Week 1

Question 1

What is operations management?

Answer 1

A set of activities that creates value in the form of goods by transforming inputs into outputs

Question 2

what is productivity

Answer 2

A measure of process improvement

Question 3

Formula for single factor productivity?

Answer 3

singlefactor productivity = output / single input factor

Question 4

Formula for multi-factor productivity?

Answer 4

output / inputs used

Question 5

What is modularisation?

Answer 5

cutting up your entire process into multiple subprocesses

Question 6

Give the time horizons for planning and what is included in that time.

Answer 6

Long term planning:
Capacity planning - gives the genera plan for facility size and equipment
Intermediate:
Aggregate planning - gives plans for aggregate terms
Master schedule - breaks down aggregate plan in specific numbers
Short term:
Short-term scheduling

Question 7

What is the learning curve effect?

Answer 7

The idea is that the time needed to produce a unit decreases with each additional unit.

Question 8

Arithmetic approach of learning curve

Answer 8

The learning rate of L in this case means that each time the production doubles, the time needed for producing a unit wil equal the orignial production time multiplied by L. This means L is often a number lower than 1.
The formula is
T_2N = L * T_N
T_2N=L^N*T_1

Question 9

Logarithmic approach

Answer 9

look at doc

Question 10

Why are queues created?

Answer 10

because there is variability in processes.

Question 11

What is the arrival rate?

Answer 11

Arrival rate uses poisson distribution.
Uses lamda as a variable

Question 12

What is service time?

Answer 12

service time uses negative exponential distribution and uses mew as variable.
It can also be deterministic meaning constant

Question 13

Performance measures
W_q
W_s
L_q
L_s
P_0
p
p_n>k

Answer 13

W_q = average queue time
W_s = average time in system
L_q = average queue length
L_s = average number in system
P_0 = probability of idle service time
p = utilization
P_n>k = probability of more than k customers in the system

Question 14

What is utilization rate?

Answer 14

means what share of the time is someone busy or doing something?
Denoted as p
MM1 or MD1 = p = lamda / mew
MMS = p = lamda / (mew * S)

Question 15

look at doc for probability

Answer 15

a

Question 16

WHAT IS littles law?

Answer 16

L_s = lamda * W_s
L_q = lamda * W_q
W_q = W_s - (1/mew)
L_q = L_s - (lamda / mew)
look at doc

Question 17

History of OM

Answer 17

1770 - 1980 Cost focus
1980 - 1995 quality focus
1995 - 2005 customization focus
2005 globalization focus

Question 18

What are the three major productivity factors from smallest affect to largest?

Answer 18

1. Labor
2. Capital
3. Management

Question 19

What are OM’s challenges?

Answer 19

1. Globalisation
2. Supply-chain partnering
3. Sustainability
4. Rapid product development
5. Mass customization
6. Lean operations

Question 20

6 reasons domestic business implement international operations

Answer 20

1. Improvement of the supply chain
2. Cost and exchange rate risk reduction
3. Providing better goods and services
4. understanding markets
5. learning to improve operations
6. attracting and retaining global talent

Question 21

Theory of comparative advantage

Answer 21

countries benefit from specialising in exporting they have an advantage in, and import things they have disadvantage in

Question 22

4 different global operations strategies

Answer 22

1. Global strategy
   High cost reduction, low local response
2. Transnational strategy
   High cost reduction, high local response
3. International strategy
   Low cost reduction, low local response
4. Multi-domestic strategy
   Low cost reduction, high local response

Question 23

How can learning curves be steepened?

Answer 23

1. Maintaining aggressive prices so a lot is sold fast and employees learn fast
2. Focus on price and cost reductions so more can be produced for less
3. Focus on sharing experience between employees, so productivity increases
4. Increasing capacity in advance of demand