Planning and Control

Question 1

Difference between planning and control

Answer 1

Planning is something intended to happen in the future.

Control is process of coping with these types of change.

Question 2

Dependent/independent demand

Answer 2

Dependent: Operations can predict demand which is dependent on another known factor. Operations start after firm order

Independent: Need to supply future demand without knowing. Stock more (volume or specific needs are not known).

Question 3

P:D ratios

Answer 3

The ratio between total length of time customers has to wait and total throughput time from start to finish. The larger P:D ratio, the more speculative the operation’s planning will be.

Question 4

Throughput time

Answer 4

How long the operation takes to design, obtain resources, create and deliver a product.

Question 5

Loading: Finite and infinite

Answer 5

Amount of work that is allocated to a work center
Finite: Allocates work up to a set limit. T.ex. for safety reasons
Infinite: Does not limit accepting work, instead tries to cope with it. T.ex. fast-food restaurants, hospitals

Question 6

Sequencing types

Answer 6

Due date, customer priority, FIFO, LOT, SOT

Question 7

How to maintain speed, dependability and cost by sequencing

Answer 7

Dependability–>Due date
Speed–>Minimize time the job spends in the process
Cost–> Minimize work in progress inventory, minimize idle time of work centers

Question 8

Scheduling types

Answer 8

Gantt charts–> Visual representation both of what should be happening and of what is happening. Not an optimizing tool
Forward scheduling–> High labor utilization, flexible
Backward scheduling–>Lower material costs, less exposed to risk if changes by customer

Question 9

Monitoring & control

Answer 9

A method kanban: Operationalizing pull control. It’s a card used by a customer stage to instruct its supplier stage to send more items

Question 10

Push & pull control

Answer 10

Push: Always work without considering whether it’s usable

Pull: The demand triggers the movement

Question 11

Drum, buffer, rope

Answer 11

Bottleneck approach:
Drum: Sets the beat for the rest of the process.
Bufffer: Infront of the drum, should always work.
Rope: The communication between bottleneck and the input so the activities before the bottleneck do not overproduce