It has been noted that during World War II Germany made a critical mistake by having its formidable Tiger tanks produced by locomotive manufacturers, while American car manufacturers produced the less formidable U.S. Sherman tank. Use the product-process matrix to explain that mistake and its likely result.
> What kind of layout is used in a physical fitness center?
> Here is a CPM network with activity times in weeks: a. Determine the critical path. b. How many weeks will the project take to complete? c. Suppose F could be shortened by two weeks and B by one week. How would this affect the completion date? (B(5
> An office employs several clerks who create documents and has one operator who enters the document information in a computer system. The group creates documents at a rate of 25 per hour. The operator can enter the information with an average exponentiall
> Customers enter the camera department of a store at the average rate of six per hour. The department is staffed by one employee, who takes an average of six minutes to serve each arrival. Assume this is a simple Poisson arrival, exponentially distributed
> Dave’s Auto Supply custom mixes paint for its customers. The shop performs a weekly inventory count of the main colors used for mixing paint. Determine the amount of white paint that should be ordered using the following information:
> Benny the Barber owns a one-chair shop. At barber college, they told Benny that his customers would exhibit a Poisson arrival distribution and that he would provide an exponential service distribution. His market survey data indicate that customers arriv
> A graphics reproduction firm has four units of equipment that are automatic but occasionally become inoperative because of the need for supplies, maintenance, or repair. Each unit requires service roughly twice each hour, or, more precisely, each unit of
> L Winston Martin (an allergist) has an excellent system for handling his regular patients who come in just for allergy injections. Patients arrive for an injection and fill out a name slip, which is then placed in an open slot that passes into another ro
> What it the major cost trade-off that must be made in managing waiting line situations?
> How much time on average would a server need to spend on a customer to achieve a service rate of 20 customers per hour?
> If the average time between customer arrivals is 8 minutes, what is the hourly arrival rate?
> Rent’R Cars is a multisite car rental company in the city. It is trying out a new “return the car to the location most convenient for you” policy to improve customer service. But this means that the c
> The exponential distribution is often used to model what in a queuing system?
> A local fast-food restaurant wants to analyze its drive-thru window. At this time, the only information known is the average number of customers in the system (4.00) and the average time a customer spends at the restaurant (1.176 minutes). What are the a
> What is the essential requirement for mixed-model lines to be practical?
> A toll tunnel has decided to experiment with the use of a debit card for the collection of tolls. Initially, only one lane will be used. Cars are estimated to arrive at this experimental lane at the rate of 750 per hour. It will take exactly four seconds
> A local service station is open 7 days per week, 365 days per year. Sales of 10W40 grade premium oil average 20 cans per day. Inventory holding costs are $0.50 per can per year. Ordering costs are $10 per order. Lead time is two weeks. Backorders are not
> A construction project is broken down into the following 10 activities: a. Draw the network diagram. b. Find the critical path. c. If activities 1 and 10 cannot be shortened, but activities 2 and 9 can be shortened to a minimum of one week each at a cos
> Bobby, another enterprising barber, is thinking about advertising in the local newspaper because he is idle 45 percent of the time. Currently, customers arrive, on average, every 40 minutes. What does the arrival rate need to be for Bobby to be busy 85 p
> What is the objective of assembly-line balancing? How would you deal with the situation where one worker, although trying hard, is 20 percent slower than the other 10 people on a line?
> Demand for an item is 1,000 units per year. Each order placed costs $10; the annual cost to carry items in inventory is $2 each. In what quantities should the item be ordered?
> To support National Heart Week, the Heart Association plans to install a free blood pressure testing booth in El Con Mall for the week. Previous experience indicates that, on average, 10 persons per hour request a test. Assume arrivals are Poisson distri
> Burrito King (a new fast-food franchise opening up nationwide) has successfully automated burrito production for its drive-up fast-food establishments. The Burro-Master 9000 requires a constant 45 seconds to produce a batch of burritos. It has been estim
> What is the most commonly used priority rule for setting queue discipline, likely because it is seen as most fair?
> What is the term used for the situation where a potential customer arrives at a service operation and upon seeing a long line decides to leave?
> Bindley Corporation has a one-year contract to supply motors for all washing machines produced by Rinso Ltd. Rinso manufactures the washers at four locations around the country: New York, Fort Worth, San Diego, and Minneapolis. Plans call for the followi
> Toshihiro Nakamura, manufacturing engineering section manager, is examining the prototype assembly process sheet (shown in Exhibit 8.15) for the newest subnotebook computer model. With every new model introduced, management felt that the assembly line h
> The customer order decoupling point determines the position of what in the supply chain?
> What is the first of the three simple steps in the high-level view of manufacturing?
> UA Hamburger Hamlet (UAHH) places a daily order for its high-volume items (hamburger patties, buns, milk, and so on). UAHH counts its current inventory on-hand once per day and phones in its order for delivery 24 hours later. Determine the number of hamb
> The following diagram represents a process where two components are made at stations A1 and A2 (one component is made at A1 and the other at A2). These components are then assembled at station B and moved through the rest of the process, where some addit
> This exercise is designed to support a plant tour event conducted as part of a class. This questionnaire is focused on assessing the “leanness” of a manufacturing plant. It might be useful to review the material on &a
> AudioCables, Inc., is currently manufacturing an adapter that has a variable cost of $.50 per unit and a selling price of $1.00 per unit. Fixed costs are $14,000. Current sales volume is 30,000 units. The firm can substantially improve the product qualit
> Owen Conner works part-time packaging software for a local distribution company in Indiana. The annual fixed cost is $10,000 for this process, direct labor is $3.50 per package, and material is $4.50 per package. The selling price will be $12.50 per pack
> Aldo Redondo drives his own car on company business. His employer reimburses him for such travel at the rate of 36 cents per mile. Aldo estimates that his fixed costs per year—such as taxes, insurance, and depreciation—are $2,052. The direct or variable
> Define, in a practical sense, what is meant by an exponential service time.
> A manufacturing process has a fixed cost of $150,000 per month. Each unit of product being produced contains $25 worth of material and takes $45 of labor. How many units are needed to break even if each completed unit has a value of $90?
> What’s the relationship between the design of a manufacturing process and the firm’s strategic competitive dimensions?
> What feature in project management information systems can be used to resolve overallocation of project resources?
> What does the product-process matrix tell us? How should the kitchen of a Chinese restaurant be structured?
> What is a customer order decoupling point? Why is it important?
> It is your responsibility, as the new head of the automotive section of Nichols Department Store, to ensure that reorder quantities for the various items have been correctly established. You decide to test one item and choose Michelin tires, XW size 185
> Check out the web sites of the consulting companies listed in the chapter outlines. Which ones impressed you most as a potential client and as a potential employee?
> What two basic questions must be answered by an inventory-control decision rule?
> What was the most complex project that you have been involved in? Give examples of the following as they pertain to the project: the work breakdown structure, tasks, subtasks, and work package. Were you on the critical path? Did it have a good project
> What is meant by a process? Describe its important features.
> Why is it that reducing moves, delays, and storages in a manufacturing process is a good thing? Can they be completed eliminated?
> What is meant by manufacturing process flow?
> How does the production volume affect break-even analysis?
> In what way might the first-come, first-served rule be unfair to the customer waiting for service in a bank or hospital?
> Lambda Computer Products competed for and won a contract to produce two prototype units of a new type of computer that is based on laser optics rather than on electronic binary bits. The first unit produced by Lambda took 5,000 hours to produce and requi
> Logistics Consultants Inc. (LCI) provides various logistics analysis services to other firms, including facility location decisions. They have just completed a project for a major customer, but on the eve of their presentation they discovered a computer
> Have you driven any car lately? Try not to think of the insurance claims settlement process while you drive! How would you reengineer your insurance company’s claims process?
> Johnson Industries received a contract to develop and produce four high-intensity long distance receiver/transmitters for cellular telephones. The first took 2,000 labor hours and $39,000 worth of purchased and manufactured parts; the second took 1,500 l
> Management may choose to build up capacity in anticipation of demand or in response to developing demand. Cite the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches.
> Lazer Technologies Inc. (LTI) has produced a total of 20 high-power laser systems that could be used to destroy any approaching enemy missiles or aircraft. The 20 units have been produced, funded in part as private research within the research and develo
> You’ve just completed a pilot run of 10 units of a major product and found the processing time for each unit was as follows: Unit Number Time (hours) 1 ………………………………………………. 970 2 ………………………………………………. 640 3 …………………
> United Research Associates (URA) had received a contract to produce two units of a new cruise missile guidance control. The first unit took 4,000 hours to complete and cost $30,000 in materials and equipment usage. The second took 3,200 hours and cost $2
> Discuss the graphic presentations in Exhibit 4.11. Are there any other graphic outputs you would like to see if you were project manager? | Sample of Graphic Project Reports exhibit 4.11 A.Gantt Chart for Single Activities B. Total Program Cost Bre
> Honda Motor Company has discovered a problem in the exhaust system of one of its automobile lines and has voluntarily agreed to make the necessary modifications to conform with government safety requirements. Standard procedure is for t
> Omega Technology is starting production of a new supercomputer for use in large research universities. They have just completed the first unit, which took 120 man-hours to produce. Based on their experience, they estimate their learning percentage to b
> Company Z is just starting to make a brand new product they have made before. They have completed two units so far. The first unit took 12 hours to complete and the next unit took 11 hours. Based only on this information, what would be the estimate of
> Firm A typically sees a learning percentage of 85% in their processes. Firm B has a learning percentage of 80%. Which firm has the faster learning rate?
> Think about the registration process at your university. Develop a flow chart to understand it. How would you radically redesign this process?
> Distinguish between known mathematical distributions and empirical distributions.What information is needed to simulate using a known mathematical distribution?
> Santa Cruz Bottling is a manufacturer of organic soft drinks on the coast of central California. Its products are enjoying a growing reputation and increased demand throughout the American Southwest. Because of the high cost of transporting soft drinks,
> A distributor of large appliances needs to determine the order quantities and reorder points for the various products it carries. The following data refer to a specific refrigerator in its product line. Consider an even daily demand and a 365-day year.
> How do you determine the idle-time percentage from a given assembly-line balance?
> A company has just tested the skills of two applicants for the same job. They found that applicant A had a higher learning rate than applicant B. Should they definitely higher applicant A?
> True or False: The only learning for an organization comes from the individual learning of its employees.
> The purpose of value analysis/value engineering is to _____________
> The first step in developing a house of quality is to develop a list of __________________.
> Designing products for aesthetics and with the user in mind is generally called what?
> A process that emphasizes cross-functional integration and concurrent development of a product and its associated processes is known as _________________________.
> In discussing characteristics of efficient plants, Goodson, developer of “Rapid Plant Assessments”, suggests that numerous forklifts are a sign of poor space utilization. What do you think is behind this observation?
> Match the following product types to the appropriate product development description. Technology-push A. Entail unusually large uncertainties about the technology or market. The development process takes steps to address those uncertainties. produc
> The following chart is a partial house of quality for a golf country club. Provide an importance weighting from your perspective (or that of a golfing friend) in the unshaded areas. If you can, using the QFD approach, compare it to a club where you or yo
> Pick a product and list issues that need to be considered in its design and manufacture. The product can be something like a stereo, cell phone, desk, or kitchen appliance. Consider the functional and aesthetic aspects of design as well as the important
> After graduation, you decide to go into a partnership in an office supply store that has existed for a number of years. Walking through the store and stockrooms, you find a great discrepancy in service levels. Some spaces and bins for items are completel
> DM Office Products (DMOP) is a wholesale supplier of office products with one facility in Pennsylvania. It has decided to build a new distribution warehouse in the state of New York to help serve the growing demand in that market. It has four major custo
> Perot Corporation is developing a new CPU chip based on a new type of technology. Its new chip, the Patay2 chip, will take two years to develop. However, because other chip manufacturers will be able to copy the technology, it will have a market life of
> What are the pros and cons of starting a simulation with the system empty? With the system in equilibrium?
> Which industry will typically have a faster learning rate: a repetitive electronics manufacturer or a manufacturer of large complex products such as a shipbuilder?
> Tuff Wheels was getting ready to start its development project for a new product to be added to its small motorized vehicle line for children. The new product is called the Kiddy Dozer. It will look like a miniature bulldozer, complete with caterpillar t
> Discuss design-based incrementalism, which is frequent product redesign throughout the product’s life. What are the pros and cons of this idea?
> What does it take to be a good consultant? Is this a career for you?
> How does the QFD approach help? What are some limitations of this approach?
> Describe the generic product development process described in this chapter. How does this process change for technology push products?
> Coca-Cola is a well-established consumer products company with a strong position in the global market. The sales of their core soda products have remained relatively stable for decades, yet the company has continued to grow and has remained extremely pr
> What factors must be traded off in the product development process before introducing a new product?
> What does an inverted triangle represent in a value stream map?
> Do the concepts of complexity and divergence apply to an online sales company such as Dell Computer?
> A small manufacturing facility is being planned that will feed parts to three heavy manufacturing facilities. The locations of the current plants with their coordinates and volume requirements are given in the following table. Use the centroid method t
> Discuss the product design philosophy behind industrial design and design for manufacture and assembly. Which one do you think is more important in a customer-focused product development?
> The Swedish retailer dominates markets in 32 countries, and now it’s poised to conquer North America. Its battle plan: Keep making its offerings less expensive, without making them cheap. Above all else, one factor accounts for IKEA’s success: good quali
> What methods are used to increment time in a simulation model? How do they work?
> In value stream mapping, what does an arrow in the shape of a lightning bolt mean?
> Would a warm paraffin hand treatment during your dental cleaning or dental treatment put you at ease and make the process more bearable? That is the idea behind the new “dental spa” services opening in major cities throughout the United States. Beyond ca
> Which type of system is likely to have a faster learning rate – one with primarily highly automated equipment or one that is very labor intensive?
> “Timbuk2 is more than a bag. It’s more than a brand. Timbuk2 is a bond. To its owner, a Timbuk2 bag is a dependable, everyday companion. We see fierce, emotional attachments form between Timbuk2 customers and their bags all the time. A well-worn Timbuk2
