Exam 5: Design of Goods and Services

A company is deciding if it should do design of a product in-house or outsource the design. If outsourced the cost for a low bidder would be $40,000 and the cost for an expensive bidder $100,000. To do the design in-house would require over-time for an already stretched design team with total costs of $70,000. If all three designs (in-house, low bid, high bid) are equal in quality and the likelihood of finding a low bidder is 60% (meaning that 40% of the time the firm will have to hire the expensive bidder), should the company outsource design or do it in-house?

Black & Decker's hand-powered tools and Hewlett-Packard's printer business are examples of using enhancements and migrations of existing products to build on __________.

In analyzing product design decisions, decision trees determine the __________ of each course of action.

Briefly explain how Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) impacts product design.

The __________ is the crucial moment between the service provider and the customer that exemplifies, enhances, or detracts from the customer's expectations.

Rapidly developing products and moving them to the market is referred to as __________.

The components, their description, and the quantity of each required to make one unit of a product are documented on

A product strategy may focus on differentiation, low cost, or rapid response.

JDI, Inc. is trying to decide whether to make-or-buy a part (#J-45FPT). Purchasing the part would cost them $1.50 each. If they design and produce it themselves, it will result in a per unit cost of $0.75. However, the design investment would be $50,000. Further, they realize that for this type of part, there is a 30% chance that the part will need to be redesigned at an additional cost of $50,000. Regardless of whether they make-or-buy the part, JDI will need 100,000 of these parts. Using decision trees analysis and EMV, what should JDI do? Show the decision tree.

One environmentally friendly approach to product design is to use lighter components.

Robust design is a method that ensures that small variation in production or assembly does not adversely affect the product.

A company manufactures specialty pollution-sensing devices for the offshore oil industry. One particular device has reached maturity, and the company is considering whether to replace it with a newer model. Technologies have not changed dramatically, so the new device would have similar functionality to the existing one, but would be smaller and lighter in weight. The firm's three choices are: keep the old model; design a replacement device with internal resources; and purchase a new design from a firm that is one of its suppliers. The market for these devices will be either "receptive" or "neutral" of the replacement model. The financial estimates are as follows: Keeping the old design will yield a profit of $6 million dollars. Designing the replacement internally will yield $10 million if the market is "receptive," but a $3 million loss if the market is "neutral." Acquiring the new design from the supplier will profit $4 million under "receptive," $1 million under "neutral." The company feels that the market has a 70 percent chance of being "receptive" and a 30 percent chance of being "neutral." Draw the appropriate decision tree. Calculate expected value for all courses of action. What action yields the highest expected value?

"With respect to the product decision, managers must be able to accept risk and tolerate failure." Comment on why this is a necessary hazard in making new product decisions, given all the powerful tools and carefully built systems that support that decision.

Which of the following scenarios illustrates a moment that exceeds the customer's expectations?

Operations managers must be able to anticipate changes in which of the following?

What is a product-by-value analysis, and what type of decision does it help managers make?

Identify the external product development strategies; describe each in a sentence or two.

State the benefits of implementing group technology.

In which stage of the product life cycle should product strategy focus on improved cost control?

Tri-products is trying to decide whether to make-or-buy an accessory item for one of their products. It is projected that this item will sell for $10 each. If the item is outsourced, there is virtually no cost other than the $6 per unit that they would pay their supplier. Internally, they have two choices. Process A requires an investment of $120,000 for design and equipment, but results in a $4 per unit cost. Process B requires only a $100,000 investment, but its per unit cost is $5. Regardless of whether the item is subcontracted or produced internally, there is a 50% chance that they will sell 50,000 units, and a 50% chance that they will sell 100,000 units. Draw the decision tree appropriate to the alternatives and outcomes stated. Using decision trees and EMV, what is their best choice?