Midterm Descriptive Questions Flashcards
List any four competitive priorities of an organization. State practices that organizations follow to achieve each competitive priority. Provide an illustrative example of an organization for each competitive priority.
i. Cost: Focus is on process standardization and waste elimination. Organizations minimize wastes such as excess inventory, motion, over- processing, transportation, defects, and over-production. By better and accurate demand forecasting and sharing information with supply chain partners, organizations can take accurate decisions based greater visibility and transparency. Supplier involvement and partnership practice is high. (Students may describe examples of southwest airlines or Toyota or Wal-Mart as discussed in class).
Ex: Explain how Southwest Airlines competes on cost
i. Product Innovation: The ability to introduce new products and features into the marketplace. Focus is mainly on product design. Inclusion of suppliers in the new product development process, many a times the suppliers have vital inputs to improve the design or process of the new product. Cross functional design is also instrumental in improving product design. (examples such as electronic industry which has new innovations every few months)
Ex: Explain how companies such as Apple, Sony, etc. compete on product innovation
i. Quality: Mention and describe the key elements of total quality management in Ch2 (powerpoint - slide 15). Also mention that organizations utilize statistical process control (SPC) (also called as statistical quality control or SQC) and six-sigma techniques to minimize the variation in the process and in turn manufacture quality products. (can give an example of any company and what it is doing to compete on quality) [Key Elements - Customer-satisfaction (top priority, cust. defines qlty.), Leadership and commitment (Top Management / supervisors), Strategic plan (to achieve long-term org. goals on qlty.), Employee empowerment / participation (Toyota, Ritz Carlton), Training and education (Ritz Carlton, SQC, Qlty. tools & techniques), Continuous improvement (use Kaizen, PDCA - workforce driven C.I over Mgmt. driven periodic improvement, suggestion programs), Employee Cooperation (eliminate barrier betn. depts., involvement / participative prob. solving)]
Ex: Explain how Ritz Carlton Hotel competes on Quality
i. Flexibility and speed (also called as ‘responsiveness’): Refer to Ch 1 powerpoints. Four practices that are key here are using product modularity (explain what it means) (ex: computers, automobiles, furniture,); use of technology and information technology (explain: the use of Computer aided design or CAD to aid quick and efficient product design and testing; use of computer aided manufacturing or CAM for quick and flexible manufacturing; supplier partnerships (explain: enter into strategic suppliers partnerships to synchronize the individual operations by information sharing and supplier input on vital business decisions such as quality improvement, new product development, minimizing costs, and improving customer responsiveness); use of cross functional teams within organizations to include team members from functions like operations (manufacturing, materials management, supply chain, purchasing, and transportation), design, marketing, and finance, to speedup the decision making process. (can give examples of DELL, intel, and others as discussed in class). [Key elements - modular products/standardized processes/parts, IT/Tech. use (CAD/CAM), small lot size mfg., reduced set-up time, quick m/c changeovers – lean manufacturing, FMS, SCM practices, cross functional teams, close customer/supplier relationships]
Ex: Explain the example of Toyota or any other company competing on flexibility
1) Briefly explain with examples three strategic decisions in operations pertaining to products.
i. Make to order: products and services are designed, produced, and delivered based on customer specifications (or orders). (ex: custom built homes, fashion apparel, legal/medical/financial services, etc.)
ii. Make-to-stock: products and services are produced in bulk or large quantities to be stored in the inventory, and later sold based on customer demand. Advantages include product standardization and low cost. Disadvantages include lack of product customization. (ex: automobiles, FMCG – fast moving consumer goods – such as soaps, detergents, paper napkins, books, ready to wear apparel, etc.)
iii. Assemble to order: products and services are produced by assembly of a finite number of modules / parts, which when combined/assembled lead to large number of end products. Advantages of high product customization in minimum time. (ex: computers, fast food - subway, etc., furniture)
1. Explain project, batch, mass, and continuous manufacturing processes using the following criteria for each: (8 Points) i. Type of product ii. Product demand iii. Demand Volume iv. Product Variety v. Equipment vi. Worker skills vii. Advantages viii. Disadvantages
Answer: Refer to Table 6.1 (pp. 228 – 9th Ed.)
