Chapter 11 management

A "process" is any part of an organization that takes inputs and transforms them into outputs that, hopefully, are of greater value to the organization than the original inputs.

Cycle time is the ratio of the time that a resource is actually activated relative to the time that it is available for use.

A diamond is conventionally used in a process flowchart to represent a storage area or queue.

A rectangle is conventionally used in a process flowchart to represent a task or operation

A triangle is conventionally used in a process flowchart to represent a storage area or queue

Buffering in a production process refers to a storage area between stages of production activity where output of a stage is placed prior to being used in a "downstream" stage.

Blocking in production processes is when activities in a stage must continue because there is no place to deposit completed items

One way to categorize a process is to determine whether it is a multiple-stage or a single-stage process.

A bottleneck occurs when a stage in a production process is starving.

When a make-to-order production process is used, production is based on forecasts.

McDonald's fast-food restaurants use a make-to-order production process

Process analysis can help answer many important questions such as how many customers can a process handle per hour

Process analysis can help answer many important questions such as why change in a process is necessary

Hybrid processes combine features of make-to-order and make-to-stock production processes.

A service operation by its very nature is a make-to-stock type of production process.

Make-to-order production processes are well suited for high-volume production of a standardized product

Pacing in production processes refers to the fixed timing of the movement of items through the process.

When we use a make-to-stock production process, we control our production based on a desired amount of finished goods inventory

Make-to-stock production processes can easily handle requests for customized product features.

Productivity in a production process can be measured by the ratio of output to input.

Utilization of a production process is the ratio of output to input

Utilization of a production process is the ratio of time that a resource is actually being used relative to the time it is available for use

Benchmarking refers to the practice of comparing the production metrics of one firm with the production metrics of another.

Efficiency of a production process is the ratio of the actual output of a process to some standard.

Throughput rate of a production process is the amount of time a unit spends actually being worked on.

Process velocity is the ratio of the total throughput time to the value added time.

If you want to reduce process flow time, it has been suggested that you can perform activities in the process in parallel.

If you want to reduce process flow time, it has been suggested that you can reduce interruptions in the production process

Setup time is the time required to prepare a process to produce a particular item.

Run time is calculated by multiplying the number of units in a batch by the setup time.

Inventory turn is the cost of goods sold divided by the average inventory value.

Inventory turn is a better measure than the total value of inventory for comparative purposes because it is a relative measure

Little's law says there is a long-term relationship among the inventory, throughput, and flow time of a production system in steady state.

Job design is defined as the function of specifying the work activities of an individual or group in an organizational setting.

Methods Time Management (MTM) and Most Work Measurement System (MOST) are proprietary examples of predetermined motion-time data systems (PMTSs).

Which of the following best describes the term "cycle time"? A. Average time between completions of successive units B. Ratio of the time a resource is activated over its use C. Can be no more that 60 minutes D. The same as utilization E. The labor content of the item being measured

A process flowchart uses symbols to represent which of the following? A. Factory location B. Warehouse space available C. Workforce schedules D. Flows of material or customers E. Data analysis

A process flowchart uses which of the following symbols to represent a decision point in a flow diagram? A. Rectangle B. Arrow C. Inverted triangle D. Diamond E. A dashed line

A process flowchart uses which of the following symbols to represent storage areas or queues in a flow diagram? A. Rectangle B. Arrow C. Inverted triangle D. Diamond E. A dashed line

A process flowchart uses which of the following symbols to represent tasks or operations in a flow diagram? A. Rectangle B. Arrow C. Inverted triangle D. Diamond E. A dashed line

A process flowchart uses which of the following symbols to represent flows of material or customers in a flow diagram? A. Rectangle B. Arrow C. Inverted triangle D. Diamond E. A dashed line

Which of the following production process terms best describes the situation when activities in a stage of production must stop because there is no work? A. Blocking B. Buffering C. Starving D. Buffer E. Setup time

An advantage of a make-to-stock process is which of the following? A. It features rapid delivery of a standard product. B. All units of output are unique. C. It responds directly to customer orders. D. It allows the firm to avoid inventory costs. E. It combines the best features of other processes.

Which of the following terms describes the time a unit spends actually being worked on together with the time spent waiting in a queue? A. Cycle time B. Flow time C. Run time D. Setup time E. Efficiency

According to Little's law, which of the following ratios is used to find flow time? A. Cycle time/Process time B. Throughput time/Process velocity C. Process velocity/Throughput time D. Inventory/Throughput rate E. Value-added time/Process velocity

According to Little's law, which of the following can be used to estimate inventory? A. Process time/Cycle time B. Throughput rate × Flow time C. Process velocity/Flow time D. Set up time/Throughput rate E. Value-added time/Process velocity

To reduce process flow time, you might try which of the following actions? A. Perform activities in parallel. B. Change the sequence of activities. C. Reduce interruptions. D. Acquire additional equipment. E. All of these

To reduce process throughput time, you might try which of the following actions? A. Outsource activities. B. Change the sequence of activities. C. Improve teamwork. D. Reduce management interference. E. Introduce incentive pay

The long-term relationship among the inventory, throughput, and flow time of a production system in steady state is called which of the following? A. Peterson's rule B. Murphy's law C. Little's law D. Robert's rule E. None of these