Deck 6: Operations Producing Goods and Services

Question 1

Routing flexibility is a term used in connection with how spare parts move through the supply chain.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

A workcenter is a fixed layout where the product remains in place for the duration of production.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Offshoring is a term that means relocating an activity to a contract manufacturer in another country.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

The "bullwhip" effect occurs when forecast errors are magnified and demand variability increases as orders move upstream from retailers to distributors to producers.

Question 5

Capacity requirements planning (CRP) is used to check the feasibility of the materials requirement plan.

Question 6

Machine flexibility provides the ability to produce different types of products as well as change the order of operations executed on a product.

Question 7

Most processes are basically organized the same.

Question 8

Packaging is very important in the manufacturing operation.

Question 9

Companies now use strategies that are lean, flexible, or adaptive; they wait for customers to push products to the market .

Question 10

Savvy operations managers should use no more than five or six metrics per team or function to ensure they are measuring outcomes effectively.

Question 11

In assemble-to-order (ATO) production:

A) customer orders are filled from finished goods inventories, and production orders are used to replenish finished goods inventories.
B) the finished product is a combination of standard and custom-designed components that meet unique needs of a specific customer.
C) the finished product is generally a combination of common components and a limited number of options or accessories made available to the customer.
D) highly tailored products are created for the customer whose specifications require unique engineering design or significant customization.

Question 12

Processes that can produce a range of products are said to have:

A) economies of scale.
B) economies of scope.
C) routing flexibility.
D) work centers.

Question 13

Resource requirements planning (RRP) is a long-run, macro-level planning tool.

Question 14

Manufacturing and production operations create form utility.

Question 15

World-class organizations can improve performance along multiple dimensions without making extensive performance tradeoffs or sacrifices.

Question 16

A manufacturing plant in which equipment components, such as material handling systems, tooling, pumps, and valves, are linked to electronically communicate with each other in order to consistently achieve peak performance is known as an "integrated" factory.

Question 17

In an MRP system, this document identifies all of the components required to assemble an independent demand item.

A) Inventory status file
B) Bill of materials
C) Master production schedule
D) None of these answers

Question 18

Flexibility and responsiveness must be balanced with cost savings during the transformation process.

Question 19

Materials requirement plan (MRP) is most effective at managing independent demand items.

Question 20

A newly launched twenty-first century addition to production strategy which leverages lean manufacturing strategies, Six Sigma best practices, and real-time actionable intelligence from the factory floor is called:

A) just-in-time inventory.
B) adaptive manufacturing.
C) machine flexibility.
D) capacity requirements planning.

Question 21

What is offshoring? How does it affect manufacturing and logistics?

Question 22

Which of the following is not one of the common steps in the functioning of a manufacturing execution system (MES)?

A) Taking a detailed order from a customer
B) Deciding where to produce the order based on capabilities, capacity, and price
C) Publishing instructions on the best way to manufacture the product
D) Using KPIs and dashboards to track production performance

Question 23

The Manufacturing Enterprise Solutions Association (MESA) has identified eight categories of metrics commonly used by discrete, process, and hybrid/batch manufacturers. Explain which one or two categories of metrics you think is/are most important to track and why, and include several specific examples of metrics that support your opinion.

Question 24

In anticipation of strong sales, Apple manufactures mass quantities of its popular iPhone and ships them to Apple stores around the world. Which assembly process is Apple using in this situation?

A) MTS
B) ETO
C) BTO
D) ATO

Question 25

Discuss the challenges facing production managers.

Question 26

Explain one of the following in detail: workcenter, manufacturing cell, assembly line, or continuous process facilities.

Question 27

Discuss the role of production operations in Supply Chain Management (SCM).

Question 28

Three months ago, the new operations manager at Acme Fastener and Tool's manufacturing plant decided to increase the plant's production volume so that machines were operating at a higher capacity, even though the previous levels were sufficient to meet all of the company's orders. How would you characterize this manager's mistake?

A) Focusing on a discrete event instead of taking a broader view
B) Focusing on an issue that is not a key priority aligned with organizational goals
C) Using a KPI that is too narrow
D) Encouraging an incorrect outcome

Question 29

Capacity is:

A) determined by lean manufacturing.
B) the maximum amount of square footage available for inventory storage in a facility.
C) determined by raw materials flows.
D) the maximum amount of work that an organization is capable of completing in a given period of time.

Question 30

What is the "bullwhip effect," and how does it affect manufacturing?

Question 31

Which of the following is not a reactive capability strategy?

A) Machine flexibility
B) Routing flexibility
C) Resource requirements planning
D) Offshoring

Question 32

A p roject layout is:

A) a floor plan of the production facility.
B) a fixed location layout where the product remains in place for the duration of production.
C) a product-focused layout in which machines and workers are arranged according to the progressive sequence of operations.
D) a process-focused layout that groups together similar equipment or functions.

Question 33

A push-based strategy works well for supply chains that focus on:

A) lean production.
B) the anticipation of demand or without knowledge of customer orders.
C) work centers and offshore sourcing.
D) the immediate delivery of off-the-shelf, low-cost, standardized goods.

Question 34

Three months ago, the new operations manager at Acme Fastener and Tool's manufacturing plant implemented a system for measuring the total volume of output each week. He discovered that the plant's weekly capacity was averaging about 83%, which he would like to raise to closer to 90%. What type of metric is this manager concerned with at the moment?

A) Efficiency manufacturing
B) Quality manufacturing
C) Inventory
D) Costs and profitability

Question 35

Discuss the role of packaging from a logistics perspective.

Question 36

Discuss the three planning timeframes, how they relate to capacity planning and materials planning, and the various tools associated with them.

Question 37

Monitoring the amounts of raw materials stored in inventory and available for production is a specific example of which core function of an MES?

A) Process management
B) Quality management
C) Resource management
D) Data collection and acquisition