OPS 574 Wk 1 – Practice: Formative Assessment

Conceptual Question 4-10 What happens to…

What happens to the target manpower if the labor content is doubled?

multiple choice

• The target manpower increases by 50 percent.
• The target manpower doubles.
• The target manpower decreases by 50 percent.

The target manpower decreases by a factor of 2.

Conceptual Question 2-5 Over the course of a…

Over the course of a day, fans pour into a NASCAR venue at the rate of 8,000 people per hour. The average rate at which fans leave the venue ______.

multiple choice

• must be less than 8,000 people per hour
• must be exactly 8,000 people per hour
• must be more than 8,000 people per hour
• could be more or less than 8,000 people per hour

Conceptual Question 4-17 A process has low…

A process has low fixed costs and high variable costs. It is currently capacity-constrained. Will the impact of an efficiency improvement be small or large?

multiple choice

• Small
• Large

Conceptual Question 2-11 If inventory is measured in kilograms, then…

If inventory is measured in kilograms, then when applying Little’s Law the flow rate can be measured in ______

multiple choice

• Units per kilogram
• Minutes per kilogram
• Kilograms per second
• Kilograms per kilometer

Conceptual Question 4-16 A process has high…

A process has high fixed costs and low variable costs. It is currently capacity-constrained. Will the impact of an efficiency improvement be small or large?

multiple choice

• Small
• Large

Conceptual Question 3-2 Which of the following items…

Which of the following items would be considered resources in a restaurant?

multiple choice

• Recipes
• Food
• Brand image
• Chefs

Conceptual Question 4-3 A nonbottleneck worker…

A nonbottleneck worker currently has an idle time of 20 seconds per unit. Because of the large demand, the company improves the process by adding more capacity to the bottleneck. How does this impact the idle time of the worker?

multiple choice

• The idle time would decrease.
• The idle time would stay the same.
• The idle time would increase.

Cannot determine from the given information.

Conceptual Question 4-1 A process is replicated in…

A process is replicated in another country where wages are 50 percent lower. Staffing and processing times are identical. What would be the effect on the costs of direct labor?

multiple choice

• Costs of direct labor would be 50 percent lower.
• Costs of direct labor would be the same.
• Costs of direct labor would be 50 percent higher.

Cannot determine from the given information.

Conceptual Question 4-6 Which of the following…

Which of the following statements about takt time and cycle time is true?

multiple choice

• Takt time only depends on demand, not capacity. Cycle time does depend on capacity.
• Takt time only depends on capacity, not demand. Cycle time depends on demand.
• Takt time and cycle time only depend on capacity.

Takt time and cycle time only depend on demand.

Conceptual Question 3-4 What is the relationship between…

What is the relationship between the processing time at a resource and its capacity?

multiple choice

• They are the same.
• They are reciprocals of each other.
• They are multiples of each other.

They are not related.

OPS 574 Wk 1 – Apply: Process Improvement Flowchart

The purpose of this assignment is to learn how to create a flowchart and improve a process and summarize the results. You will create a process to improve flowcharts.

Complete the Week 1 Process Improvement Flowchart Worksheet.

Submit your assignment.

OPS 574 Wk 2 - Practice: Formative Assessment

In a service operation, we can compute the value-added time by simply looking at the labor content.

Conceptual Question 8-6 Which of the following…

Which of the following does not belong to the seven sources of waste?

multiple choice

• Rework
• Overtime
• Transportation
• Inventory

Conceptual Question 8-4 Students have to change…

Students have to change buildings between classes, which often involves walks of 5 minutes or more. Walking from one building to another is

multiple choice

• waste.
• non-value-added time.
• value-added time.
• Cannot determine from the given infomation

Conceptual Question 8-2 Which car company…

Which car company is most often associated with the term lean operations?

multiple choice

• General Motors
• Ford
• Toyota
• Honda

Conceptual Question 8-19 Because of long setup…

Because of long setup times, a company chooses to run big production batches. Which of the following actions will level the production schedule?

multiple choice

• Using overtime
• Mixing the models on the final line
• Making sure that rework is kept low

Reducing the waste of the process

Conceptual Question 8-17 Which of the following…

Which of the following statements about kanban are accurate?

multiple choice

• I. Deploying the kanban system leads to pulling work through the system instead of pushing work.
• II. Deploying the kanban system leads to pushing work through the system instead of pulling work.
• III. The kanban system controls the work-in-process inventory.
• IV. Kanban will always reduce the amount of inventory in the process.
• V. Kanban requires cross-training all workers.
• I and II
• I and III

I and IV

Conceptual Question 8-14 If the takt time…

If the takt time increases, the operation requires

multiple choice

• more workers.
• fewer workers.

Conceptual Question 8-23 A single inspection…

A single inspection system with experts testing the output of the process will help reduce the information turnaround time.

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Kaizen favors automation and investment in technology.

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Conceptual Question 8-3 A worker in charge…

A worker in charge of assembling a bicycle finds a faster way to mount the pedals. He turns to his supervisor. The supervisor explains that the process had been optimized by the engineering department and so the worker should make sure to stick with the existing procedures. Which management scholar’s work does this fit best?

multiple choice

• Taylor
• Ohno
• Womack
• Fujimoto

OPS 574 Wk 2 – Apply: Summative Assessment: Statistical Process Control Methods

To learn how to apply SPCM to a process, continue the flowchart from Week 1 and identify variances within a process. You can find variances from the data identified in Week 1.

Complete the Week 2 Statistical Process Control Methods Worksheet.

Submit your assignment.

OPS 574 Wk 3 - Practice: Formative Assessment

If capacity exceeds demand, then all flow units are served.

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The denial of service probability decreases if more servers are added and nothing else changes.

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Conceptual Question 17-8 Which of the following…

Which of the following most directly expresses the motivation behind the expression “buffer or suffer”?

multiple choice

• Adding inventory to a process is likely to increase the flow time.
• To increase capacity, it is important to pool queues.
• If you want to increase the capacity of a process, add capacity first to the bottleneck.
• If there is variability in the arrival process or in processing times, make sure there is sufficient inventory between stages; otherwise, capacity will be reduced.
• Variability in the service process reduces capacity more than variability in the arrival process.

Conceptual Question 17-7 In the Erlang loss model…

In the Erlang loss model, pooling is an effective strategy because it always increases implied utilization.

Conceptual Question 17-9 At the Millbrook High…

At the Millbrook High School cafeteria, students proceed along a series of stations in a single line: (1) get tray and utensils, (2) choose food, (3) select beverage, (4) pay. The school is concerned that students are taking too long to get their meal. The school has analyzed the capacities of each of the four steps in isolation and found there exists sufficient capacity at each resource in isolation. Which of the following is most likely to be causing the congestion?

multiple choice

• The bottleneck is probably at the last station because capacity is reduced the most when the bottleneck is at the end of the process.
• The implied utilization of the bottleneck is too low.
• Due to variability in processing times, both blocking and starving could be occurring.
• The process must be demand-constrained.
• The stations have similar utilizations.

Conceptual Question 17-4 In the Erlang loss model…

In the Erlang loss model, which best describes the relationship between implied utilization and utilization?

multiple choice

• Implied utilization is always greater than utilization.
• Implied utilization is only greater than utilization when implied utilization is greater than 100 percent.
• Implied utilization, like utilization, does not exceed 100 percent.
• Implied utilization is the same as utilization.

Conceptual Question 17-3 In the Erlang loss model…

In the Erlang loss model, which of the following most likely increases lost demand?

multiple choice

• An increase in the average interarrival time
• An increase in the average processing time
• An increase in the number of servers
• A decrease in implied utilization

Conceptual Question 17-5 In the Erlang loss model…

In the Erlang loss model, which of the following is a benefit of reducing the variability of processing times?

multiple choice

• The denial of service probability decreases.
• The flow rate increases.
• Implied utilization increases.
• Utilization increases.
• All of the choices are .
• None of the choices are .

Conceptual Question 17-6 In the Erlang loss model…

In the Erlang loss model, system A has 5 servers and an implied utilization of 125 percent, while system B has 15 servers and an implied utilization of 125 percent. Which of the following statements is true?

multiple choice

• System A has the higher utilization because it has fewer servers relative to the potential demand.
• The two systems have the same utilization because they have the same implied utilization.
• System B has a higher utilization because the fraction of lost demand is lower in that system.
• More information is needed to determine which system has the higher utilization.

OPS 574 Wk 3 – Apply: Service System Applications

The purpose of this assignment is to align proper service system applications to certain industries. You will also analyze and evaluate a company’s customer service strengths and challenges.

Select a company you are familiar with, such as your own employer or a public company that you know you can find customer service data on.

Identify the type(s) of service system used in the company or a certain part of the company.

Write a 350- to 525-word summary that outlines and highlights the system strengths and weaknesses. Include an analysis of industry comparisons, if available.

Choose a service system from this assignment that you will implement in the Supply Chain Template assignment in Week 6.

Cite references to support your assignment.

Format your citations according to APA guidelines.

Submit your assignment. 

OPS 574 Wk 4 – Practice: Formative Assessment

In an AON graph of a project, there only exists one path from the first to the last activity.

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Conceptual Question 19-14 The key objectives of a project are given…

The key objectives of a project are given by

multiple choice

• time, scope, and budget.
• cost, Quality, and location.
• customers, suppliers, and employees.

efficiency, effectiveness, and success.

Conceptual Question 19-2 Consider the simple dependency…

Consider the following, simple dependency matrix.

Simple dependency

matrix   Predecessor

activity

A1        A2

Successor

activity        A1

A2        X

Which of the following statements is ?

multiple choice

• The two activities are independent of each other and the project can carry out both of them immediately.
• A1 is a predecessor activity to A2.
• A2 is a predecessor activity to A1.

None of these statements is .

The key objectives of a project can be summarized in the form of a

multiple choice

• line.
• triangle.
• square.

hexagon.

Which of the following statements is  with respect to a Gantt chart?

multiple choice

• The x-axis of a Gantt chart shows a time line.
• The y-axis shows the activities of a project.
• The Gantt chart itself does not show all dependencies among activities.
• The Gantt chart is named after 19th-century industrialist Henry Gantt.
• All of these statements are .

Which of the following statements is  with respect to slack time?

multiple choice

• The slack time of an activity is the latest completion time of the activity minus the earliest completion time.
• The slack time of an activity is the latest start time of the activity minus the earliest start time.
• The slack time of an activity determines how long an activity can be delayed without impacting the overall completion of the project.
• All of these statements are .

Which of the following statements is  with respect to an AON graph of a project?

multiple choice

• In an AON graph, the activities are on the edges of a graph.
• In an AON graph, the activities are on the nodes of a graph.
• AON stands for the American Operations Norm.

None of these statements is .

A project has four activities that take 4, 3, 6, and 7 days, respectively. What is the total completion time for the project?

multiple choice

• 3 days, because this is the minimum time
• 7 days, because this is the maximum time
• 20 days, because this is the sum of the times
• It is not possible to determine the total completion time from the given information

Conceptual Question 19-3 Consider a project with two activities that…

Consider a project with two activities that are interdependent. Which of the following statements is ?

multiple choice

• Both activities can be carried out in parallel without coordination.
• Static coordination of the two activities implies that the two activities are carried out in an iterative manner.
• Dynamic coordination of the two activities implies that the two activities are carried out in an iterative manner.

None of these statements is .

Consider two projects that have the same activities and the same dependencies. In the first project, the activity times are expected outcomes. The actual times will vary. In the second project, the activity times are always as expected. Assuming the expected activity times are identical across the two projects, which project will be completed first?

multiple choice

• The first
• The second

Cannot be determined

OPS 574 Wk 4 – Apply: Summative Assessment: Organize a Project

This assignment is intended to help you use leadership skills to gather project members from cross-functional departments and skill sets and lead them in the fulfillment and implementation of a mock project.

Discover the various responsibilities of a project manager by organizing a project. See Chapter 19, sections 19.9 and Cases.

Apply project management tools and a PM outline type of your choice to structure and plan the project by defining, planning, and controlling. The project will be a continuation of how to improve the process you chose in Weeks 1 and 2.

Create a 10- to 12-slide PowerPoint presentation (supported by Excel and Word as needed), with detailed speaker notes, that includes the following:

• Project description
• Project Management Charts (Critical Path, Gant Chart, etc.)
• Improved Process Flowchart from Week 1
• Meeting cadence/rhythm and timing
• Metrics to measure the project’s success
• Financial and budgetary considerations
• Description of the project reporting structure

Cite references to support your assignment.

Format your assignment according to APA guidelines.

Submit your assignment.

OPS 574 Wk 5 – Practice: Formative Assessment

Which of the following is a benefit of overbooking a resource?

multiple choice

• It helps to reduce the average number of jobs waiting to be processed on the resource.
• It helps to reduce the average flow time of jobs through a resource.
• It helps to increase the utilization of the resource.
• It helps to reduce the processing times of jobs at a resource.

Jobs have different processing times and due dates. If a job is finished earlier than its due date but one day sooner than expected, how does this change the job’s lateness?

multiple choice

• Lateness decreases by one day.
• Lateness does not change.
• Lateness increases by one day.
• It is not possible to determine the impact on lateness of the job with the given information.

A sales organization creates a new sales forecast by simply taking the average of demand forecasts that each sales manager generated individually. What type of subjective forecasting approach best describes this?

multiple choice

• Forecast combination
• Forecast with consensus building
• Prediction market

Time-series forecasting

With weighted shortest processing time, jobs are scheduled at a resource in what order?

multiple choice

• In increasing order of their processing times
• In the order they arrived
• In decreasing order of their priority/weight
• In decreasing order of the ratio of weight to processing time

The theory of constraints is most applicable in which of the following processes?

multiple choice

• An auto repair shop with one mechanic
• A chemical processing plant with numerous pieces of equipment with significant setup times and a large number of products, each requiring different sequences of resources to be completed
• A well-balanced assembly line that makes lawnmowers

Why does the theory of constraints advocate that a manager’s attention be directed to the bottleneck of a process?

multiple choice

• It is useful to lower the utilization of the bottleneck.
• The bottleneck has considerable influence on the average flow rate of a process.
• It is important to minimize the buffer inventory in front of the bottleneck.
• First-come-first-served scheduling of jobs at the bottleneck ensures that all jobs have the same expected waiting time before they are processed at the bottleneck.

Which of the following statements best explains why an organization would use weighted shortest processing time instead of shortest processing time?

multiple choice

• Jobs differ in how important it is for them to be completed quickly.
• It wants to minimize the average flow time across all jobs.
• WSPT is a simple rule to implement because jobs are processed in the order in which they arrive.
• It wants to minimize the average number of jobs in the system waiting to be processed.

The intuition behind the MAE metric to evaluate old forecasts is

multiple choice

• to sum up the forecast errors.
• to sum up the squared forecast errors.
• to sum up the absolute values of the forecast errors.
• to average the squared forecast errors.
• to average the absolute values of the forecast errors.

What is the definition of a forecast error?

multiple choice

• The average difference between the forecast and the actual outcome
• The maximum difference between the forecast and the actual outcome
• The difference between the forecast and the actual outcome

The percentage difference between the forecast and the actual outcome

Jobs have different processing times and due dates. If a job is finished earlier than its due date but one day sooner than expected, how does this change the job’s tardiness?

multiple choice

• Tardiness decreases by one day.
• Tardiness does not change.
• Tardiness increases by one day.
• It is not possible to determine the impact on the tardiness of the job with the given information.

OPS 574 Week 5 – Apply: Operations Plan

This assignment is intended to help you learn how to apply forecasting and demand models as part of a business operations plan.

Choose 2 quantitative elements that you would like to research in relation to the organization that you selected for your business plan. These elements may be related to products, services, target market, consumer preferences, competition, personnel, resources, supply chain, financing, advertising, or other areas of interest. However, at least one of these elements should be related to a product or service that your organization is planning to offer.

Develop forecasts by implementing the following approach:

1. Collect data, including old demand forecast (subjective data) and the actual demand outcomes.
2. Establish the forecasting method (from readings). Decide on the balance between subjective and objective data and look for trends and seasonality.
3. Forecast future demand using a forecasting method.
4. Make decisions based on step 3.
5. Measure the forecast error where applicable. Look for biases and improve the process.

Write a 350- to 525-word paper evaluating the findings from the supported data points above, and explain the impact of these findings on operational decision making. Insert charts and supporting data from Excel and other tools in your paper.

Cite references to support your assignment.

Format your citations according to APA guidelines.

Submit your assignment.

OPS 574 Wk 6 – Practice: Formative Assessment

Which of the following best explains why distributors help to reduce the space retailers need to store inventory?

multiple choice

• Distributors allow retailers to receive truckload shipments more frequently.
• Distributors decrease the total distance products travel in the supply chain.
• Distributors allow retailers to receive smaller quantities of each supplier’s product.

Distributors increase the time that inventory spends in the supply chain.

Which of the following statements best explains why distributors tend to spend less on storage space per square meter per year than retailers?

multiple choice

• Distributors provide break bulk service.
• Distributors don’t actually make products.
• Distributors can store more items per square meter and require space that is less aesthetically pleasing.

Distributors enjoy higher gross margins than retailers.

What is the relationship between a location’s in-stock probability and the lead time that location delivers on shipments to its customers?

multiple choice

• The higher the in-stock probability, the smaller the lead time.
• There isn’t a definitive relationship—a higher in-stock probability could mean a smaller or a greater lead time.
• The higher the in-stock probability, the greater the lead time.

Product A’s annual inventory turns is 4 and product B’s annual inventory turns is 6. Which product has the higher amount of inventory, measured in dollars?

multiple choice

• A
• B
• Cannot be determined (could be either one)

Which of the following is the best reason to add a second supplier for a critical component?

multiple choice

• The primary supplier is located in a flood-prone region, while the second supplier’s location is not subject to flooding.
• The second supplier is able to offer the same lead time as the first supplier.
• Adding a second supplier helps reduce the bullwhip effect.
• Adding a second supplier will increase the firm’s purchasing power for the component.

Tablets and laptops would be categorized as which type of inventory by an electronics retailer?

multiple choice

• Raw materials inventory
• Work-in-process inventory
• Finished goods inventory

Seasonal inventory

Computers lose value as they are stored in inventory. This is an example of which component of a firm’s inventory holding cost?

multiple choice

• Opportunity cost of capital
• Storage cost
• Spoilage cost
• Obsolescence cost

Which reason for holding inventory enables a firm to reduce the impact of large fixed costs that the firm incurs whenever it places an order to a supplier?

multiple choice

• Seasonality
• Uncertain demand
• Buffers
• Batching

A delivery truck from a food wholesaler has just delivered fresh meat and produce to a local restaurant. This meat and produce would be categorized as which type of inventory by the restaurant?

multiple choice

• Raw materials inventory
• Work-in-process inventory
• Finished goods inventory

Seasonal inventory

Product A’s annual inventory turns is 10 and product B’s annual inventory turns is 15. Which product has a higher months-of-supply?

multiple choice

• A
• B
• Cannot be determined (could be either one)

OPS 574 Wk 6 – Apply: Summative Assessment: Supply Chain Operations Plan

This assignment is intended to help you build a supply chain plan/diagram for a new business by analyzing factors that affect sourcing, logistics, metrics, suppliers, and risk.

Create a diagram of the supply chain plan using one of the following tools:

• Excel
• PowerPoint
• Visio
• PictoGram
• PDF
• Other faculty-approved platform

Write an 875-word analysis of the supply chain. Include the following:

• Value chain and flow of structure
• Inputs
• Outputs, including customer service structure
• Inventory points and forecasting
• Sourcing activities
• Risks
• Locations
• Logistics

Cite references to support your assignment.

Format your citations according to APA guidelines.

Submit your diagram and paper.