Exam 9: Production and Operations Management

MachineX, Inc. manufactures machinery and robots that can assemble an assortment of cars and trucks including heavy duty pickup trucks, sports cars, luxury sedans, minivans, and multiple sizes of SUVs. MachineX sells products to companies that require

Process manufacturing refers to combining components and raw materials to make a product.

Operations management in service industries is about creating a good experience for the customer.

Six Sigma is a benchmark of quality standards that many product and service industries try to achieve.

________ is the operations management planning function that searches for quality material resources, finds the best suppliers, and negotiates the best price.

Outdoor Adventure Industries is a U.S.-based manufacturer of sporting goods. It has recently decided to make a major push to sell its products in the EU. In order to succeed in this new market Outdoor Adventure will need to

An advantage of PERT diagrams is that they are usually so simple to draw that a computer is not needed.

Online-focused strategies don't affect operations managers since it is not essential for operations managers to negotiate in an interfirm environment.

Intermittent production processes are characterized by short production runs and frequent changes of machinery in order to produce different products like customized furniture.

Contemporary manufacturers in the U.S. lack the flexibility to use intermittent production processes.

Lacey is a production manager and often refers to a bar graph that shows what activities are being worked on, and how much of each task has been completed on a daily basis. Lacey is using a Gantt chart.

For service-intensive businesses, facility layout is usually designed to centralize the decision-making process.

________ involves computers directly in the production process.

A firm that is certified as meeting both ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards has demonstrated

What are the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards? Why are they important?

Overall, American firms that have tried to use just-in-time inventory systems generally report disappointment with the results.

Mini-Case Sparky Weyer, president and CEO of Minimotors, Inc., a growing manufacturer of small (some of them downright tiny) electric motors used in a variety of power tools and appliances told potential investors, "These are exciting times for our company. We've made a lot of changes over the past two years that have really improved our operations and lowered our costs. Now we are ready to expand into new markets. Minimotors is on its way to becoming a global player." Sparky was meeting with potential financial backers in an effort to obtain funding for some expensive new machinery he wanted to purchase. "You may have heard about some of the ways we've cut costs," Sparky continued. "We've developed a new arrangement with several of our biggest suppliers. They've agreed to make more frequent deliveries tied directly to our production schedules. This will help us reduce our inventory costs dramatically. We've also greatly reduced the number of defective motors we produce by carefully keeping tabs on all of our manufacturing processes. In fact, we have set a goal of reducing our defects to 3.4 parts per million. The main purpose of my meeting with you today is because we want to install some sophisticated new machinery and software that will allow us to quickly design and produce motors to the exact specifications of our customers. The machinery is computer-controlled and can produce custom-designed products at very little increase in cost compared to our mass-produced motors. We feel this flexibility and quick response time will give us a tremendous competitive advantage and help us attract new customers. Installing the new equipment and training our workers to use it properly will be a complex project, but I'm confident that once we get everything up and running we'll be able to strengthen our position as the leading maker of high-quality electric motors." -Sparky sees quality control in terms of detecting potential problems to prevent their occurrence and thus save Minimotors money. The quality control process that is most closely linked to Sparky's goal is known as

Computers and robots are only useful in continuous production processes where the same type of product is produced many times.

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) combines all functional units of a firm into the production of goods and services, and may even include subsidiaries and other firms.

Production creates