M1-D: Manufacturing strategies, KPI, metrics

Question 1

How can product variety be seen from the Production Environment perspective?

Answer 1

Strong customer position able to influence over the design phase

Question 2

What are the relevant dimensions to decide which Production Environment is best suited for the job?

Answer 2

Product Variety vs. Production Volumes

Question 3

What is the best Production Environment for Medium/High Variety but Medium/Low Volumes?

Answer 3

MTO

Question 4

What is the best Production Environment for High Variety but Low Volumes?

Answer 4

ETO

Question 5

What is the best Production Environment for Medium/Low Variety but Medium/High Volumes?

Answer 5

ATO

Question 6

What is the best Production Environment for Low Variety but High Volumes?

Answer 6

MTS

Question 7

What is the most suited Layout when MTS?

Answer 7

Product based Line or Continuous Flow

Question 8

What is the most suited Layout when ETO?

Answer 8

Project based Fixed position layout

Question 9

What is the most suited Layout when MTO?

Answer 9

Functional Work centers or Batches

Question 10

What is the most suited Layout when ATO?

Answer 10

Functional or Cellular Batches

Question 11

How should a Gas refinery organise its production

Answer 11

Setting up a Continuous Flow layout, organized by product

Question 12

How is typical Lead Time in ETOs?

Answer 12

Long, typically due to Engineering and Job-based procurement

Question 13

What are the Lead Time components for a MTS?

Answer 13

Order release and shipping

Question 14

Does Product Variety also implies Task Variety?

Answer 14

Yes, greater the customizations greater the probability of new activities never done to perform

Question 15

Is there only one viable option when deciding the Production Environment?

Answer 15

No, in such cases all viable alternatives must be benchmarked and sorted in terms of total costs, additional investments and benefits

Question 16

Does MTS produces low inventory costs?

Answer 16

No, producing high-volumes with the purpose stocking, thus without a qualified order attached to each units, creates large cost opportunity risk, obsolescence and carrying costs.

Question 17

What are key-enablers for effective ATO?

Answer 17

Product modularization and components standardization

Question 18

How ATO is achieved?

Answer 18

Building standard components using a MTS approach based on forecasts, then leaving the final “non-return points” such as painting to the receipt of a qualified customer order

Question 19

What is the difference between CTO and ATO?

Answer 19

In CTO is not said that all standard components are manufactured before receipt of a qualified customer order

Question 20

What differs between MTO and ETO?

Answer 20

in MTO the design changes imposed by the customer do not require complete re-engineering activities, but manufacturing might require longer time to apply customizations

Question 21

What is Remanufacturing?

Answer 21

The industrial process of restoring worn-out products into like-new conditions

Question 22

What is the difference between Repairing and Remanufacturing?

Answer 22

In Repaired products, the components that critically failed or reached their EoL are replaced with brand-new ones.

Remanufactured products instead are completely restored to new by means of manufacturing activities

Question 23

Is remanufacturing part of reverse logistics?

Answer 23

Yes

Question 24

When is it possible to try deploying hybrid systems like mass customisations or postponement?

Answer 24

When the supply chain network is mature and flexible enough (flexible capacity) to sustain such advanced production methods

Question 25

What is mass customisation?

Answer 25

Producing high volumes of a large variety of products, balancing the higher costs due to customisation with the large volumes produced. Dell manufacturing process is an example of effective massive customisation

Question 26

What is postponement?

Answer 26

the practise of delaying the customisation step as close as possible to the end of the production process, reducing risk of obsolescence due to production of wrong product bundle. Sometimes achieved by postponing easy last assembling operations to the warehouse facilities, like product labeling in country specific language, country specific power outlet insertion, ect

Question 27

What lowers the cost of production for high volumes environments?

Answer 27

Dedicated, faster manufacturing equipment justified by the high utilizations rate, rather than a general purpose “worked around to do that” piece of equipment which mandatorily is slower than a dedicated one

Question 28

What are the key decisional variables for setting Production Environments and Layouts?

Answer 28

1. Volumes 2. Variety 3. Lead times

Question 29

What makes the delivery lead time?

Answer 29

Is the overall time elapsed between the customer order receipt to “to-the-door” delivery of the product

Question 30

What is the MTO assumption about lead time?

Answer 30

Raw materials availability on site at customer order receipt

Question 31

What is the ATO assumption about lead time?

Answer 31

All standard components availability on site at customer order recepit

Question 32

What is the MTS assumption about lead time?

Answer 32

Finished good inventory availability on customer order receipt

Question 33

What types of Lead time exists?

Answer 33

1. Supplier Lead Time : average order fulfillment time shown by supplier after order release from procurement or planning 2. Procurement Lead Time : the overall ETO lead time elapsed when a NPI or customized project are accepted 3. Purchasing Lead Time :

Question 34

What is a performance standard?

Answer 34

it is the accepted, targeted, expected value for the criterion under a valuation

Question 35

How to monitor performances?

Answer 35

by comparing actual measures with the performance standard

Question 36

what is a tactical plan?

Answer 36

It is the collection of all the developed functional plans like production plan, sales plan, marketing plan, which are used to synchronize activities across all the company functions to support the successful execution of the organizations strategic plan