Chapter 8

Question 1

Facility layout

Answer 1

refers to the specific arrangement of physical facilities.

Question 2

process layout

Answer 2

consists of a functional grouping of equipment or activities that do similar work.

Question 3

product layout

Answer 3

is an arrangement based on the sequence of operations that is performed during the manufacturing of a good or delivery of a service.

Question 4

cellular layout

Answer 4

the design is not according to the functional characteristics of equipment, but rather is based on self-contained groups of equipment (called cells) needed for producing a particular set of goods or services.

Question 5

fixed-position layout

Answer 5

consolidates the resources necessary to manufacture a good or deliver a service, such as people, materials, and equipment, in one physical location.

Question 6

Flow-blocking delay

Answer 6

(or blocking delay) occurs when a work center completes a unit but cannot release it because the in-process storage at the next stage is full.

Question 7

Lack-of-work delay (starving)

Answer 7

occurs whenever one stage completes work and no units from the previous stage are awaiting processing.

Question 8

assembly line

Answer 8

is a product layout dedicated to combining the components of a good or service that has been created previously.

Question 9

Assembly-line balancing

Answer 9

is a technique to group tasks among workstations so that each workstation has—in the ideal case—the same amount of work.

Question 10

Cycle time

Answer 10

is the interval between successive outputs coming off the assembly line.

Question 11

job

Answer 11

is the set of tasks an individual performs.

Question 12

Job design

Answer 12

involves determining the specific job tasks and responsibilities, the work environment, and the methods by which the tasks will be carried out to meet the goals of operations.

Question 13

Job enlargement

Answer 13

is the horizontal expansion of the job to give the worker more variety–although not necessarily more responsibility.

Question 14

Job enrichment

Answer 14

is vertical expansion of job duties to give the worker more responsibility.

Question 15

Ergonomics

Answer 15

is concerned with improving productivity and safety by designing workplaces, equipment, instruments, computers, workstations, and so on that take into account the physical capabilities of people.