Area Of Study 3

Question 1

What is the importance of operations management

Answer 1

• rely on sales of customers to satisfy key objectives, profit, market share or return owners investment.
• manager responsible for influence on quality, cost and availability.

Question 2

What are the key elements of an operations system

Answer 2

Inputs, transformation processes, outputs

Question 3

Inputs

Answer 3

Are the resources used in production. These include: machinery, equipment, and human labour of employees.

Question 4

Processes

Answer 4

Are the tasks and activities performed in order to convert inputs to an output.

Question 5

Outputs

Answer 5

Are the final good or service which are offered on sale to customers. Outputs are produced after an input has gone through processes to convert.

Question 6

Lean manufacturing

Answer 6

• systems put in place to eliminate waste at every stage.

- detecting inefficiencies and correcting them.

Question 7

Operations functions in relation to objectives

Answer 7

Striving to be efficient and competitive and how operations can achieve this. Influencing quality, cost and availability of goods or services.

Question 8

Tangible

Answer 8

Tangible is the ability to hold a product physically. Tangible items must then be stored and handled with majority of manufacturing not requiring customer input.

Question 9

Intangible

Answer 9

Intangible includes services which can not be physically held. An example of intangible services is a haircut as the customer must be present for service to be conducted.

Question 10

Manufacturing firm

Answer 10

Transforming inputs into tangible products that can be handled and stored before sold to customer.

Question 11

Service firm

Answer 11

Transform inputs into services by performing tasks that involve the customer. Services are intangible and can’t be touched or stored.

Question 12

Operations management

Answer 12

The responsibility of managers engage to production of goods or services. It is concerned with overseeing the process that transforms resources into finished goods and services to satisfy customer demands.

Question 13

What are the four strategies that operations managers can use to optimise operations ?

Answer 13

1. Facilities design and layout
2. Materials management
3. Management of quality
4. Use + extent of technology

E

Question 14

Facilities design and layout

Answer 14

• equipment / machinery
• positioning / placement
• developing efficient floorplan
  Considering the placement of all equipment, machinery and resources used in production process or providing a service. They should plan to allow for the best use of physical space that allows for the most efficient production method.

Question 15

Types of layout - fixed position layout

Answer 15

When large scale items are delivered on site to each project. An example of fixed position layouts include the construction of buildings or aircrafts.
Advantage : not storing all delivered to one place.

Question 16

Types of layout - process layout

Answer 16

Eg. Rip curl

Deals with high varieties of products by grouping activities, equipments and machinery of similar function together.

Question 17

Productivity

Answer 17

Amount of output produced compared to a set amount of inputs. It can be used as a measure to efficiency in the way an LSO uses it resources.

Question 18

Business competitiveness

Answer 18

LSO’s have a number of competitors as they attempt to generate sales from customers. As a result they must be able to compete particularly in the area of cost and quality.

Question 19

Competing on cost

Answer 19

Being able to reduce the cost of making the product/ providing service or generate more outputs using machinery of technology.

Question 20

Competing on quality

Answer 20

Providing the best product or service to satisfy customer demand. This can be achieved by using quality inputs from suppliers. Attempting to reduce defects and put in quality checks.

Question 21

Why product / service is important

Answer 21

= income/ sales = profit

Question 22

Improving productivity

Answer 22

Reducing the amount of inputs required or increase amount of outputs through use of technology and machinery

Question 23

Define Facilities Design and Layout

Answer 23

Operations Managers should consider the placement of all equipment, machinery and resources used in the production process or in providing a service. They should plan to allow for the best use of physical space that allows for the most efficient methods of production.

Question 24

Define fixed position layout

Answer 24

Large scale items which are delivered on site to each project. An example of fixed position layout is the construction of buildings.

Question 25

Advantage / disadvantage of fixed position layout

Answer 25

Advantage : no storing, all delivered to one place

Disadvantage : having to pack up all resources before the end of every day is time consuming

Question 26

Process layout Define

Answer 26

Deals with high varieties of products by grouping activities, equipment, and machete of similar function together. An example of a process layout is rip curl and the production of their t shirts

Question 27

Define Management Quality

Answer 27

Is important to reduce or eliminate imperfect or defective items before they reach the customer. This will reduce the number of customer complaints, products returned and unsatisfied customers.

Question 28

Define quality control

Answer 28

Checking products at different stages of operations system. If they do not meet standards they will be sold as seconds.

Question 29

Quality Assurance

Answer 29

Building quality into work process to avoid defects before they occur. This will involve external assessment agencies which can provide a competitive edge.

Question 30

Total quality Management

Answer 30

All members of the LSO focus on continuous, ongoing improvement in organisational culture and processes. Commitment and priority by all employees to quality.

Question 31

Define materials management

Answer 31

Involves ensuring there are enough raw materials, parts or stock to make the product or provide a service in the quantity required and within time to meet sales. This will consider the availability and delivery of parts from suppliers and storage of parts and finished products.

Question 32

Define just in time

Answer 32

Ensures that exact amounts of material inputs arrive only as they are needed in the operations process. This is to ensure no resources go off or are wasted and save storage space.

Question 33

Supply chain management

Answer 33

Management of the range of suppliers from which the organisation purchases materials and resources. Involved not only assessing the location in terms of distance but also the coinciding factor of delivery efficiency. Consideration must also be made about the production of their supplies which influence the quality of final product.

Question 34

Master production scheduling

Answer 34

What is to be produced and when. It is a scheduling linked to specific delivery dates or contracts for further delivery.

Question 35

Materials requirment planning

Answer 35

Involves developing optimised lists of all materials involved in production to meet specific orders.

Question 36

Define technology

Answer 36

Involves the use of computers, automation and use of devices that replace tasks that were traditionally completed by human alone. These can be in the areas of design and the support of delivering a service.

Question 37

Technology design

Answer 37

Computer aided design (CAD) and computer aided manufacturing (CAM) where software devices tasks that at performed eg car manufacturing.

Question 38

Robotics

Answer 38

Highly specialised forms of technology capable of complex tasks. Mostly used in manufacturing eg. Building a car.

Question 39

Technology in service firm

Answer 39

• online and Internet bookings or surveys
• online ordering
• integration of table and mobile phone

Question 40

Technology in manufacturing

Answer 40

• less defects
• eliminates human error
• work for longer periods
• consistent
• cost effective in long run as they don’t require leave holidays or superannuation.