivity?

Accepted Answer

-Specialization and division of labour - Education and training -Motivation of workforce working practices -Labour flexibility -Capital productivity

Question 35

How does specialisation and division of labour influence productivity?

Accepted Answer

- focusing on certain products/markets - better in that area and more productive

Question 36

How does education and training influence productivity?

Accepted Answer

- more trained workforce --> produce more quickly - learning new processes and machines

Question 37

How does motivation of workforce influence productivity?

Accepted Answer

- motivation = happier - more productive - longer, faster and better workforce

Question 38

How does working practices influence productivity?

Accepted Answer

- trying new processes and practices to increase productivity --> if some workers come up with a quicker process they get rewarded -- ( can lead to more motivation) - Kaizen - Marginal gains

Question 39

How does labour flexibility influence productivity?

Accepted Answer

- shift pattern or turning the machines off at night and on in the morning - more efficent if going 24/7 or longer

Question 40

How does Capital productivity influence productivity?

Accepted Answer

- machines productivity - are they more productive then humans - buy a more efficient machines - production vs. machines costs

Question 41

What is the definition of Capacity Utilization?

Accepted Answer

the use that a business makes of its resources.

Question 42

What is Excess or Surplus Capacity?

Accepted Answer

when a business has too many resources, such as labour and capital, to produce its desired level of output.

Question 43

What is Full Capacity?

Accepted Answer

the point where a business cannot produce any more output.

Question 44

What is Mothballing?

Accepted Answer

leaving machines, equipment or building space unused, but maintained, so they could be brought back into use if necessary.

Question 45

What is Over-utilization?

Accepted Answer

the position where a business is running at full capacity and ‘straining’ resources.

Question 46

What is Rationalization?

Accepted Answer

reducing the number of resources, particularly labour and capital, put into the production process, usually undertaken because a business has excess capacity.

Question 47

What is Under-utilization?

Accepted Answer

the position where a business is producing at less than full capacity.

Question 48

What is Capacity Utilisation?

Accepted Answer

- Capacity Utilisation is the use the business makes of its resources. - If a business is not able to increase output, it is said that they are running at full capacity, and its capital utilisation will be at 100%. - If a business is able to increase more output and use up more of it’s resources than it currently is, it is said to have excess, surplus or unused capacity. - Businesses aren’t all able to work at full capacity all of the time, so therefore they aim to operate as close to capacity as possible, at 90% for example. - In some cases businesses choose to operate at less than full capacity to make themselves more flexible.

Question 49

How do you Calculate measuring capital utilization?

Accepted Answer

Capacity utilisation can be measured by comparing actual or current output with the potential output at full capacity. Capacity Utilisation = Actual Production Level/Maxium Production Level x 100

Question 50

What are the implications of under-utilization?

Accepted Answer

- A business may be under-utilising capacity if it has experienced a drop in demand, for example it may have lost customers to a market competitor. - Some businesses have to deal with seasonal demand where at certain times of year the demand is expected to be low. - There are both drawbacks and benefits of under-utilisation, and these will be discussed more in the following slides

Question 51

What are Drawbacks of Under-utilization?

Accepted Answer

- If a business is working with under-utilised capacity it will not be making the most of its resources. - It may be working inefficiently because its unit costs are not minimised. - Operating with too much spare capacity may also affect the morale of workers, this is because they may feel as if the business is struggling to generate orders and therefore this may make them feel insecure in their jobs. - If workers become accustomed to a ‘light’ workload, they may resent working harder if the business suddenly gets more orders.

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2.4 Resource management Flashcards

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