Operations Flashcards
How to choose a supplier?
Price- if the price is reasonable and if you will get a good profit
Reliability- do they have a good reputation and do they deliver on time?
Location- the closer you are to the supplier means less money will be paid out for transport
Quality- high quality will appeal more to customers and will give the business a good image
Trade credit- if the supplier is offering trade credit this means you can pay for the materials later
Describe flow?
A continuous production of the same type of product
Batch?
Sets of products are made- machines are cleaned and reset and a new batch of goods are produced
Job?
One-off products are made for customers
Discuss job
It is time consuming
Job is varied so more interesting for employee, keeps them motivated
Meets most of customers needs than other methods
More expensive than other methods
Discuss batch
time consuming- cleaning and resetting machines
Varied products produced- meeting more of customers wants in comparison to flow
Jobs are varied- not repetitive like flow , customers are motivated
Discuss flow
Fastest method out of the three
Cheap method
Meets less of customers needs in comparison to other methods
Job is boring and repetitive
Employees don’t have to be skilled
Problems with overstocking
Greater chance of theft
Increased storage costs
Costs spent on storage could be spent on other aspects of the business
Products could go out of date/ become unpopular- more wast produced
Problems with under stocking?
Bad reputation created for lack of product availability
Lose out on buying in bulk discounts
What are the three different types of stock?
Raw materials
Finished goods
Goods that are not completed
Describe just in time?
Goods are produced just in time to be delivered to customers
Discuss just in time
Delays in delivery could lead to customer dissatisfaction because no stock to fall back onto
Cash is not tied up in stock
Stock will not go out of date or become unfashionable
Ways to ensure quality goods are produced? (5)
Quality control- products are checked at the end of production
Quality assurance- products are checked at every stage of production
Quality management- Every employee in the business is responsible for the quality of the products
Benchmarking- copying quality of business who is top of the industry
Quality circles- employees will meet in teams and discuss how quality can be improved
Discuss technology in production
No wages have to be paid
Machines could break down
Expensive to maintain/ buy
Handmade goods have a unique selling point
Automation can complete jobs at a consistent high standard
Robots can do dangerous tasks
Can operate 24/7
Quantity of production is higher with automation
Types of technology in operations
E-commerce- business can order goods online- wider range of suppliers
CAD- 3D drawings can be made using this- machines can be programmed to produce it from the design.
CIM- automatically orders materials
