Exam 14: Operations Management: Managing Vital Operations and Processes

Chauncey takes a job with a manufacturing firm and is appointed to a self-managed work team. As a member of a this type of team, he should expect to be involved in

Ricardo, the CEO of Sunflower Organics, hires a consultant, Saadia, to analyze his production process. Ricardo has been using the same production process for the nearly twenty years he's been in business. His employees are essentially specialists, with each well-trained in performing one specific task or set of tasks. Saadia notes that, because of this, there is a high level of employee boredom, leading to turnover, and when someone is out sick, there is no one able to take over their duties. She suggests he switch to a self-managed team model for his production-line employees. After a few months, what does Ricardo most likely observe about the results of this switch?

A CRM system can be used as a comprehensive method of gathering crucial information about the way customers respond to a company's products.

Organizing machines in the production process so that each operation is performed at workstations in a fixed sequence is known as a ________ layout.

Define the three stages of the manufacturing production process, and give a practical business example of each of these stages.

The operations management technique that has a goal of designing the machine-worker interface to increase production efficiency is

Total factor productivity is a measure of an organization's

Customers prefer products that are, as far as possible, customized to their unique needs.

In a self-managed work team

The idea of flexible manufacturing systems is chiefly based on reducing

How might a service organization best increase the quality of its products or services?

The managers who are responsible for managing the organization's production system are known as ________ managers.

Designing a production system that creates saleable, low-cost products is the responsibility of ________ managers.

Reduced setup times lead to reduced

The people in the best position to identify opportunities for improving efficiency are

In a fixed-position production layout

Praxis Technologies' supplier is in a country that was recently affected by a natural disaster, with the result that production was completely halted for several weeks. However, their competitor, Burnham, was much more adversely affected because of the fact that, unlike Praxis, Burnham uses a system in which they receive supplies only as they need them. What was Praxis able to do in response to the crisis that Burnham was not?

Under a JIT inventory system, parts and supplies arrive at the organization

Labor productivity is most commonly used to

Goods and services that are dependable, reliable, able to do what they were designed for and satisfying characterize