Topic 1- Intro to operations and productivity

Question 1

What Operation Managers Do

Answer 1

1. Planning
2. Organizing
3. Staffing
4. Leading
5. Controlling

Question 2

Ten Critical Decisions

Answer 2

1. Design of goods and services
2. Managing quality
3. Process and capacity design
4. Location strategy
5. Layout strategy
6. Human Resources and job design
7. Supply-chain management
8. Inventory, MRP, JIT
9. Scheduling
10. Maintenance

Question 3

1. Design of goods and service

Answer 3

What goods and services should we offer?

How should we design these goods and services?

Question 4

Managing Quality

Answer 4

How do we define quality?

Who is responsible for quality?

Question 5

Process and capacity design

Answer 5

What process and what capacity will these products require?

What equipment and technology is necessary for these processes?

Question 6

Location Strategy

Answer 6

Where should we put the facility?

On what criteria should we base the location decision?

Question 7

Layout Strategy

Answer 7

How should we arrange the facility?

How large must the facility be to meet our plan?

Question 8

Human resources and job design

Answer 8

How do we provide a reasonable work environment?

How much can we expect our employees to produce?

Question 9

Production

Answer 9

is the creation of goods and services

Question 10

Operations management (OM)

Answer 10

is the set of activities that create value in the form of goods and services by transforming inputs into outputs

Question 11

Marketing

Answer 11

generates demand

Question 12

Production/operations

Answer 12

creates the product

Question 13

Finance/accounting

Answer 13

– tracks how well the organization is doing, pays bills, collects the money

Question 14

Why Study OM?

Answer 14

1. OM is one of three major functions of any organization. We want to study how people organize themselves for productive enterprise
2. We want (and need) to know how goods and services are produced
3. We want to understand what operations managers do
4. OM is such a costly part of an organization

Question 15

Supply-chain management

Answer 15

Should we make or buy this component?

Who should be our suppliers and how can we integrate them into our strategy?

Question 16

Inventory, material requirements planning (MRP), and JIT

Answer 16

How much inventory of each item should we have?

When do we reorder?

Question 17

Intermediate and short–term scheduling

Answer 17

Are we better off keeping people on the payroll during slowdowns?
Which jobs do we perform next?

Question 18

Maintenance

Answer 18

How do we build reliability into our processes?

Who is responsible for maintenance?

Question 19

New Challenges in OM

From- To

Answer 19

Local or national focus – global focus
batch shipments – just-in -time
low bid purchasing–supply chain partnering
lengthy product development- rapid product development, alliances
standard products- mass customization
job specialization– empoer employees, teams

Question 20

New Challenges in OM: Local or national focus

Answer 20

global focus

Question 21

New Challenges in OM :batch shipments

Answer 21

just-in -time

Question 22

New Challenges in OM:low bid purchasing-

Answer 22

supply chain partnering

Question 23

New Challenges in OM:lengthy product development-

Answer 23

rapid product development, alliances

Question 24

New Challenges in OM:standard products

Answer 24

mass customization

Question 25

New Challenges in OM:job specialization

Answer 25

empoer employees, teams

Question 26

Characteristics of Goods

Answer 26

Tangible product
Consistent product definition
Production usually separate from consumption
Can be inventoried
Low customer interaction

Question 27

Characteristics of Services

Answer 27

Intangible product
Produced and consumed at same time
Often unique
High customer interaction
Inconsistent product definition
Often knowledge-based
Frequently dispersed

Question 28

New Trends in OM

Answer 28

Ethics
Global focus
Environmentally sensitive production
Mass customization
Empowered employees
Supply-chain partnering
Just-in-time performance

Question 29

outputs

Answer 29

goods and services

Question 30

inputs

Answer 30

resources such as labour and capital used

Question 31

productivity ratio

Answer 31

output/input

Question 32

single factor productivity

Answer 32

output/ labour

Question 33

multifactor productivity

Answer 33

output/ labour+ material+ energy+ capital+ miscellaneous

Question 34

Productivity Variables

Answer 34

1, labour
2 capital
3. management

Question 35

Productivity Variables: labour

Answer 35

contributes about 10% of the annual increase

Question 36

Productivity Variables: capital

Answer 36

contributes about 38% of the annual increase

Question 37

Productivity Variables: management

Answer 37

contributes about 52% of the annual increase

Question 38

Key Variables for Improved Labour Productivity

Answer 38

1. Basic education appropriate for the labour force
2. Diet of the labour force
3. Social overhead that makes labour available
   - Challenge is in maintaining and enhancing skills in the midst of rapidly changing technology and knowledge

Question 39

Service Productivity

Answer 39

• Typically labour intensive
• Frequently focused on unique individual attributes or desires
• Often an intellectual task performed by professionals
• Often difficult to mechanize and automate
• Often difficult to evaluate for quality

Question 40

Ethics andSocial Responsibility

Answer 40

Developing and producing safe, quality products
Maintaining a clean environment
Providing a safe workplace
Honouring stakeholder commitments