Unit 2

Management of Conversion System

Chapter 5: Capacity Design

Lesson 17 - Tutorial 4 Good Morning students, today we are going to have a tutorial session for the

previous lesson. The overall objective is to appreciate how the theoretical concepts

are translated and applied into practical business situations. We would start with a

few problems to review our conceptual understanding and wind up the session with

a well designed case study.

I hope the session results into value addition for all of us.

Let’s put our thinking caps and start now.

1. Low-volume, high-variety processes are also known as (a) continuous processes (b) intermittent processes (c) repetitive processes (d) product focused

2. Efficiency is given by

(a) expected capacity divided by capacity (b) capacity divided by utilization (c) actual output divided by effective capacity

3. Advantages of a flexible manufacturing system (FMS) include

(a) lower direct labour cost (b) consistent and perhaps better quality (c) reduced inventory (d) all of the above

4. The maximum output of a system in a given period is called

(a) the break-even point (b) the capacity (c) all of the above

5. Costs that continue even if no units are produced are called (a) Fixed costs (b) Variable costs (c) Marginal costs (d) All of the above

6. Lean producers remove waste by

(a) Focusing on inventory reduction (b) Using JIT techniques (c) Reducing space requirements (d) Developing close relationships with suppliers (e) All of the above

7. Repetitive process lines

(a) Use modules (b) Are the classic assembly lines (c) Have more structure and less flexibility than a job shop layout (d) Include the assembly of basically all automobiles (e) All of the above

8. As the quantity produced increases and you move toward product-focused

production (a) the variable cost per unit increases (b) the total fixed cost for the production operation (c) the equipment utilization rate decreases (d) more general purpose equipment is used (e) all of the above

9. Characteristics of a modular production process include

(a) the use of just-in-time procurement techniques (b) the use of just-in-time inventory control techniques (c) the use of just-in-time movement of modules (d) materials are moved by such means as conveyors, transfer machines, and

automated guided vehicles (e) all of the above

10. Two of the new techniques to address process reengineering are

(a) compact and APT (b) time and motion study (c) work-flow analysis and time-function mapping (d) work-flow analysis and motion study

11. Computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) includes manufacturing system that

have (a) computer-aided design, direct numerical control machines, material

handling equipment controlled by automation

(b) transaction processing, management information system, and decision support systems

(c) automated guided vehicles, robots, and process control (d) robots, automated guided vehicles, and transfer equipment

12. Advantages of flexible manufacturing systems include all of the following except

(a) lower set-up costs (b) ability to adapt to wide range of sizes and configuration (c) high utilization of facilities (d) lower direct labour costs (e) all of the above are advantages

13. Process control is used to control physical processes in

(a) discrete manufacturing facilities (b) repetitive manufacturing facilities (c) intermittent facilities (d) job shops (e) product-oriented facilities

14. An enterprising student has set up an internship clearing house for business

students. Each student that uses the service fills out a form and lists up to 10 companies that he or she would like to have contacted. The clearinghouse has a choice of two methods to use for processing the forms. The traditional method requires about 20 minutes to review the form and arrange the information in the proper order for processing. Once this setup is done, it takes only two minutes per company requested to complete the processing. The other alternative uses an optical scan / retrieve system, which takes only a minute to prepare but requires five minutes per company for completing the processing. If it costs about the same amount per minute for processing with either of the two methods, when should each be used?

15. A local market research firm has just own a contract for several thousand small

projects involving data gathering and statistical analysis. In the past the firm has assigned each project to a single member of its highly trained professional staff. This person would both gather and analyse the data. Using this approach an experienced person can complete an average of 10 such projects in an eight-hour day

The firm’s management is thinking of assigning two people to each project in order to allow them to specialize and become more efficient. The process would require the data gatherer to fill out a matrix on the computer, check it, and transmit it to the statistical analysis program for the analyst to complete. Data can be gathered on one project while the analysis is being completed on another, but the analysis must be complete before the statistical analysis program can accept the new data. After some practice, the new process can be completed with a standard time of 20 minutes for the data gathering and 30 minutes for the analysis.

(a) What is the production (output per hour) for each alternative? What is the productivity (output per labour hour)?

(b) How long would it take to complete 1000 projects with each alternative? What would be the labour content (total number of labour hours) for 1000 projects for each alternative?

Dear students, with this I would like to conclude the today’s tutorial. I hope it has

been a great learning process for all of you and that this exercise has resulted in

immense value addition.

O.K. Then. See you all in the next lecture.

Take care.

Bye.