2: Operations Management includes all of these activities except: a. Scheduling work. b. Maintaining quality. c. Assessing consumer wants and needs. d. Managing the supply chain.
3: Which one of the following will always lead to an increase in productivity? a. Increase inputs and increase outputs. b. Increase outputs and hold inputs constant. c. Decrease both inputs and outputs.
4: Which approach to forecasting uses a series of questionnaires? a. Associative b. Naive c. Moving average d. Exponential smoothing e Delphi
5: Which of these factors affects productivity? a. methods and technology b. workers c. management d. a and b only e. all of the above
6: Averaging techniques are useful for: a. distinguishing between random and non-random variations b. smoothing out fluctuations in time series c. both (a) and (b) d. providing technically accurate forecasts
7: Which would not generally be considered as a feature common to all forecasts? a. Assumption of a stable underlying causal system b. Actual results will differ somewhat from predicted values. c. Historical data are available on which to base the forecast. d. Forecasts for groups of items tend to be more accurate than forecasts for individual items.
8: If an analyst wants to make a moving average more responsive to change, the analyst should a. increase the number of data points in the average b. decrease the number of data points in the average c. increase the value of the smoothing constant d. decrease the value of the smoothing constant
9: Which one would be considered a reason for using a salesforce composite forecast? a. Sales people often communicate with each other. b. They are not likely to be affected by recent events c. They are very aware of the importance of forecast accuracy. d. They are often aware of customers”; future plans.
10: A system is made up of two components, each with probability of operating correctly of .60. The probability that the system will operate correctly is: a. .60 b. .36 c. .24 d. .16
11: Which one of these is the primary input in capacity planning? a. Overall cost estimates. b. Supply chain capabilities. c. Competitors’; strengths. d. Past successes or failures. e Demand forecasts
12: Which one of these is not necessarily an important factor in planning service capacity? a. The inability to store services. b. The need to be near customers. c. Demand forecasts. d. Demand volatility.
13: Which one of these is not a reason for diseconomies of scale? a. Fixed costs are spread over more units. b. Distribution costs increase. c. Complexity increases costs. d. Inflexibility may be an issue.
14: Which system has the least flexibility? a. job shop b. batch c. assembly d. continuous
15: Which type of operation would be most closely associated with division of labor? a. job shop b. batch c. assembly d. continuous
16: The type of layout that would be used to build a submarine is: a. fixed-position b. product c. process d. aquatic
2. How do you improve productivity? Develop productivity measures for all operations
Determine critical (bottleneck) operations
Develop methods for productivity improvements
Establish reasonable goals
Make it clear that management supports and encourages productivity improvement
Measure and publicize improvements Don’t confuse productivity with efficiency
3. Why is forecasting important?