Exam 18: Managing Service and Manufacturing Operations

Leon is the quality control officer at a furniture manufacturing firm.Leon is searching for a new supplier of plastic strips that line the edges of most of their office desks.The current supplier's recent orders have provided strips with too many deviations from specifications in the original purchase agreement.What characteristic of the plastic strips is Leon unhappy with?

Narrative 18-1 In recent years, Japanese companies such as Mitsubishi, NEC, Fujitsu, and Sony began turning to North America to manufacture Japanese products. While Sony, Panasonic, and other Japanese giants still excel at cranking out high-quality consumer electronics products-such as camcorders and TVs-by the millions, it's a different story in industries with short product cycles and factories that must build what customers order instead of churning out products in anticipation of demand. Japan's great strength-repetitive manufacturing-is becoming its greatest weakness. This production-on-demand form of management cannot depend on JIT. Instead, the North American companies rely on raw-in-process inventory, or RIP. RIP calls for keeping a reasonable quantity of varied raw materials or components on hand to meet changing customer demand. -Refer to the Narrative 18-1.What was present in North American companies that were taking over Japanese operations?

Economic order quantity is intended for use with independent demand systems.

What kind of costs are transaction costs and the loss of customer goodwill?

According to the TQM strategy,what should be a company's primary goal?

This is a description of what happened to a patron at a station of the United Kingdom's Royal Mail (the equivalent of Canada Post): "In the 15 minutes I waited in line,during which I shuffled forward one yard and two places,I had ample opportunity to watch what the other three staff were doing.They were busy all right,but the main task was counting each stamp in their folders.In this vital work,two of the three were overseen by another member of staff.There was no eye contact with the waiting customers." Which of the following does the Royal Mail need to engage in,assuming that this experience is typical?

To effectively manage inventory,a manager should use EOQ formulas when inventory levels are independent,and JIT and MRP when inventory levels are dependent on the number of products to be produced.

Stockout is the situation when a company runs out of finished products.

All manufacturing operations produce physical goods.

Shine Bros.Corp.,a recycling company based in Spencer,Iowa,bought its first Fuchs machine-an MHL 320 scrap handler-in 1998.Since then,the company has bought two additional Fuchs scrap handlers to perform various scrap-handling tasks at its Spencer yard.According to the owners of the company,"We now know the average time between breakdowns." Which characteristic of product quality were the owners describing?

Which term can be used to describe a product that is easy to maintain and fix?

An article addressed to nurses who work in intensive care said,"Patients may feel isolated or ostracized from those around them,including medical staff,because of their condition or appearance.Practices affirming the patient's intrinsic value and individual personality will be critical to establishing trust and rapport." Providing which of the following is one method to affirm a patient's intrinsic value?

Narrative 18-1 In recent years, Japanese companies such as Mitsubishi, NEC, Fujitsu, and Sony began turning to North America to manufacture Japanese products. While Sony, Panasonic, and other Japanese giants still excel at cranking out high-quality consumer electronics products-such as camcorders and TVs-by the millions, it's a different story in industries with short product cycles and factories that must build what customers order instead of churning out products in anticipation of demand. Japan's great strength-repetitive manufacturing-is becoming its greatest weakness. This production-on-demand form of management cannot depend on JIT. Instead, the North American companies rely on raw-in-process inventory, or RIP. RIP calls for keeping a reasonable quantity of varied raw materials or components on hand to meet changing customer demand. -Refer to the Narrative 18-1.A worker noticed that the Hyundai Sonata and SG 350 sedans had identically sized spare tires,but different-sized spare tire covers.How does using the same spare tire cover for both cars save Hyundai $100,000 a year and increase the company's productivity?

Labour productivity is a frequently used example of extrinsic productivity.

The first step in the service-profit chain is external service quality or the quality of treatment that employees receive from a company's internal service providers.

Make-to-stock operations are highly dependent on the accuracy of sales forecasts.

Manufacturing processes are classified according to the amount of processing or assembly that occurs after receiving an order from a customer.Briefly describe the three types of manufacturing processes.

Which of the following is the kind of inventory a manufacturer would keep in stock?

The CEO of a company that manufactures maple wooden cutting boards has determined that it takes two hours of labour,a planer,a sander,an electric saw,and $5.67 to make one maple cutting board from a piece of maple lumber 46 cm square and 5 cm thick.Which type of productivity has the CEO determined about his company in order to compare its operation with that of its competition?

Nesha is determining levels of efficiency at different times of the year.She is reviewing the contract work costs,supplier purchases,re-tooling to adjust capacity,and utility bills between high and low seasons.What kind of productivity is Nesha reviewing?