Cross-docking processes items as they are received, rather than placing them in storage;
this helps explain why “warehouses” are now called “distribution centers.”
With the many-suppliers strategy, the order usually goes to the supplier that offers the
best quality.
In queuing problems, arrival rates are generally described by the normal probability
distribution.
With the growth of just-in-time practices, railroads have made large gains in the share
of the nation’s transport that they haul.
In the maturity stage of the product life cycle, operations managers will be concerned
with adding capacity or enhancing existing capacity to accommodate the increase in
product demand.
Break-even analysis identifies the volume at which fixed costs and revenue are equal.
Customer demand will always remain an unknown, so it is not considered a source of
variation.
Relatively few new product ideas, perhaps only 1 in 250, become successfully marketed
products.
A copy center has five machines that serve many customers throughout the day; the
waiting-line system for copy service has an infinite population while the waiting-line
system for copier maintenance has a finite population
The number of kanbans decreases as safety stock is increased.
The common measures of a queuing system’s performance include
A) probability that the service facility will be idle, average queue length, probability
that the waiting time will exceed a specified duration
B) average time each customer spends in the system, probability that the service system
will be idle, average time each customer spends in the queue
C) average queue length, maximum time a customer may spend in the queue, the
utilization factor for the system
D) average time each customer spends in the system, maximum queue length,
probability of a specific number of customers in the system
E) none of the above
Which one of the following is not a characteristic of a Model B or M/M/S system?
A) unlimited population size
B) single channel
C) single queue
D) single phase
E) Poisson arrival rate pattern
When making a location decision at the region/community level, which of these would
be considered?
A) government rules, attitudes, stability, incentives
B) cultural and economic issues
C) cost and availability of utilities
D) zoning restrictions
E) air, rail, highway, waterway systems
Which of the following is not an information requirement for solving a load-distance
problem?
A) a list of departments or work centers
B) a projection of work flows between the work centers
C) the distance between locations
D) a list of product cycle times
E) the cost per unit of distance to move loads
Suppose the solution for a transportation model fills 5 cells with quantities to be
shipped. Which of the following combinations of sources and destinations would be
degenerate?
A) 2 sources, 4 destinations
B) 3 sources, 3 destinations
C) 4 sources, 2 destinations
D) 5 sources, 1 destination
E) None of the above are degenerate.
Which of the following is not one of the Ten Critical Decisions of Operations
Management?
A) location strategy
B) human resources and job design
C) managing quality
D) design of goods and services
E) determining the financial leverage position
The first unit took 10 hours and the fourth unit took 8.1 hours to complete. What is the
learning curve?
A) 100%
B) 99%
C) 95%
D) 90%
E) 80%
Which of the following is not a retail layout practice?
A) high-draw items along periphery
B) distribute power items throughout store
C) end-aisle locations are used to maximize product exposure
D) high-margin and impulse items in prominent locations
E) All of the above are retail layout practices.
Flexible equipment with rapid changeovers is most closely associated with which
approach?
A) product
B) process
C) mass customization
D) repetitive
E) A and C
The Beta distribution is used in project management to
A) calculate slack on activities not on the critical path
B) calculate the probability that a project will be completed within its budget
C) calculate pessimistic and optimistic activity times
D) determine which activity should be crashed
E) none of the above
Which of the following is true?
A) Corporate mission is shaped by functional strategies.
B) Corporate strategy is shaped by functional strategies.
C) Functional strategies are shaped by corporate strategy.
D) External conditions are shaped by corporate mission.
E) Functional area missions are merged to become the organizational mission.
The objective of scheduling is to
A) maximize quality
B) minimize cost
C) minimize response time
D) prioritize and allocate demand to capacity
E) minimize lead time
Which of the following phrases best describes process focus?
A) low volume, high variety
B) finished goods are usually made to a forecast and stored
C) operators are modestly skilled
D) high fixed costs, low variable costs
E) raw material inventories are low relative to the value of the product
Which of the following is a step towards integrating JIT and MRP according to the text?
A) smaller buckets
B) increase quality
C) scrap MRP, it does not work with JIT
D) migrate from MRP to ERP
E) All of the above are acceptable steps
Bob Dresser operates a major appliance warranty service center. His operation has two
check stations that are required at the end of every repair task performed by his
appliance repair staff. These are the Functionality Review (FR) and the Overall Scan
(OS). The FR must be performed successfully before the OS is begun. On Friday
morning, six repair jobs are completed, awaiting these two inspection activities.
Processing times are given in minutes.
a. What is the optimal sequence of jobs for the objective of minimizing the total flow
time?
b. Show your work, and document the sequence.
c. Chart the solution to this problem.
d. What jobs are being processed at time period 90?
e. What is the total flow time of this problem?
__________ is the grouping of a variety of tasks using the same approximate skill level.
An airport is trying to balance where to place three airlines. The distance between
terminals and the number of trips that travelers make between airlines per day are listed.
Find the assignment that minimizes the distance travelers must walk.
Identify and describe briefly each of the purposes of project scheduling.
Identify the seven fundamental layout strategies. Describe the use of each one very
briefly.
To maximize team effectiveness, managers need to do more then just form teams. What
should managers do to maximize team effectiveness?
A(n) __________ is the accumulation of individual probabilities of a distribution.
Describe the three forecasting time horizons and their use.
Describe the earliest application of learning curve concepts to industry.