Chapter 7

Question 1

Custom, or make-to-order, goods and services

Answer 1

are generally produced and delivered as one of a kind or in small quantities, and are designed to meet specific customers’ specifications.

Question 2

Option, or assemble-to-order, goods and services

Answer 2

are configurations of standard parts, subassemblies, or services that can be selected by customers from a limited set.

Question 3

Standard, or make-to-stock, goods and services

Answer 3

are made according to a fixed design, and the customer has no options from which to choose.

Question 4

Projects

Answer 4

is a temporary and often customized initiative that consists of many smaller tasks and activities that must be coordinated and completed to finish the entire initiative on time and within budget.

Question 5

Job shop processes

Answer 5

are organized around particular types of general-purpose equipment that are flexible and capable of customizing work for individual customers.

Question 6

Flow shop processes

Answer 6

are organized around a fixed sequence of activities and process steps, such as an assembly line, to produce a limited variety of similar goods or services.

Question 7

Continuous flow processes

Answer 7

create highly standardized goods or services, usually around the clock in very high volumes.

Question 8

product life cycle

Answer 8

is a characterization of product growth, maturity, and decline over time.

Question 9

product-process matrix

Answer 9

is a model that describes the alignment of process choice with the characteristics of the manufactured good.

Question 10

pathway

Answer 10

is a unique route through a service system.

Question 11

Customer-routed services

Answer 11

are those that offer customers broad freedom to select the pathways that are best suited for their immediate needs and wants from many possible pathways through the service delivery system.

Question 12

Provider-routed services

Answer 12

constrain customers to follow a very small number of possible and predefined pathways through the service system.

Question 13

service-encounter activity sequence

Answer 13

consists of all the process steps and associated service encounters necessary to complete a service transaction and fulfill a customer’s wants and needs.

Question 14

task

Answer 14

is a specific unit of work required to create an output.

Question 15

activity

Answer 15

is a group of tasks needed to create and deliver an intermediate or final output.

Question 16

process map (flowchart)

Answer 16

describes the sequence of all process activities and tasks necessary to create and deliver a desired output or outcome.

Question 17

process boundary

Answer 17

is the beginning or end of a process.

Question 18

value stream

Answer 18

refers to all value-added activities involved in designing, producing, and delivering goods and services to customers.

Question 19

Reengineering

Answer 19

has been defined as “the fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical, contemporary measures of performance, such as cost, quality, service, and speed.”

Question 20

Utilization

Answer 20

is the fraction of time a workstation or individual is busy over the long run.

Question 21

throughput

Answer 21

is the amount of money generated per time period through actual sales.

Question 22

bottleneck

Answer 22

is the work activity that effectively limits the throughput of the entire process.

Question 23

Flow time, or cycle time

Answer 23

is the average time it takes to complete one cycle of a process.