Unit 3: Manufacturing and Service Processes

Question 1

Lead Time

Answer 1

The time needed to respond to a customer order

Question 2

Customer order decoupling point 

Answer 2

Where inventory is positioned in the supply chain.

Question 3

Make-to-stock 

Answer 3

A production environment where the customer is served “on-demand” from finished goods inventory.

Question 4

Assemble-to-order 

Answer 4

A production environment where pre-assembled components, subassemblies, and modules are put together in response to a specific customer order.

Question 5

A process usually consists of:

Answer 5

(1) a set of tasks,
(2) a flow of material and information that connects the set of tasks, and
(3) storage of material and information.

Question 6

What do layout decisions entail?

Answer 6

Layout decisions entail determining the placement of departments, work groups within the departments, workstations, machines, and stock-holding points within a production facility. The objective is to arrange these elements in a way that ensures a smooth work flow (in a factory) or a particular traffic pattern (in a service organization).

Question 7

What is the difference between a workcenter, assembly line, manufacturing cell, and project layout?

Answer 7

• Workcenter: Often referred to as a job shop, a process structure suited for low-volume production of a great variety of nonstandard products. Workcenters sometimes are referred to as departments and are focused on a particular type of operation.
• Assembly line: A setup in which an item is produced through a fixed sequence of workstations, designed to achieve a specific production rate.
• Manufacturing cell: Groups dissimilar machines to work on products that have similar shapes and processing requirements.
• Project layout: A setup in which the product remains at one location, and equipment is moved to the product.

Question 8

What are the underlying considerations in a workcenter layout?

Answer 8

The grouping of like-processes such as painting or stamping. Inter departmental traffic - work centers with high traffic between them should be placed adjacently

Question 9

How does workcenter layout influence material handling costs?

Answer 9

The number of loads between workcenters in a facility multiplied by the cost / distance between the workcenters gives the material handling costs for adjacent processes.

Question 10

How is the cost of a workcenter layout determined? Work through Exhibits 8.1 to 8.7 inclusive, noting in particular how the redesign of the layout changes material flows, which, in turn, change the cost of materials handling.

Answer 10

Re-arranging the workcenter layout so that high cost and high volume workcenters are closer together minimizes the total material handling costs.

First: look at the nature of flow between work centers, and how the material is transported. (Taken from knowledgeable personnel, routing sheets or abstracted previous layout designs)

Second: Set up an interwork center flow cost matrix that tabulates the cost to most between adjacent work centers and illustrate the interwork center flow with a layout design model

Third: search for workcenter location changes that will reduce costs. ** a process for minimizing costs here isnt really clearly explained other than highlighting the huge number of permutations

Question 11

Why should cost alone not be the only determining factor in workcenter layouts?

Answer 11

Arranging strictly to reduce material handling costs does not take into account practicalities such as how the need for workers to switch between work centers, safety, negative impacts of having certain work centers adjacent to one another, or whether or not it is actually feasible.

Question 12

What is systematic layout planning and how it is used? See Exhibit 8.8.

Answer 12

Systematic layout planning (SLP) A technique for solving process layout problems when the use of numerical flow data between departments is not practical. The technique uses an activity relationship diagram that is adjusted by trial and error until a satisfactory adjacency pattern is obtained.

Question 13

What is an assembly line?

Answer 13

Progressive assembly linked by some material handling device.

Question 14

How can long tasks be reworked to fit better into an assembly line?

Answer 14

Assembly-line balancing
The problem of assigning tasks to a series of workstations so that the required cycle time is met and idle time is minimized.

Question 15

How can flexible and U-shaped line layouts be used?

Answer 15

Flexible and U shaped line layouts can be used to allow workers to share tasks and help each other by arranging the workstation layouts so that workers are either facing each other along a line, or so that they are adjacent to each other in an arc shape. This allows them to self balance

Question 16

How is mixed-model line balancing used? Work through the solution to Example 8.3 on page 179.

Answer 16

Make similar items on the same assembly line. A mixed model aims to reduce inventory build up by making different required inventory in the proportions that are required in a cycle time

Question 17

What are virtual manufacturing cells?

Answer 17

When equipment is not easily movable, many companies dedicate a given machine out of a set of identical machines in a workcenter layout

Question 18

What are the characteristics of a project layout?

Answer 18

Project layouts are characterized by a relatively low number of production units in comparison with workcenter and assembly-line formats. In developing a project layout, visualize the product as the hub of a wheel with materials and equipment arranged concentrically around the production point in their order of use and movement difficulty.

Question 19

What is the objective of a retail service layout? See page 183 for reference.

Answer 19

Maximize net profit per square foot of store space

Question 20

What is “servicescape”?

Answer 20

Servicescape refers to the physical surroundings in which the service takes place and how these surroundings affect customers and employees.

An understanding of the servicescape is necessary to create a good layout for the service firm (or the service-related portions of the manufacturing firm).

The servicescape has three elements that must be considered: the ambient conditions; the spatial layout and functionality; and the signs, symbols, and artifacts.

Question 21

Why are ambient conditions an important factor in retail layouts?

Answer 21

Ambient conditions refers to background characteristics such as the noise level, music, lighting, temperature, and scent that can affect employee performance and morale as well as customers’ perceptions of the service, how long they stay, and how much money they spend.

Question 22

What are the key aspects of spatial layout and functionality?

Answer 22

Planning the circulation path of the customers and grouping the merchandise

Question 23

What are the underlying factors in circulation planning and merchandise grouping?

Answer 23

The goal of circulation planning is to provide a path for the customers that exposes them to as much of the merchandise as possible while placing any needed services along this path in the sequence they will be needed

Question 24

What is the importance of signs, symbols, and artifacts in retail store layouts?

Answer 24

Signs, symbols, and artifacts refer to the parts of the service that have social significance. As with the ambiance, these are often a characteristic of the design of the building, although the orientation, location, and size of many objects and areas can carry special meaning

Question 25

What are the present trends in office layouts?

Answer 25

The trend in office layout is toward more open offices, with personal work spaces separated only by low divider walls. Companies have removed fixed walls to foster greater communication and teamwork

Question 26

Project layout

Answer 26

A setup in which the product remains at

one location, and equipment is moved to the product.

Question 27

Workcenter

Answer 27

Often referred to as a job shop, a process
structure suited for low-volume production of a great
variety of nonstandard products. Workcenters sometimes are referred to as departments and are focused on a particular type of operation.

Question 28

Manufacturing cell

Answer 28

Dedicated area where a group of

similar products are produced

Question 29

Continuous process

Answer 29

A process that converts raw materials into finished product in one contiguous process.

Question 30

Product–process matrix

Answer 30

A framework depicting when the different production process types are typically used, depending on product volume and how standardized the product is