Exam 16: Operations Management: Putting It All Together

What type of software enables users to test, analyze, and optimize designs, allowing users to find and correct design flaws before production?

Which of the following can be produced independently of the consumer and then stored and shipped?

Lean&Green Manufacturing has adopted a lean production strategy. Lean&Green is likely to hold large inventories of parts, materials, and finished goods in order to prevent shortages and smooth out the production process.

Holding larger inventories helps prevent stock outages and lost sales.

W. Edwards Deming taught that improving quality was a key to business success.

What is the purpose of just-in-time production?

A local diner makes milkshakes the old-fashioned way: it hand-dips premium ice cream, adds fresh whole milk and other high-quality ingredients, individually mixes the shake when ordered, and puts whipped cream and a cherry on top. The cost of this approach is higher than the cost of producing shakes at most fast food outlets, but the diner is famous among local patrons for having the best shakes in town. This diner clearly focuses more on effectiveness than on efficiency.

The critical path method (CPM) is a network of relationships that channels the flow of inputs, information, and financial resources through all of the processes directly or indirectly involved in producing goods and services and distributing them to customers.

Wages earned by workers in the nation of Ruritania are only a third as high as the wages paid to Canadian workers. This clearly means that Canadian firms that outsource production to Ruritania will enjoy much lower costs of production.

Over the long run, a firm must choose to either be effective or efficient, because it is impossible to achieve both objectives consistently within the same organization.

Which of the following has a single unifying measure: to reduce defects of any organization or process to a level of no more than 3.4 per million opportunities?

How does a company decide where to locate a business facility?

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a software-based approach to integrating an organization's systems in order to improve communication and coordination among all departments and operating units. The newest versions of ERP extend this coordination to other organizations within the supply chain.

Computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) is a combination of software that is used to design output and send instructions to automated equipment to perform the steps needed to produce this output.

Manufacturers hold raw materials, components, and parts. What are these known as?

Many supply chains today span multiple organizations located in many different countries.

Which of the following involves arranging for other organizations in the supply chain to perform functions that were previously performed internally?

The critical path method may illustrate several different paths that must be completed in order to complete the entire project.

A recent television ad campaign by Steak 'n Shake shows two different ways to make a milkshake. The fast food way involves pulling a lever to dispense pre-mixed "milkshake" directly from a machine into a paper cup. The Steak 'n Shake way involves hand-dipping premium ice cream into a large glass, pouring fresh milk, adding a thick, rich-looking chocolate syrup, mixing the ingredients, and then topping it all off with whipped cream and a cherry. Which goal does Steak 'n Shake emphasize: efficiency or effectiveness? Explain.

Which of the following terms is used when a firm attempts to gain more control over its value chain by either developing the ability to perform processes previously performed by other organizations in the chain or by acquiring those organizations?