Exam 1: Operations and Productivity

The Dulac Box plant produces wooden packing boxes to be used in the local seafood industry.Current operations allow the company to make 500 boxes per day,in two 8-hour shifts (250 boxes per shift).The company has introduced some moderate changes in equipment,and conducted appropriate job training,so that production levels have risen to 300 boxes per shift.Labor costs average $10 per hour for each of the 5 full-time workers on each shift.Capital costs were previously $3,000 per day,and rose to $3,200 per day with the equipment modifications.Energy costs were unchanged by the modifications,at $400 per day.What is the firm's multifactor productivity before and after the changes?

What is a global network of organizations and activities that supply a firm with 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?

Customer interaction is often high for manufacturing processes,but low for services.

The service sector has lower productivity improvements than the manufacturing sector because:

Identify the items that Fredrick W.Taylor believed management should be more responsible for.

A(n)________ is a global network of organizations and activities that supply a firm with goods and services.

The Dulac Box plant produces wooden packing boxes to be used in the local seafood industry.Current operations allow the company to make 500 boxes per day,in two 8-hour shifts (250 boxes per shift).The company has introduced some small changes in equipment,and conducted appropriate job training,so that production levels have risen to 300 boxes per shift.These changes did not require any change in the amount of capital spending or energy use.What is the firm's new labor productivity?

Which of the following fosters specialization and worldwide supply chains?

The "Father of Scientific Management" is:

Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A grocery chain is considering the installation of a set of 4 self-checkout lanes.The new self-checkout lane setup will replace 2 old cashier lanes that were staffed by a cashier and bagger on each lane.One cashier mans all 4 self-checkouts (answering questions,checking for un-scanned items,taking coupons,etc).Checkout on the new lanes takes 2 minutes (customers bag their own orders)while checkout with the old lanes took only 45 seconds.In addition,the electricity costs for both setups are $0.05 per checkout while bagging (material)costs are $0.10 per checkout with the old system and $0.15 for the new system.The new lanes also require $100/shift in capital costs.Assume that the lanes are always in use for 8 hours per day (1 shift)and that a worker makes $10/hour. (a)How many checkouts did the old system provide in a shift? (b)How many checkouts does the new system provide? (c)What is the multifactor productivity for each system?

How do services differ from goods? Identify five ways.

A firm cleans chemical tank cars in the Bay St.Louis area.With standard equipment,the firm typically cleaned 70 chemical tank cars per month.They utilized 10 gallons of solvent,and two employees worked 20 days per month,8 hours a day.The company decided to switch to a larger cleaning machine.Last April,they cleaned 60 tank cars in only 15 days.They utilized 12 gallons of solvent,and the two employees worked 6 hours a day. (a)What was their raw material and their labor productivity with the standard equipment? (b)What is their raw material and their labor productivity with the larger machine? (c)What is the change in each productivity measure?

Productivity is the ratio of ________ to ________.Using this relationship,productivity can be improved by ________ or ________.

Gibson Valves produces cast bronze valves on an assembly line,currently producing 1600 valves per shift.If the production is increased to 2000 valves per shift,labor productivity will increase by:

Which of the following tasks within an airline company are related to operations?

Productivity tends to be more difficult to improve in the service sector because the work is:

What are some of the ethical and social challenges faced by operations managers?

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 1900 pounds.Did the fertilizer live up to its promise?