Exam 9: Production and Operations Management

Picture Pieces corporation produces jigsaw puzzles. The quality of its materials and the calibration of machines that cut and fit pieces of a puzzle are extremely important if it is to eliminate defects and meet customer specifications. If the company meets or exceeds Six Sigma criteria, it will have no more than 60 defects per million puzzles.

Cassandra was planning a new product launch. She knew that the art department was ready to work on the promotional pieces now, but they couldn't start until the marketing strategy group established the price point and the purchasing department obtained the paper needed to design the promotional piece. Establishing price points would take about a week and was dependent on manufacturing getting the costs to the marketing strategy group. This was expected a week from today. The purchasing group indicated the paper could be obtained locally the same day it was requested. Assuming things go as planned and based on this information, which of the following tasks could be as much as a week late without jeopardizing the deadline for the entire project?

MRP is the acronym for

CAD systems allow designers to use 3D modeling software.

When firms successfully produce products, they create form utility.

Six Sigma is a quality measure that allows only 3.4 defects per million opportunities.

Ices Creamery combines sugar, cream, and the best natural flavorings, then churns and freezes the resulting mixture at a very low temperature, creating ice cream. The method Ices uses is an example of

Green Goddess, Inc., is a leading producer of environmentally friendly cleaning agents. As they've outgrown their current facility, Green Goddess is looking for a new site. The company is mainly focusing on sites that are close to major highways and railways and are not too far from the majority of the area's population. This suggests that an important location consideration for Green Goddess is

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." -In order to schedule deliveries, Minimotors's suppliers need detailed information about when parts are needed. Minimotors will purchase a computer application that will link its operation to sales forecasts to make sure needed parts and supplies are available at the right time to meet customer demands. This planning system is known as

Compared to PERT networks, Gantt charts provide a more basic way to track progress on a given project.

CAD/CAM has made it possible to custom-design products to meet the tastes of small markets with very little increase in costs.

Under the Six Sigma quality standard the idea is to detect potential problems, in order to prevent their occurrence.

Experts in operations management for service industry businesses stress

One of Justin's largest international customers is Alpine Airwaves in Switzerland. He got a call from his contact at Alpine Airwaves, Edvard. Edvard quickly tells Justin, "This is a heads-up! Top management is asking operations to review our vendors for ISO 14001 compliance." Justin's company should prepare to demonstrate

Apollo just graduated with a degree in operations management. While earning his degree, the knowledge he gained and skills he developed could make him an attractive employee for both a manufacturing firm and a service firm.

Some companies will locate their production facilities near their suppliers.

Everyday, the Local Harvest Grocery Store general manager reviews employee work schedules. This includes the late night stock crew, the cashiers, the deli, produce, and meat department crews, and the management office personnel. He coordinates work schedules with shipments, as well as the information he collects from point-of-sale terminals that indicates the busiest hours at the store, and then he communicates any exceptions to his department managers. These daily tasks are part of

Kimber Cross is majoring in operations management at a local university. Unfortunately, the evolution of the U.S. from a manufacturing-oriented to a service-oriented economy means that Kimber will not likely find job openings in her field of study.

A(n) ________ puts together components to make a product.

In JIT inventory systems a manufacturer normally communicates its production plans to suppliers so that they can deliver needed parts and materials just in time for the manufacturer to use them.