Exam 1: Operations and Productivity

Reasons to study operations management include:

An accounting firm that provides tax services for a company would not be considered to be part of that company's supply chain.

The 10 strategic operations management decisions include:

Identify the similarities between the operational activities for goods and services.

What term is given to those individuals with a vested interest in an organization, including customers, distributors, suppliers, owners, lenders, employees, and community members?

An industrial plant needs to make 100,000 parts per month to meet demand. Each month contains 20 working days, each of which allows for 3 separate 8 hour shifts. (a) If a worker can produce 10 parts/hour, how many workers are needed on each shift? (b) If each shift has 100 workers, what is the productivity of an individual worker? (c) If material costs are $10/part, capital costs are $100,000 and labor costs are $10/hour, what is the multifactor productivity of the plant from part (a)?

Technology combined with rapid international communication of news, entertainment, and lifestyles is dramatically increasing the life span of products.

The Dulac Box plant produces 1000 cypress packing boxes in two 10-hour shifts. What is the productivity of the plant?

Although the number of people employed in manufacturing in the United States has decreased since 1950, each person is now producing almost 50 times more than in 1950.

Felicien grows mirlitons (that's Cajun for Chayote squash) in his 100 by 100-foot garden. He then sells the crop at the local farmers' market. Two summers ago, he was able to produce and sell 1200 pounds of mirlitons. Last summer, he tried a new fertilizer that promised a 50% increase in yield. He harvested 1700 pounds. Did the fertilizer live up to its promise?

Why are organizations becoming more global?

An operations task performed at Hard Rock Café is:

Lean manufacturing means designing green products and packaging that minimize resource use, can be recycled or reused, and are generally environmentally friendly.

Which of the following is TRUE regarding the significant events in operations management?

Gibson Products produces cast bronze valves for use in offshore oil platforms. Currently, Gibson produces 1600 valves per day. The 20 workers at Gibson work from 7 a.m. until 4 p.m., with 30 minutes off for lunch and a 15-minute break during the morning work session and another at the afternoon work session. Gibson is in a competitive industry and needs to increase productivity to stay competitive. They feel that a 20 percent increase is needed. Gibson's management believes that the 20 percent increase will not be possible without a change in working conditions, so they change work hours. The new schedule calls on workers to work from 7:30 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., during which workers can take one hour off at any time of their choosing. Obviously, the number of paid hours is the same as before, but production increases, perhaps because workers are given a bit more control over their workday. After this change, valve production increased to 1800 units per day. (a) Calculate labor productivity for the initial situation. (b) Calculate labor productivity for the hypothetical 20 percent increase. (c) What is the productivity after the change in work rules? (d) Write a short paragraph analyzing these results.

The Dulac Box plant produces 500 cypress packing boxes in two 10-hour shifts. Due to higher demand, they have decided to operate three 8-hour shifts instead. They are now able to produce 600 boxes per day. What has happened to productivity?

The local fast-food store experienced the following number of customers on the night shift: Hour Customers 12 AM 35 1 AM 28 2 AM 15 3 AM 5 4 AM 2 5 AM 1 If the store was staffed by three workers, what was the average productivity per worker, in customers/hour?

One reason to study operations management is to learn how people organize themselves for productive enterprise.