Operations Flashcards
What is meant by added value
The difference between what a business spends to produce its goods or services, and the price that customers are prepared to pay
What are the ways to add value
- Branding
- Promoting
- Increasing price
- Adding new features or variants
What is Job production
When individual products are made one at a time to meet specific customer preferences
What is Batch production
A method used to produce similar items in groups, stage by stage
What is flow production
A continues and uninterpreted method of production, flow production connects a series of workstations into an assembly line
What are the advantages of job production
- High quality product
- Customized orders, better customer satisfaction
- Workers involved in entire production process, increasing motivation
- Premium pricing
Disadvantages of job production
- Production costs are likely to be high
- Longer Production time, smaller output
- High machinery costs, as specialist equipment is needed
Advantages of Batch production
- Allows flexible production
- Inventories of part-finished goods can be stored and completed later
Disadvantages of batch production
- Making many small batches can be expensive
- If production runs are different there may be additional costs and delays in preparing equipment
Advantages of Flow production
- Low storage costs due to low inventory levels
- Benefits from economies of scale, as these business are usually large
- Lower transportation costs, short distances
Disadvantages of Flow production
- High initial costs of machinery to set up the business
- A lack of flexibility, as all products need to be identical or fairly similar
- Employees may become bored or demotivated due to their limited range of tasks
Why are high productivity levels important to a business
- Enables businesses to keep their costs per unit as low as possible
- Ensures employees are doing their job and that your not wasting money on labor
What is meant by productivity
Being more productive means the same input, such as the number of workers, produces more output, over the same period of time
Calculation for productivity
Output produced over a time period
_________________________________
Number of employees
Ways to improve productivity
- Increase motivation
- Invest in employee training
- Better communication
What is meant by capacity
The maximum output that a business can produce in a given period with the available resources
What is meant by capacity utilisation
A measure of the level to which a business assets are being used to produce output, it compares current output to the maximum possible output a business can produce using all of it’s assets
Capacity utilisation calculation
Current output
____________________ X 100 = %
Maximum output
What is the ideal rate of capacity utiliasation
90% as this allows for adaption and change, as well as not overworking employees and equipment
What is CAD
Computer Aided Design - Enables firm to design and test products on screen without building a physical prototype
What is CAM
Computer Aided Manufacturing - The use of computer software to control machines and produce goods by lifting, cutting and moving materials
What are Robotics
A field of engineering that deals with the design, construction, operation, and application of robots. Robots are often used in manufacturing and other industrial settings to perform tasks that are repetitive or dangerous
What is information technology
The hardware and software used to create, store, transmit, manipulate, and display information and data
What are the advantages of technology in operations
- Higher productivity
- Stronger security
- Competitive advantage