Operations

Question 1

What are the key elements of operations?

Answer 1

Purchasing - what inventory to buy, how much to buy & who to buy from.
System design - Factory layout, efficient flow & staff roles.
System operations - Controls flow of inventory, sufficient storage & appropriate storage.

Question 2

what are the three stages in an operating system?

Answer 2

Input - Raw materials and labour
Process - Inventory and quality checks.
Output - Actual services and good produced.

Question 3

What purpose does inventory management have?

Answer 3

Anticipate running out of inventory before it happens.
Ensure product lines run.
Control admin costs.

Question 4

What are the Inventory levels?
(Think of diagram)

Answer 4

Max Level - the max amount of inventory that the business will hold.
Min level - lowest level inventory can fall to with no shortages.
Reorder level - when inventory should be ordered so doesn’t fall below min.
Lead time -time form ordering materials to them arriving.

Question 5

What is Electronic Inventory Management?

Answer 5

Using bar codes or QR codes to track inventory form when its dispatched to when it arrives to the customer.
This is also the equipment that is used at tills when you buy a products and will register it to the warehouse.

Question 6

What are the benefits and costs that electronic inventory management brings to an organisation?

Answer 6

Benefits - allows automatic reordering, reductions on human errors, highlights change of demand form customers & alerts of theft.
Costs - money could be used elsewhere, labour costs, insurance and warehouse fees & risk of value of inventory.

Question 7

What is Just In Time (JIT) and explain the advantages and disadvantages?

Answer 7

JIT is an inventory control system where inventory is ordered jut before its needed.
Pros - reduces storage costs, less wastage, theft reduced & responsive to customer demand.
Cons - loss of bulking buying discounts, high admin and delivery costs & could be delays in delivery.

Question 8

Warehouses advantages and disadvantages.

Answer 8

A warehouse is where finish products are held until ready to be distributed.
Pros - large amount of inventory can be held & easier access for deliveries.
Cons - expensive to run energy-rent-security & could be located in a rural area.

Question 9

Centralised storage advantages and disadvantages.

Answer 9

Storing inventory in one single location in a large warehouse.
Pros - specialised staff & speed and security will be improved.
Cons - high costs, unresponsive to local needs & decline due to JIT.

Question 10

Decentralised storage advantages and disadvantages.

Answer 10

Storing inventory where its needed it more smaller warehouses.
Pros - always close, responsive to local needs & cant over stock.
Cons - Wastage or theft & may under stock.

Question 11

What is logistic Management ?

Answer 11

The finished product and how it gets to the customer.

Question 12

What are the three main factors of logistic management?

Answer 12

Packaging - should protect the product and look appealing.
Storage - How the product is stored.
Distribution/Transportation - road (high costs but can go anywhere), rail (declining use), water (cant deliver on land) and air (high costs but fast).

Question 13

What are the five methods of production?

Answer 13

Job production
Batch production
Flow production
Labour intensive production
Capital intensive production

Question 14

What is job production?

Answer 14

When a product is completed start to finish by one person.
Pros - Customer specifications, high prices for high quality.
Cons - Expensive, takes a long time, requires specialist skills.

Question 15

What is batch production?

Answer 15

Repeated jobs where one is finished before staring another.
Pros - can change to fit the customer, raw materials bought in bulk.
Cons - Mistake results in whole batch being ruined.

Question 16

What is flow production?

Answer 16

When an item goes from stage to stage getting added to it.
Pros - Quality system can be built, machinery can work through night, less labour costs.
Cons - Setup costs high, product cant be customised.

Question 17

Labour intensive production

Answer 17

Production made using human labour usually used by smaller businesses and quality.
Pros - can be creative, unique products, training requirements.
Cons - training takes time, mistakes can happen.

Question 18

Capital intensive production

Answer 18

Product process relies on machinery and mistakes can happen.
Pros - work 24/7, fewer employees and standard quality.
Cons - expensive if breakdowns, customisation difficulties.

Question 19

What benefits does quality bring to an organisation?

Answer 19

Increases customer satisfaction.
Improves reputation.
Increases customer loyalty.
Retailors will be happy to stock a good quality production.
Increase sales and profits.

Question 20

What are the three main areas relating to quality in production?

Answer 20

Supplies necessary for production.
The production process itself.
Customer service.

Question 21

What is quality control?

Answer 21

When quality inspectors test each product or a batch, these are train to detect defaults.

Question 22

What are quality assurance?

Answer 22

All staff have responsibility for checking products this prevents defects from occurring.

Question 23

What is quality circles and what are the advantages and disadvantages?

Answer 23

Groups of workers who come together at regular intervals to discuss how to resolve any problem.
Pros - team work in encouraged, employees feel values.
Cons- a steering committee needs to be set up, everyone must show commitment.

Question 24

What is a benchmark and what are the advantages and disadvantages?

Answer 24

Comparing one organisation to the other to research the ‘best practise’.
Pros - studying competitors, motivating workers.
Cons - not easy to get information, what works for one might not work for another.

Question 25

What is quality management?

Answer 25

This is when the entire organisation has responsibilities for the management, they aim to provide consistent, high quality products.

Question 26

What is the importance of customer service?

Answer 26

Physical appearance
Durability and reliability
After-sales service
Company reputation
Value for money

Question 27

How can a business be socially responsible?

Answer 27

Staff treatment - they need to treat staff fairly in terms of wages and working conditions.
Minimising wastages - A business plan to cut all waste allows the public to see them caring for the environment.
Minimise packaging - there can be new rules to make sure most of it can be recycled.

Question 28

Packaging must follow what environmental regulation?

Answer 28

Keep it to a minimum
Non hazardous packaging
Recyclable packaging
Biodegradable packaging
Reusable packaging

Question 29

What are the advantages and disadvantages of ethical trade?

Answer 29

Pros - Attracts customers, Attracts new material segments, Employees want to stay (reduces staff turnover), Attracts investors
Cons - Expensive to get materials friendly materials, Training can be expensive, time consuming to start process.

Question 30

EPOS in operations advantages and disadvantages?

Answer 30

EPOS can be used to maintain a database of their stock records, these can also show detailed reports with sales and purchase history.
Pros - Tighter control of stock levels.
Cons - Expensive to purchase and maintain.

Question 31

What is a database?

Answer 31

These can be used to record supplier details or items of inventory. You can search and sort as well as use it to locate certain items.

Question 32

What is a computer-aided design (CAD) and the advantages and disadvantages?

Answer 32

This is used when designing an item before its manufactured, it can help create or modify designs and create 3D models.
Pros - Ideas can be saved, modified and 3D printed.
Cons - The initial expense is high. staff need to be trained.

Question 33

What is computer-aided manufacture (CAM) and the advantages and disadvantages?

Answer 33

This is machinery controlled so a reduction on human errors.
Pros - Produces constant results, high accuracy, can run 24/7.
Cons - Can be be expensive, staff need to be trained.