Verified Test Bank Production And Operations Management Ch9 - Understanding Business 12e Complete Test Bank by William Nickels. DOCX document preview.
Understanding Business, 12e (Nickels)
Chapter 09 Production and Operations Management
1) Currently, manufacturing accounts for only around 70% of U.S. GDP.
2) Today, due to technological advancements, manufacturers in the U.S. have become so efficient, they require fewer workers to produce the same amount of output.
3) One key to the resurgence of U.S. firms as world-class competitors has been the implementation of a focus on quality.
4) Evidence suggests that U.S. manufacturing firms can no longer compete against the best firms in the rest of the world.
5) American manufacturers have emphasized continuous improvement as one strategy for regaining a competitive advantage in the manufacturing sector.
6) To strengthen its manufacturing base, the U.S. will need to continue to innovate.
7) The U.S. is still manufacturing intensive. Only 55% of U.S. jobs come from the service sector.
8) Since U.S. manufacturing competes on price throughout the world, innovation plays a very small part in the U.S. economy.
9) U.S. businesses are known for their technological advances and their ability to implement change.
10) As the service industries became a larger part of U.S. GDP, companies have become more concerned about measuring productivity in the service sector.
11) U.S. manufacturers are focusing on quality as a way to become more competitive globally.
12) The box, "Creating Skilled Workers with German-Style Apprenticeships," asserts that Germany is working to combat the growing skills gap by providing on-the-job education for young workers.
13) American companies, like IBM, prefer to stay the course and continue to compete by selling products instead of services.
14) In the past, production management was about using the factors of production to create finished goods.
15) Operations management converts resources into goods and services.
16) In the process of operations management, a firm transforms resources such as raw materials, supplies, and even human resources into goods and services.
17) Operations management involves inventory management, quality control, and production scheduling.
18) Manufacturing firms focus exclusively on the production of goods and allow other firms to provide services.
19) In recent years, operations management has become more focused on providing services, because that is where the growth and profit potential is greatest.
20) Operations management in service industries is about creating a good experience for the customer.
21) Operations management moves from knowing the needs of consumers to actually satisfying those needs.
22) Education and training are less important to workers in the service sector than to workers who have jobs in the manufacturing sector.
23) The quality standard for service industries such as luxury hotels is meeting the customers' requests.
24) Service businesses know that in order to delight customers they must be able to anticipate their needs.
25) One important issue with respect to managing the operation of a business is to make certain that customers leave feeling as though they had a good experience with your service and with your company in general.
26) Manufacturing companies are concerned with production management, while service companies are concerned with operations management.
27) Firms that specialize in accounting, finance, and management consulting are all part of the service sector.
28) An important strategy in operations management is using technology to anticipate customer needs.
29) Operations management transforms resources into goods and services. Green Grass Landscaping utilizes equipment, labor, and materials to develop a top notch landscape for its customers. Managing this operation may also involve maintenance services.
30) Apollo just graduated with a degree in operations management. While earning his degree, the knowledge he gained and skills he developed could make him an attractive employee for both a manufacturing firm and a service firm.
31) Trey is a manager at Plastics Plus, a manufacturing firm in Arkansas. His responsibilities include production scheduling as well as keeping tabs on the company's inventory. These duties suggest that Trey is involved in promotions management.
32) As you're loading your groceries on the conveyor belt, the clerk asks you if you found everything you needed. As she continues to scan your purchases, coupons for future purchases print near the cashier's terminal. In reviewing the key concepts from this chapter, you would consider this action to be the store's management of its labor.
33) Kimber Cross is majoring in operations management at a local university. Unfortunately, the evolution of the U.S. from a manufacturing-oriented to a service-oriented economy means that Kimber will not likely find job openings in her field of study.
34) When firms successfully produce products, they create form utility.
35) Only firms in the manufacturing sector can create true form utility.
36) The three basic requirements of production are: (1) creating a finished good, (2) making sure you created it at the lowest cost possible, and (3) selling it.
37) The value added by the creation of finished goods and services from inputs is called ownership utility.
38) Process manufacturing refers to combining components and raw materials to make a product.
39) Process manufacturing physically or chemically alters materials to create finished goods.
40) A continuous production process involves physically or chemically manipulating raw materials to create a product.
41) An assembly production process is characterized by long production runs that turn out finished goods over time.
42) Intermittent production processes are characterized by short production runs and frequent changes of machinery in order to produce different products like customized furniture.
43) Contemporary manufacturers in the U.S. lack the flexibility to use intermittent production processes.
44) One drawback of intermittent production processes is that they tend to be much slower than continuous processes.
45) The production process requires inputs, controls, and outputs.
46) Mass production techniques allowed firms to respond quickly to the individual needs of consumers.
47) One of the reasons mass production techniques lost favor is that, despite their ability to keep costs relatively low, mass production lacks flexibility.
48) The ability to integrate computers into the design and manufacture of products has had the greatest impact on production techniques in recent years.
49) CAD/CAM has made it possible to custom-design products to meet the tastes of small markets with very little increase in costs.
50) CAD systems allow designers to use 3D modeling software.
51) Despite its early promise, computer-aided design has not met with much success in increasing productivity.
52) The purpose of computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) is to unite computer-aided design with computer-aided manufacturing.
53) The advantage of computer-integrated manufacturing software is that it allows computer-aided design machines to communicate directly with computer-aided manufacturing machines.
54) So far, the high cost of CAD/CAM techniques has limited their use to large, expensive manufactured goods such as automobiles.
55) Flexible manufacturing systems use machines that are designed to do a multitude of tasks so that they can produce a variety of goods.
56) A disadvantage of flexible manufacturing systems is that they usually require a great deal of labor because machines are rarely capable of handling a wide variety of tasks.
57) One way to compete with cheap labor is to use robots.
58) Lean manufacturing is a strategy of producing standardized products that have no frills or extra features in order to keep prices low.
59) Companies that achieve lean manufacturing use less of everything (raw materials, labor, etc.) to produce the same amount of products.
60) Technological improvements are largely responsible for the increase in productivity and efficiency of U.S. plants.
61) The higher productivity of U.S. plants is due to technological improvements.
62) Mass customization is tailoring products to meet the needs of a large number of individual customers.
63) Mass customization is a strategy of convincing customers to choose from a relatively small number of alternatives in order to achieve the efficiencies of mass production.
64) While mass customization works well for producers it is not used in the service sector.
65) Actually, it is much easier to custom-design service programs than it is to custom-make goods.
66) Nanomanufacturing is when materials can be manipulated on a molecular or even atomic level.
67) Companies that employ lean manufacturing and flexible manufacturing produce better quality products, but have costlier production lines.
68) When a company has the ability to produce the same amount of goods with only half the floor space and half the labor that it used in the past, the firm is practicing flexible manufacturing.
69) Improvements in technology have significantly increased the quality of products, as well as helped reduce costs.
70) Manufacturers use computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) to create three-dimensional designs of products before they are built.
71) Mass customization is not exclusive to product-intensive businesses. Service businesses have learned how to use mass customization to serve their customers.
72) Businesses that provide services typically cannot use mass customization because services are not tangible products that can be customized.
73) Process manufacturing involves taking raw materials and physically or chemically changing them into another form, while the assembly process takes the newly changed form and turns it back into the original form.
74) The main difference between process manufacturing and an assembly process is that process manufacturing uses sophisticated robots and automated machinery to produce a good or service, while an assembly process uses labor and simple tools to make a product.
75) Land, labor, capital, and knowledge are inputs into the production process.
76) Although lean manufacturing attempts to reduce the amount of labor used in the manufacturing process, it typically does so by increasing the amount of most of the other resources used in the production process.
77) Chinese companies use so many robots in its manufacturing sector that it may soon become the world's largest robot market.
78) Computers and robots are only useful in continuous production processes where the same type of product is produced many times.
79) To make its dry ice, Polar Caps Ice Company compresses carbon dioxide and cools it to an extremely low temperature. Polar Caps Ice Caps' method is an example of process manufacturing.
80) Comfort Corners Home Furnishings specializes in producing custom-made residential furniture. The most efficient process for Comfort Corners to utilize would be a continuous production process.
81) B&B Brothers Manufacturing typically creates large batches of standardized products used by plumbers, such as pipefittings and valves that must be produced in standard sizes. A continuous production process would work well for B&B.
82) Fuzzy Fabrics, Inc. is a specialty manufacturer that produces custom blankets according to customer specifications. Fuzzy Fabrics should probably use an intermittent process in production.
83) Tim and Eric recently started a company focused on rehabbing old houses. Before they buy a house, they use software to create and design the renovation of each room. The program provides them with an estimate of how much of each kind of material is needed, and the orderly progression of tasks that need to be completed. Tim and Eric use computer-aided design.
84) BeltIn, Inc., is a seat belt manufacturer about 8 miles from two major auto assembly plants. Every two hours, BeltIn delivers seatbelts to each of the plants. The assembly plants only accept the number of seatbelts that they will use in cars during the next two hours after delivery. The auto plants embrace lean manufacturing.
85) Tina's Tiny Treats bakes an assortment of cookies and candies for corporate accounts and restaurants. On a good day, Tina's receives orders for from 600 to 800 custom cookies, with a variety of uniqueness, although the company is famous for delicate shortbread and butter cookies. Some cookies have round shapes, but others are elongated rectangles, and yet others are triangles. The bakers can quickly change the cookie cutting machine to reflect the orders for the day, while computers program the ovens bake each cookie to perfection. Refrigeration is also computer controlled. Tina's Tiny Treats embraces flexible manufacturing and mass customization.
86) Facility location is the process of selecting a geographic location for a company's operations.
87) When considering the issue of facility location, it is important to find an isolated location so that work can get done without interruption from customers.
88) Operations management planning is concerned with finding the ideal location for a business and also with materials requirement planning. It leaves decisions about purchasing and inventory control to marketing.
89) When it comes to location decisions, labor costs are no longer an important consideration for most manufacturing firms.
90) Today, e-commerce uses social media to make online transactions even easier.
91) Manufacturing firms that want to minimize time-to-market are likely to choose facility sites that give them easy access to their preferred modes of transportation.
92) Some companies will locate their production facilities near their suppliers.
93) Many state and local governments offer tax incentives and government services to attract businesses.
94) In making a location decision, businesses seldom consider "quality of life" in various locations, because factors that influence quality of life have little or no impact on profits.
95) Online-focused strategies don't affect operations managers since it is not essential for operations managers to negotiate in an interfirm environment.
96) For many firms, operations management has become an interfirm process.
97) Facility layout is the function of operations management that considers the physical arrangement of resources (including people) in the production process.
98) For service-intensive businesses, facility layout is usually designed to centralize the decision-making process.
99) Telecommuting has diminished in popularity as a strategy for linking employees with work.
100) The production of a bridge, ship, or large airplane usually involves a variable-position facility layout.
101) The process layout simplifies production by using the same sequence of processes regardless of the design of the item being produced.
102) In an assembly-line manufacturing layout workers do only a few tasks at a time.
103) In a modular manufacturing layout teams of workers combine to produce more complex units.
104) A process manufacturing layout is frequently used in operations that serve different customers' different needs.
105) Facilities layout will depend upon the processes that are to be accomplished in the firm's operation.
106) Materials requirement planning (MRP) enables a firm to make sure that the right amount of each material or component is available at the right time to satisfy its production needs.
107) Materials requirement planning relies on the firm's balance sheet to make sure that the right quantities of finished goods are produced.
108) One limitation of materials requirement planning (MRP) is that it is not a computer-based approach.
109) Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is simpler and less sophisticated than manufacturing resource planning (MRP).
110) Enterprise resource planning (ERP) combines all functional units of a firm into the production of goods and services, and may even include subsidiaries and other firms.
111) ERP software enables multiple firms to manage all of their operations on the basis of a single, integrated set of corporate data.
112) The purchasing function involves searching for quality resources and finding the best suppliers as well as negotiating the best price for the needed items.
113) Online companies have helped businesses find the best supplies at the best prices.
114) Modern companies deal with many different suppliers in order to avoid problems that can arise when one supplier is unable to provide needed parts or materials.
115) Today, rather than purchase goods and services from a large number of firms, manufacturers often try to develop a close relationship with one or two key suppliers.
116) The purchasing function of operations management seldom uses the Internet to make purchasing decisions.
117) The primary characteristic of a just-in-time inventory system is that suppliers deliver parts and materials right at the time that the buyer is going to use them in the production process.
118) The concept just-in-time (JIT) works well if a company works with lots of suppliers. It also helps avoid the breakdowns that occur when operating with an enterprise resource planning system.
119) In a just-in-time inventory system, the producer holds large quantities of the materials and components used in the production process in its inventory to ensure that it always has enough on hand.
120) Overall, American firms that have tried to use just-in-time inventory systems generally report disappointment with the results.
121) In JIT inventory systems a manufacturer normally communicates its production plans to suppliers so that they can deliver needed parts and materials just in time for the manufacturer to use them.
122) Quality control is a continual process of checking to make certain that there is consistency in the quality of products being produced.
123) Six Sigma is a benchmark of quality standards that many product and service industries try to achieve.
124) Under the Six Sigma quality standard the idea is to detect potential problems, in order to prevent their occurrence.
125) Six Sigma is a quality measure that allows only 3.4 defects per million opportunities.
126) A key element of the statistical quality control (SQC) process is the reliance on quality control experts to inspect at the end of the production line to make sure that no defective products are shipped to final customers.
127) Statistical quality control (SQC) is the process some managers use to continually monitor all phases of the production process to assure that quality is being built into the product from the beginning of the production process.
128) Statistical process control (SPC) is the process of taking statistical samples of product components at each stage of the production process and plotting those results on a graph. Any variances from quality standards are recognized and can be corrected if beyond the set standards.
129) The Deming Cycle is designed to catch errors before they happen.
130) The Deming Cycle approach to quality control consists of: Plan, Do, Check, Act.
131) Service organizations find it difficult to provide outstanding service every time because the process is so labor intensive.
132) If a company achieves Six Sigma quality standards, they automatically win the Malcolm Baldrige award.
133) The Baldrige standards measure a firm's quality in several key areas including planning, leadership, and customer and market focus.
134) ISO is a worldwide, nongovernmental federation that sets global measures of quality.
135) The International Organization for Standardization continually updates acceptable international requirements in the areas of process control, product testing, storage, and delivery.
136) ISO 9001 refers to a set of international standards for quality management and assurance.
137) ISO 14001 is a new set of product quality standards that has replaced the old ISO 9001 standards.
138) The European Union demands that all firms that want to do business with its member nations must satisfy ISO 9001 standards.
139) ISO 14001 is a collection of the best practices for managing an organization's impact on the environment.
140) Firms that satisfy the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards have demonstrated a world-class management system in both quality and environmental standards.
141) One valid criticism of modern production planning methods such as ERP and MRP is that there is no way to use recent advances in information technology (IT) with these systems.
142) Recent developments in information technology will discourage companies from allowing employees to telecommute.
143) Areas with higher than average labor costs are almost always at a major disadvantage when trying to attract new businesses.
144) Retailing is one area where technology is unlikely to make a big difference in how services are provided.
145) The decreased use of enterprise resource planning (ERP) reflects the fact that firms are not interested in combining the computerized functions of all divisions and subsidiaries of a firm.
146) A major advantage of a just-in-time inventory system is that it reduces costs and the effort for both the producer and its suppliers.
147) One of the best ways to maintain consistently high quality in the production process is to give a group of specialists in a separate quality control department the authority to inspect each product at the end of the production process.
148) Operations managers have learned that quality control is not a never-ending process. Just before you add packaging to the finished product, official company inspectors do a random spot-check. All inspections have to occur at the end of a production run because only then can the inspector see the total finished product in order to determine if quality is jeopardized.
149) According to the box titled "Should We Stay or Should We Go?," federal law states, a firm must give employees 60 days' notice of a facility or plant closing.
150) Ahmed, an operations manager for a smartphone manufacturer, just accepted a new operations position with a service company. Ahmed will find that operations management at the new job will differ significantly from operations management at the manufacturer.
151) Bryant is an outdoorsman. Inspired by his love of hunting and fishing, he started an online company specializing in his favorite hunting and fishing gear. He decided to locate his business near Kentucky Lake, partly because of low labor costs, but mainly because the area offered excellent fishing and hunting opportunities, a low crime rate, and a pleasant climate. Bryant's location decision was strongly influenced by quality of life considerations.
152) Marie is an operations manager at a local housekeeping service. She is recommending that her firm make better use of the Internet so its services are more readily available to its customers. Marie's recommendation reflects a growing trend in service-sector firms.
153) Skyway Aeronautics was recently awarded a contract to build a large lab module that will be attached to a new space station. The module is approximately 48 feet long, 17 feet in diameter, and weighs over 60 tons. Skyway should use an assembly-line plant layout to produce this module.
154) McGowan Brothers Manufacturing recently redesigned its facility layout to group similar equipment and functions together. This allows flexibility in the sequence in which products are produced using these functions. McGowan Brothers' new layout is an example of the fixed-position layout.
155) KTG Computers is looking to set up a planning system that will integrate its production and operations system with those of its suppliers. As its operations management consultant, you explain that it needs a material requirement planning (MRP) system.
156) General Automotive currently uses an ERP system to manage all of its production operations and coordinate them with the other operations of the company. The company also wants to implement a just-in-time (JIT) inventory system. Unfortunately for General Automotive, ERP is incompatible with JIT, so if it adopts the new inventory system it will have to abandon ERP.
157) Pieces and Parts, Inc., is a major supplier of components used by Game Guys, Inc.. Game Guys is looking to implement a just-in-time inventory system. Pieces and Parts should benefit from this approach, since JIT systems greatly simplify the task of suppliers.
158) In an effort to improve the quality control process at the Southern Peanut Corporation, management is introducing the importance of the Deming Cycle to employees. This suggests that managers are aware of the need to find potential problems before they occur.
159) Bolt's Electric is in the process of trying to achieve ISO 14001 certification. Although the criteria for certification involve several milestones, we can be assured they will be evaluated on the regularity and thoroughness of their environmental audits, and how well top management reviews the firm's adherence to policies that are environmentally friendly.
160) Star Performance, Inc., a sporting good company, and Fairview Community College are interested in following the lead of other companies and implementing criteria that will lead toward receiving the Baldrige Award. As their advisor, you emphasize that focusing on the measurement of customer satisfaction is one important area where both will need to excel.
161) Gianni's Gelato, a large ice cream producer on the east coast, wants to license firms in Europe to produce and sell its products. We can conclude that this is good strategy if it wants to save the money it would cost to be ISO 9001 certified because the EU (European Union), unlike U.S. firms, has not yet adopted these standards.
162) Picture Pieces corporation produces jigsaw puzzles. The quality of its materials and the calibration of machines that cut and fit pieces of a puzzle are extremely important if it is to eliminate defects and meet customer specifications. If the company meets or exceeds Six Sigma criteria, it will have no more than 60 defects per million puzzles.
163) A major purpose of the program evaluation and review technique (PERT) is to identify the minimum time needed to complete a project.
164) The end result of PERT analysis is an estimate of the total cost of completing a project.
165) The critical path identified by PERT analysis is the sequence of tasks that can be completed in the shortest amount of time.
166) PERT is a popular technique for analyzing the tasks involved to complete a given project, estimating the time required to complete each task, and identifying the minimum time needed to complete the project.
167) An advantage of PERT diagrams is that they are usually so simple to draw that a computer is not needed.
168) In a PERT network, a critical path is the sequence of tasks that takes the longest time to complete.
169) Compared to PERT networks, Gantt charts provide a more basic way to track progress on a given project.
170) A Gantt chart is a bar graph showing production managers what projects are being worked on and the stage of development at any given time.
171) The significance of the critical path on a PERT chart is that it identifies the least costly method of producing a given product.
172) The first step in the PERT method is to assign a cost to each activity.
173) The PERT network provides a project manager with a plan that puts all the activities of a project in the correct order that they must be accomplished, shows which activities can be accomplished simultaneously, and, also gives the manager a good estimate of how long each activity will take to complete.
174) Gantt charts will show the production manager if certain activities in the production process are lagging behind their acceptable time of completion.
175) Casper is a construction manager who needs to determine how long a project will take to complete and which tasks in the project have the greatest potential for delaying his project. The PERT chart will help Casper answer these questions.
176) Brian is in charge of a complex project. He wants to see how all the different activities involved in completing the project are related to each other. One way to illustrate these relationships would be to construct a PERT chart.
177) Lacey is a production manager and often refers to a bar graph that shows what activities are being worked on, and how much of each task has been completed on a daily basis. Lacey is using a Gantt chart.
178) Review the PERT Network below: If it takes 2 weeks for each activity (represented by a box) to be completed, it can be determined that the boxes labeled with No. 1 create the critical path because this path of activities takes the shortest time to complete.
179) In recent years, the service sector of the U.S. economy has
A) grown much more rapidly than the manufacturing sector.
B) become the low-wage sector of the U.S. economy.
C) achieved extremely high productivity gains according to government reports.
D) focused less on quality and more on reducing costs of production.
180) Manufacturing output in the U.S. continues to increase. The high unemployment of skilled workers who previously worked in the manufacturing sector
A) is the result of untrained laborers.
B) is strictly a factor of U.S. manufacturing companies outsourcing the majority of their work.
C) can be reconciled by the fact that manufacturing is very efficient and requires fewer workers to produce the same amount, or even more output.
D) can be attributed to manufacturing going green.
181) One strategy U.S. manufacturers have employed in order to become more competitive is
A) focusing on providing the lowest-priced products.
B) creating technology foreign manufacturers depend on to increase effectiveness and efficiency.
C) maintaining a distance relationship with suppliers in an effort to guard trade secrets.
D) increasing advertising budgets.
182) To strengthen its manufacturing base in the future, U.S. will have to
A) uncover lower wage workers in the U.S. to compete with China.
B) continue to innovate.
C) support students in high school and college interested in studying the arts.
D) cut the amount of benefits offered to workers.
183) According to the Reaching Beyond Our Borders box, one way Germany is remaining competitive in industrial jobs is
A) they implement apprenticeships to provide on-the-job education for young workers.
B) they encourage students to leave school to take manufacturing jobs.
C) they rely solely on robotic technology and no longer use a human workforce.
D) they send all of their manufacturing work to China.
184) At Skilled Specialties, Inc., production line employees often work side by side with their robotic counterparts. This practice is also common among many of Skilled Specialties' other American competitors. The resurgence of U.S. manufacturing firms in recent years can be credited to
A) the government's willingness to implement policies designed to protect U.S. firms from low-cost foreign competition.
B) a decision by many U.S. manufacturers to drastically reduce costs by making more extensive use of mass-production techniques.
C) a number of significant changes in production techniques.
D) a relaxation of government laws that has allowed manufacturing firms to merge more easily, thus achieving stronger market positions.
185) Production management is the traditional term used to describe all the activities managers do to help their firms create
A) resources.
B) goods.
C) services.
D) equities.
186) Operations management is a specialized area in management that converts resources into
A) services, rather than goods.
B) goods, rather than services.
C) both goods and services.
D) financial data.
187) ________ is the specialized area of management that converts or transforms resources into goods and services.
A) Logistics management
B) Resource engineering
C) Intrapreneuring
D) Operations management
188) ________ is the creation of goods and services using land, labor, capital, entrepreneurship, and knowledge.
A) Resource recombination
B) Supply chain management
C) Production
D) Purchasing
189) The U.S. economy is now driven by
A) farming.
B) manufacturing.
C) services.
D) trade.
190) Operations management in the service sector is focused on creating
A) good experiences for those who use the service.
B) jobs for the local community.
C) additional customer expectations.
D) inexpensive ways to get things done.
191) Experts in operations management for service industry businesses stress
A) using records from accounting to determine what business to go after.
B) relying on one's individual operation as opposed to developing partnerships.
C) training employees to please customers by anticipating their needs.
D) training employees to always adhere to only one way of doing things.
192) The basic reason the term operations management is favored over the term production management is that
A) the U.S. economy has moved toward a more socialist approach with government controlling a greater share of the production process.
B) a much larger share of total output is being produced by nonprofit organizations.
C) the United States is now largely driven by services rather than manufacturing.
D) the United States now exports more than it imports.
193) Which of the following statements best describes the distinction between production management and operations management?
A) Production management involves activities managers perform to help create services while operations management involves the activities managers perform to produce goods.
B) Production management involves activities managers perform to obtain physical resources while operations management involves the activities managers perform to obtain the financial resources.
C) Production management involves activities managers perform to help create goods while operations management is a term that involves the activities involved in producing services as well as goods.
D) Production management involves activities managers perform to help create intangible products while operations management involves the activities managers perform to produce tangible products.
194) Which of the following statements about operations management in the service sector is most accurate?
A) Operations management in the service sector is all about providing the service at the lowest cost.
B) Operations management in the service sector should focus on providing customers with a good experience.
C) Operations management in the service sector has less flexibility than operations management in the manufacturing sector, because services are not technology driven.
D) Operations management in the service sector has done a good job of increasing output, but a poor job of improving quality.
195) For most service businesses the quality standard has become
A) providing prompt and predictable service.
B) providing a competitive level of service at the lowest cost.
C) pleasing customers by anticipating their needs.
D) less important than it is for manufacturing businesses.
196) Oakley, a freshman just starting college, hasn't decided on his major. He is looking into operations management and is also exploring job opportunities in this field. Which of the following statements about jobs for operations management majors is most accurate? If he majors in operations management, Oakley will
A) have limited job opportunities because operations management positions are only available in the slowly growing manufacturing sector.
B) acquire skills and knowledge that are valuable to firms in both the manufacturing and service sectors.
C) have plenty of job offers, but they will mainly be in low-wage positions in the service sector.
D) find plenty of employment opportunities in the government and education, but not very many in the private sector.
197) The Four Seasons hotel chain offers restaurants with the finest service, elevators that run smoothly, and a front desk that checks people in quickly. Many times fresh-cut flowers are in the lobbies and dishes of fruit are in each room. ________ is responsible for implementing these customer benefits.
A) Human resources management
B) The management staff
C) Operations management
D) Production management
198) Everyday, the Local Harvest Grocery Store general manager reviews employee work schedules. This includes the late night stock crew, the cashiers, the deli, produce, and meat department crews, and the management office personnel. He coordinates work schedules with shipments, as well as the information he collects from point-of-sale terminals that indicates the busiest hours at the store, and then he communicates any exceptions to his department managers. These daily tasks are part of
A) operations management.
B) promotions management.
C) distributive management.
D) marketing management.
199) Rita Marie and Lynn just returned from a scuba diving and snorkeling trip in the Caymans. Both travelers highly recommended the resort where they stayed. Guest services were extremely prompt in assisting with diving excursions. All resort employees were trained to greet every guest each time they encountered them, whether it was on a pathway to the pools and beaches, or in the restaurants. Many times, the employees even referred to each guest by name. ________ in the service industry is about creating a good experience for customers.
A) Enterprise resource planning
B) Intermittent planning
C) Operations management
D) Production management
200) Production creates
A) time utility.
B) possession utility.
C) form utility.
D) marginal utility.
201) ________ utility is the value added by the creation of finished goods and services using raw materials, components, and other inputs.
A) Manufacturing
B) Marginal
C) Consumption
D) Form
202) In ________, materials are physically or chemically changed to produce a product.
A) process manufacturing
B) assembly processes
C) utilitarian production
D) diffusive manufacturing
203) A(n) ________ puts together components to make a product.
A) modular process
B) compression process
C) assembly process
D) econometric process
204) A production process characterized by long production runs to turn out finished goods over time is known as a(n)
A) assembly process.
B) continuous process.
C) extended process.
D) unrestricted process.
205) A production process characterized by a short production run and frequent adjustments to machines so that different products can be produced is known as a(n)
A) just-in-time process.
B) lean manufacturing system.
C) analytic process.
D) intermittent process.
206) Most new manufacturing facilities use:
A) continuous processes.
B) intermittent processes.
C) traditional processes.
D) synthetic processes.
207) In the past, the idea behind mass production was to
A) produce goods of the highest possible quality.
B) give producers the maximum flexibility to respond to customer preferences.
C) make large quantities of a limited variety of products at very low cost.
D) give workers more control over their work environment.
208) ________ uses computers to help design products.
A) PERT
B) QPC
C) DPA
D) CAD
209) ________ involves computers directly in the production process.
A) CAD
B) CAM
C) AMDA
D) AMCAP
210) CAD/CAM makes it possible to custom-design products to meet the needs of ________ with ________.
A) small markets; a decrease in cost
B) very large markets; no increase in cost
C) small markets; very little increase in cost
D) international markets; products that are complex
211) CAD has ________ productivity in many firms.
A) unfortunately had no effect on
B) actually decreased
C) increased
D) splintered
212) Expensive software that enables computer-aided design machines to communicate with computer-aided manufacturing machines is called
A) a flexible system.
B) a computer-based feedback control system.
C) computer-integrated manufacturing.
D) heuristic manufacturing integration.
213) In ________, machines are designed to do multiple tasks so that they can produce a variety of products.
A) systems engineering
B) microdesign
C) modular construction
D) flexible manufacturing
214) In manufacturing, one way to compete with cheap labor is to
A) use robots.
B) hire experienced people.
C) make the production line longer.
D) increase inputs to the system.
215) The goal of lean manufacturing is to
A) keep inventories of finished goods as high as possible.
B) produce goods and services with less of everything that goes into the process.
C) produce a very limited variety of goods.
D) become more self-sufficient by producing major components rather than buying them.
216) ________ means tailoring products to meet the needs of a large number of individual customers.
A) Mass customization
B) Mass production
C) Competing in time
D) Feedback response production
217) Which of the following statements describes past processes that existed in manufacturing that negatively affected a firm's competitive advantage?
A) Companies tended to produce a large quantity of the same product at a very low cost.
B) Companies required their suppliers to only deliver the amount of good needed for a short-term production run.
C) Companies changed their equipment too often, which created lost time on the job.
D) Companies refused to train employees in technology and on machinery.
218) Which of the following statements about the impact of CAD/CAM on manufacturing is most accurate?
A) CAD/CAM is most useful to firms producing durable goods such as automobiles.
B) CAD/CAM has replaced ERP as the most sophisticated resource planning technique.
C) CAD/CAM allows firms to save money by replacing skilled labor with computers to perform all of the high-skill tasks.
D) CAD/CAM has made it possible to produce custom-designed products with little increase in costs.
219) A big advantage of computer-integrated manufacturing software is that it
A) makes it possible to custom-design products to meet the needs of small markets while cutting the time needed to program machines.
B) replaces "dumb" robots with "smart" computers.
C) allows personal computers to communicate directly with the firm's server.
D) controls all of the actions of the assembly line from a central location.
220) A basic characteristic of flexible manufacturing is that it
A) relies heavily on labor, since humans are more adaptable than machines.
B) uses machines designed to perform multiple tasks so they can be used to produce a variety of products.
C) achieves its flexibility at the cost of much slower rates of production than mass production techniques.
D) is only possible when using mass-production processes.
221) A company becomes lean by ________ its capacity to produce high-quality goods, while ________ its need for resources.
A) investigating; planning
B) increasing; decreasing
C) decreasing; increasing
D) planning; investigating
222) Lean manufacturing ________ productivity.
A) increases
B) decreases
C) has no effect on
D) removes the need for added
223) The main objective of lean manufacturing is to
A) keep labor costs as low as possible by expanding the use of other resources.
B) produce products that have fewer frills and options in order to simplify the production process and keep costs as low as possible.
C) produce goods using less of all types of resources.
D) get state and local governments to handle many of the tasks currently performed by the firm.
224) A benefit of CAD is
A) it basically eliminates the need for human intervention.
B) it saves on materials costs.
C) it permits customization without a significant increase in price.
D) it produces a higher quality product, which allows the manufacturer to charge more.
225) The use of ________ has increased productivity along the assembly line and within service-based businesses while simultaneously causing a reduction in jobs for people.
A) robots
B) generic products
C) lean manufacturing
D) 3D printers
226) Someday, ________ could revolutionize the production of many items. For now, however, it is mostly used to create prototypes and molds.
A) CID
B) 3D printing
C) CAD
D) CAM
227) In the Adapting to Change box, we read that 3D printing can prove to be revolutionary for the medical industry because
A) it basically eliminates the need for human (doctor) intervention.
B) it saves on insurance costs.
C) it can produce models to help with organ transplants and improved medical imaging.
D) it creates images for a doctor without the need for the patient to show up to the examination.
228) Comfort Corners Home Furnishings uses labor and machinery to transform wood, plastic, metal, and cloth into comfortable chairs, sofas, and love seats for the home. This process creates
A) form utility.
B) place utility.
C) use facility.
D) intangible productivity.
229) Tops and Lids Hat Company produces its hats and caps according to customers' requests. What process does Tops and Lids most likely use?
A) analytic
B) just-in-time
C) intermittent
D) continuous
230) Spokes Bikes has 18 different bicycle models that can be created in over 2 million combinations. Each combination is designed to fit the needs of a specific customer. Therefore, the customer chooses the model, size, color, and design they want. An analysis of this company's operation would indicate that it uses
A) lean manufacturing.
B) flexible production.
C) mass customization.
D) continuous production.
231) Sunnyside Travel, Inc. is a travel agency that specializes in destination wedding vacation packages. It has packages ranging from cruises to beach resorts all around the world. The customer chooses what they would like to pay, where they would like to visit, and what they would like to do. Based on this information, Sunnyside uses ________ to please the customers.
A) excellent human resources management
B) the Internet
C) mass customization
D) lean manufacturing
232) To make their famous Daddy's Deluxe Italian Sandwiches, Santino's Sandwich Emporium finely slices prime meats, stacks them on Italian bread, adds special seasonings, cheeses, and veggies. The value added by Santinos's when it combines these ingredients to make a sandwich is known as
A) consumer surplus.
B) the analytic function.
C) marginal utility.
D) form utility.
233) Operations managers at Alumax Corporation have found that they can achieve efficient production only by producing very large quantities of aluminum without shutting down the production process. This indicates that Alumax should use a(n) ________ production process.
A) intermittent
B) assembly
C) continuous
D) systematic
234) Ices Creamery combines sugar, cream, and the best natural flavorings, then churns and freezes the resulting mixture at a very low temperature, creating ice cream. The method Ices uses is an example of
A) an analytic production system.
B) process manufacturing.
C) an assembly process.
D) a symbiotic process.
235) Extel, Inc., acquires components to create its computers from an assortment of suppliers. The company then puts them together according to customer specifications to create custom-made computers. This is an example of
A) the assembly process.
B) process manufacturing.
C) synthetic production.
D) continuous production.
236) MachineX, Inc. manufactures machinery and robots that can assemble an assortment of cars and trucks including heavy duty pickup trucks, sports cars, luxury sedans, minivans, and multiple sizes of SUVs. MachineX sells products to companies that require
A) micro-engineering.
B) flexible manufacturing.
C) continuous production.
D) multiple output processing.
237) Aiden wants to find a way to cut back on labor and reduce his company's investment in tools and space, because he believes his firm uses more of all types of resources than is necessary. It seems that Aiden would like to adopt
A) mass production.
B) marginal cost management.
C) lean manufacturing.
D) the maximum production method.
238) The Corporate Comfort Furniture Company mass manufactures first-rate desks and chairs for executive offices. But now, the company is about to make a radical change in its production process. Customers will be able to provide specific measurements, select from a variety of fabric patterns, and answer some basic questions about the furniture styles they like, then design a chair and desk that is ergonomically designed for maximum comfort for its users. The new method Corporate Comfort will use is an example of
A) just-in-time manufacturing.
B) analytic production.
C) mass customization.
D) individualized production.
239) Your favorite photo can now be printed on your favorite credit card. You can design your own dresses online and have them sent to you in a few days. You can even create your own orthotics to fit inside your shoes. These are examples of the trend toward
A) continuous processes.
B) intermittent processes.
C) mass customization.
D) lean manufacturing.
240) Milan is a production and operations manager for a fashion company. Lately, he has been researching a system that will allow his company to take precise measurements from a customer and program machines to design and produce custom-cut clothes at little additional cost. This type of system is an example of the benefits of
A) mass production.
B) just-in-time production systems.
C) the PERT method.
D) CAD/CAM.
241) Digit Designs manufactures high-quality gloves and other accessories. It already uses both computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing. Unfortunately, the two systems cannot communicate with each other. William Warmdigit, a production manager at Digit Designs, has heard about software that allows CAD and CAM to work together, and wants to learn more about it. William is interested in
A) linear programming software.
B) holistic internalization of operations.
C) computer-integrated manufacturing.
D) complex systems integration.
242) Susie works for an architectural firm and the partners have always drawn the plans for projects by hand. Though Susie learned how to draw by hand in college, she is also highly skilled on computer programs that allow her to create designs in 3D. She plans to demonstrate the effectiveness of such programs to the firm's partners. The computer program she will recommend to the partners is
A) CAD.
B) CAM.
C) CIM.
D) SCM.
243) ________ is the process of selecting a geographic location for a company's operations.
A) Facility location
B) Facility layout
C) FRP
D) Geographic requirements planning
244) Which of the following is a likely reason that a company would move its facility from one location to another?
A) availability of expensive labor
B) higher quotas on competing goods
C) access to various modes of transportation
D) availability of a retired workforce
245) Firms that have a goal of ________ tend to locate facilities with access to major highways, ports, railways, and airports.
A) reducing time to market
B) using ERP techniques
C) replacing labor with machinery
D) switching to a more service-oriented product mix
246) Contemporary producers and their suppliers
A) locate in areas where they can share the same labor.
B) know that it is not necessary to locate close to international customers due to technology such as the Internet.
C) locate close together to decrease the cost of distribution.
D) have advanced beyond ERP to more sophisticated systems.
247) A major trend in business is ________, where employees work at least part time at home using a computer.
A) outsourcing
B) riveting
C) outbounding
D) telecommuting
248) Operations management becomes a(n) ________ when companies work closely together to design, produce, and ship products to customers.
A) open operation
B) closed operation
C) interfirm process
D) conjoined process
249) ________ is the physical arrangement of resources in the production process.
A) Facility location
B) Facility layout
C) ERP
D) RRL
250) Modular facilities layouts consist of
A) teams of workers who work together on a complex assembly.
B) lines of workers who do a small series of tasks and then pass along the product through the line to the next worker.
C) virtual companies and their supplier relationships.
D) workers who have a model in front of them that they try to replicate several times.
251) Firms often use a(n) ________ when working on a major project involving the production of a large item such as an airplane, ship, or bridge.
A) assembly line layout
B) continuous production process
C) fixed-position layout
D) process manufacturing technique
252) Unlike an assembly line where workers perform only a few tasks, in a ________ layout, teams of workers combine to perform a variety of tasks needed to produce more complex units of a final product.
A) modular
B) spoke and wheel
C) network
D) cluster
253) In manufacturing, a(n) ________ is used to produce large quantities of a few types of products.
A) assembly-line layout
B) process layout
C) modular layout
D) fixed-position layout
254) In manufacturing, a(n) ________ is frequently used in operations that serve different customers' different needs.
A) product layout
B) process layout
C) modular layout
D) fixed-position layout
255) An example of a(n) ________ is building a new home on a lot.
A) product layout
B) process layout
C) modular layout
D) fixed-position layout
256) The operations planning practice of using sales forecasts created by a computer to accurately predict the amount and timing of materials needed to complete products and projects is
A) enterprise resource planning.
B) materials requirement planning.
C) virtual accuracy tool.
D) computer-based materials model.
257) MRP is a technique that helps managers
A) develop a reliable sales forecast.
B) schedule the sequence of tasks workers must perform in order to complete a project.
C) determine how many workers are needed to staff various departments.
D) make sure that the right parts and materials are available at the right time.
258) MRP is the acronym for
A) minimum resource payments.
B) maximized revenue potential.
C) managed resource priorities.
D) materials requirement planning.
259) ERP is the acronym for
A) educated rights planning.
B) extensive research planning.
C) enterprise resource planning.
D) emphatic requirements planning.
260) ________ is a computer application that enables a firm to combine computerized functions of all divisions and subsidiaries of the firm into a single, integrated software program that uses a single database.
A) Materials requirement planning (MRP)
B) PERT analysis
C) Manufacturing resource planning (MRP II)
D) Enterprise resource planning (ERP)
261) ________ is the operations management planning function that searches for quality material resources, finds the best suppliers, and negotiates the best price.
A) Marketing
B) Collective bargaining
C) Bartering
D) Purchasing
262) ________ has transformed the purchasing function in recent years by helping firms find the best suppliers and the best prices.
A) PERT
B) The Internet
C) CAD/CAM
D) QFD
263) Today manufacturers are relying more heavily on
A) developing close relationships with just a few suppliers to secure affordable prices.
B) the bidding process to obtain the lowest price.
C) many suppliers to keep their leverage.
D) developing an MRP system for purchasing.
264) With the ________ inventory control system, producers hold only the amount of materials and parts that they need for a short period of time, sometimes just a few hours.
A) ABC
B) first-in, first-out (FIFO)
C) just-in-time (JIT)
D) maximum
265) To reduce the cost of holding too much inventory, many companies have implemented
A) ABC inventory management.
B) first-in, last-out inventory control.
C) just-in-time inventory control.
D) maximum inventory management.
266) Maintaining ________ involves producing what the customer wants while reducing errors before and after delivery to the customer.
A) manufacturing control
B) allocative efficiency
C) CAD/CAM
D) quality
267) In today's quality control programs, emphasis is placed on
A) producing goods at the lowest possible cost.
B) keeping labor costs as low as possible.
C) achieving customer satisfaction.
D) detecting errors at the end of the production process before the goods are shipped to customers.
268) The Six Sigma approach to quality control
A) relies on a special team of experts to examine every unit of output at the end of the production process.
B) detects potential problems early to prevent their occurrence.
C) views quality control as a function of the marketing department.
D) allows only 600 defective units per one thousand units produced.
269) ________ examines statistical samples of product components at each stage of the production process and plots the results on a graph in order to spot and correct any variances from desired quality levels.
A) CAD/CAM
B) Econometrics
C) Analysis of variance
D) Statistical process control
270) The Deming Cycle is
A) a checklist that enables managers to evaluate employee performance more systematically.
B) a systematic method of evaluating potential facility locations.
C) a process for finding potential quality errors before they occur.
D) a process for using identical production steps in the creation of different types of products.
271) The ________ National Quality Award is given to firms that achieve an outstanding level of overall quality based on performance in seven key areas.
A) Association of Operations Managers
B) Excellence in Production Committee
C) National Association of Manufacturers
D) Malcolm Baldrige
272) ________ is a set of international standards for quality management and quality assurance.
A) EPA 2001
B) ISO 14001
C) ISO 9001
D) TQM 2013/2014
273) ________ standards are concerned with the best practices for managing an organization's environmental impacts.
A) EPA 2001
B) ISO 14001
C) Eurogreen 701
D) Enviro 2001
274) Which of the following is an important part of operations management?
A) determining the best means of financing the firm's operations
B) developing the best advertising strategy to promote a firm's products
C) deciding whether to pay a dividend to the firm's stockholders
D) choosing the best location for a firm's facilities
275) Which of the following statements best describes the impact of recent advances in information technology on business location decisions?
A) Advances in information technology give firms a greater incentive to locate near big cities, because that is where they can take full advantage of these advances.
B) Western states tend to benefit the most from improvements in information technology, because most states in this region have invested heavily in Internet technology.
C) Advances in information technology will have no real effect on location decisions.
D) Advances in information technology will give firms more flexibility in their location decisions by reducing the need to locate close to sources of labor.
276) Which of the following statements about facility location is most accurate?
A) No firms are influenced by labor costs when making decisions about where to locate.
B) Recent changes in information technology have led firms to favor locations near major urban areas.
C) Manufacturers often seek to reduce time-to-market by locating facilities in areas with access to key modes of transportation.
D) No matter how large they become, most companies ultimately choose to locate major facilities within a few miles of the area in which they started business.
277) Which of the following statements best reflects the approach state and local governments take to influence the location decisions of businesses?
A) State and local governments often engage in fierce competition to attract businesses, including the offer of tax breaks, zoning changes, and financial aid.
B) State and local governments try to avoid competition with other areas, because such competition usually backfires and creates ill will.
C) State and local governments no longer pursue new businesses, because they have found that attempts to attract businesses are usually too expensive to justify the results.
D) State and local governments work primarily through the federal government and the Small Business Administration to obtain financial assistance for firms seeking to locate in their area.
278) Which of the following statements is most accurate?
A) Most manufacturing firms are turning to an assembly line layout to produce output as efficiently as possible.
B) For service firms, the main objective in facility layout usually is to centralize the control of operations.
C) Facility layout is important for manufacturing plants because facilities layout decisions can have a huge impact on the firm's costs.
D) In a modular layout, workers are assigned a specific station along an assembly line and specialize in performing a specific task.
279) New developments in information technology have
A) had little effect on business location decisions.
B) given firms even greater flexibility in their location decisions.
C) caused a movement of firms back to urban areas where access to this technology is greatest.
D) reduced the impact government policies have on location decisions.
280) Contemporary operations management planning is an interfirm process. An interfirm process is
A) a process that must integrate all of the functional units of a firm's operation, including production, marketing, finance, and logistics.
B) a process that uses a confidential plan, not shared with suppliers or customers, which stays within the firm.
C) a process where several firms work closely together to design, produce, and ship products to customers.
D) a process that seeks stability by adhering to top-down management.
281) Enterprise resource planning (ERP) goes beyond the capabilities of materials requirement planning (MRP) because it
A) gives much more precise cost estimates.
B) finds the critical path and computes its length.
C) monitors the computerized functions of all the divisions and subsidiaries of the firm in a single software program.
D) handles research data about more than one product at the same time.
282) A just-in-time inventory system usually reduces costs for
A) both the producer and its suppliers.
B) suppliers.
C) the producer.
D) neither the supplier nor the producer, though it does lead to more flexibility for both.
283) In a just-in-time inventory system, suppliers
A) deliver materials and parts in large quantities only a few times a year.
B) enjoy much lower delivery costs.
C) have a great deal of flexibility in determining when to make deliveries.
D) are usually connected electronically so they know what will be needed and when.
284) A firm would be most likely to employ statistical process control (SPC) if it wanted to
A) simplify the quality control process by taking samples at the end of the production process rather than examining every unit of output produced.
B) eliminate the expenses incurred by the Deming Cycle.
C) redefine quality control on the basis of customer needs.
D) make sure products meet quality standards all along the production process.
285) A firm that is certified as meeting both ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards has demonstrated
A) world-class management of both quality and environmental standards.
B) sound financial and marketing practices.
C) ethical treatment of both customers and employees.
D) that its recruitment and training programs for employees protect and promote basic human rights.
286) According to the Making Ethical Decisions box "Should We Stay or Should We Go?" a firm must give its employees ________ before closing and/or moving to another location.
A) bonuses equal to 1½ times their regular monthly pay
B) 2 weeks notice
C) a golden handshake
D) 60 days' notice
287) The main idea in the Making Ethical Decisions box "Do We Stay or Do We Go?" indicates
A) a need for firms to place a higher level of importance on time-to-market when choosing facilities locations.
B) that the goal of finding the lowest cost location should never be overshadowed by other concerns if the firm is to remain loyal to its stockholders.
C) that many locations do not meet ISO 14001 standards.
D) a need for firms to consider the economic impact of their existence and/or departure from a particular location.
288) As businesses strive for market expansion, companies add to their sales force, but opt to eliminate sales offices across the nation and internationally. How are these firms able to remotely operate a sales force that contributes toward increasing the bottom line?
A) A sensible strategy is to transport sales professionals to the world headquarters on a bi-weekly basis.
B) The business strategically moves manufacturing facilities to low-cost areas and allocates more funds toward the sales professionals to meet face-to-face with management.
C) The operation is maintained with an advanced MRP system.
D) The operation is managed with teleconferencing information technology, and telecommuting.
289) Green Goddess, Inc., is a leading producer of environmentally friendly cleaning agents. As they've outgrown their current facility, Green Goddess is looking for a new site. The company is mainly focusing on sites that are close to major highways and railways and are not too far from the majority of the area's population. This suggests that an important location consideration for Green Goddess is
A) quality of life.
B) access to cheap land.
C) reducing time-to-market.
D) access to low-cost labor.
290) Outdoor Adventure Industries is a U.S.-based manufacturer of sporting goods. It has recently decided to make a major push to sell its products in the EU. In order to succeed in this new market Outdoor Adventure will need to
A) become certified in ISO 9001 standards.
B) convert its financial assets into euros.
C) avoid reliance on the Deming cycle.
D) reduce the wages of its production workers.
291) At Stevens Manufacturing, workers are organized in teams that combine their efforts to produce complex units of a final product. Stevens is using a facility layout known as a(n):
A) consolidated process layout.
B) continuous flow layout.
C) modular layout.
D) assembly team layout.
292) For the past two years, Mountain High Bike Company used suppliers from India, Japan, and Malaysia to provide precision parts for its custom bikes. There was only one problem: the quality of the parts from all locations lacked precision and consistency. Skilled technicians complained that as many as three out of five parts had to be discarded due to imperfections. The quality control manager convinced the owners to partner with a slightly higher-priced company in Omaha, Nebraska, which utilized ________ to test samples of product components for deviations in quality and precision, prior to sending them to Mountain High Bike Company. The bike company realized savings in both time and money.
A) statistical process control
B) just-in-time inventory control
C) lean manufacturing
D) flexible manufacturing
293) Production manager Ryan McNealy wants to link all the divisions and subsidiaries of his firm's computerized functions into a single, integrated software program that uses a single database. In order to achieve this goal, Ryan could make use of:
A) enterprise resource planning.
B) manufacturing resource planning.
C) program evaluation and review techniques.
D) Gantt charts.
294) Superior Supplies' largest customer recently implemented a just-in-time inventory system. As a supplier of materials to this customer, Superior Supplies will:
A) realize significant freedom in scheduling deliveries.
B) likely increase its effort and likely experience higher transportation costs.
C) place less emphasis on quality and greater emphasis on quantity.
D) need to deliver large quantities at regularly scheduled intervals.
295) One of Justin's largest international customers is Alpine Airwaves in Switzerland. He got a call from his contact at Alpine Airwaves, Edvard. Edvard quickly tells Justin, "This is a heads-up! Top management is asking operations to review our vendors for ISO 14001 compliance." Justin's company should prepare to demonstrate
A) an acceptable level of quality standards of the products and services it provides.
B) a level of quality in its products and services that exceeds its competitors.
C) a world-class management system in information technology and lean manufacturing.
D) best practices for managing its impact on the environment.
296) ________ is a technique to analyze and sequence tasks involved in completing a project, to estimate the time needed to complete each task, and to determine the minimum amount of time needed to complete each project.
A) PERT
B) ECON
C) LIFO
D) GANTT
297) In a PERT network, the sequence of tasks that takes the longest to complete is called the
A) optimal path.
B) maximum path.
C) straight path.
D) critical path.
298) The purpose of a PERT network is
A) to monitor the quality of a product for compliance with ISO 9001 standards.
B) to monitor the progress of a multi-step project during its development.
C) to connect all firms that are ISO 9001 certified so that they can partner with each other on future projects.
D) to be used as a decision-making tool when evaluating the best facility locations and layouts.
299) A bar graph that shows what projects or tasks are in process and how much of each is completed is called a
A) grid chart.
B) Gantt chart.
C) priority chart.
D) stem chart.
300) Which of the following would be most helpful to a production manager who wanted to determine the minimum time required to complete a proposed project?
A) TQM
B) CAD/CAM
C) ERP
D) PERT
301) The first step in the development of a PERT chart is
A) assigning an estimated cost to each task.
B) analyzing the tasks and determining the sequence in which they must be performed.
C) estimating the time needed to complete each task.
D) identifying the probabilities that each step in the project can be successfully completed without exceeding the estimated cost.
302) The purpose of determining the critical path on a PERT network is to
A) identify the sequence of tasks that takes the longest to complete.
B) estimate a payment schedule so that a budget can be established.
C) find the sequence of events that is the most expensive to complete.
D) establish a delivery schedule for a just-in-time inventory control program.
303) Both PERT diagrams and Gantt charts are useful to managers concerned with
A) calculating the rate of profit earned in a particular market.
B) making sure that projects are completed on time.
C) estimating the cost of completing a project.
D) establishing formal lines of authority and responsibility within an organization.
304) Corie is a development engineer for a company that manufactures solar panels for both residential and commercial purposes. Her company uses PERT network software for all development projects. As she nears the final month of her timeline for completing a new panel, Corie will focus on those activities that are
A) most costly to complete.
B) on the priority bar of the PERT chart.
C) near the end of the PERT network.
D) on the critical path of the PERT network.
305) A PERT network consists of activities linked by arrows. Suppose two of the activities on the network are labeled "A" and "B." An arrow from "A" to "B" indicates that
A) the same resources used to complete "A" are also used to complete "B."
B) "A" and "B" can be completed at the same time.
C) "A" takes longer to complete than "B."
D) "A" must be completed before "B" can begin.
306) While planning a new product launch, Cassandra knew that the art department was ready to work on the promotional pieces right away. But they are not able to start until the strategy group established the price point and the purchasing group obtained the paper needed to make the promotional piece. Establishing price points would take about a week and was dependent on manufacturing getting the costs to the strategy group. This was expected a week from today. The purchasing group indicated the paper could be obtained locally the same day it was requested. Based on this information and assuming things go according to plan, when will the art department be able to begin work on the promotional pieces?
A) 1 day
B) 1 week
C) 2 weeks
D) 1 month
307) Cassandra was planning a new product launch. She knew that the art department was ready to work on the promotional pieces now, but they couldn't start until the marketing strategy group established the price point and the purchasing department obtained the paper needed to design the promotional piece. Establishing price points would take about a week and was dependent on manufacturing getting the costs to the marketing strategy group. This was expected a week from today. The purchasing group indicated the paper could be obtained locally the same day it was requested. Assuming things go as planned and based on this information, which of the following tasks could be as much as a week late without jeopardizing the deadline for the entire project?
A) marketing strategy's determination of the price point
B) manufacturing's determination of the costs
C) obtaining the paper
D) the art department taking a month-long vacation
308) Review the PERT Network below: If it takes 1, 2, or 3 weeks for each activity (represented by a box) to be completed, the critical path is represented by:
A) the path that begins with "Start" and continues with all boxes labeled with No. 1.
B) the path that begins with "Start," continues with all boxes labeled with No. 2, and concludes with "Finish."
C) the path that begins with "Start," continues with one box labeled with No. 2, proceeds with all boxes labeled with No. 3, and concludes with "Finish."
D) the path that begins with "Start," continues with all boxes labeled with No. 1, and concludes with "Finish."
309) Arturo is a production and operations manager and he loves details. He likes to keep track of how his projects are moving along. One of Arturo's favorite tools is a bar graph that shows how much work has been completed on the projects that are currently under way and which processes are behind schedule. Arturo likes to use a(n)
A) CAD/CAM diagram.
B) input-output graph.
C) Gantt chart.
D) Targeted Completion Date (TCD) graph.
310) The selection of a proper site for a business facility is important in the production and operations management processes. Identify and discuss three factors that influence the selection of a site.
311) How are MRP and ERP similar? How do they differ?
312) How has the emphasis of quality control changed in recent years? Describe some of the modern quality control techniques that illustrate this change in emphasis.
313) PERT is a popular control method used by organizations. Explain the purpose of PERT analysis, and describe the steps involved in constructing a PERT network. Your explanation should include a discussion of the significance of the critical path in a PERT network.
314) What are the ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards? Why are they important?
Mini-Case
Sparky Weyer, president and CEO of Minimotors, Inc., a growing manufacturer of small (some of them downright tiny) electric motors used in a variety of power tools and appliances told potential investors, "These are exciting times for our company. We've made a lot of changes over the past two years that have really improved our operations and lowered our costs. Now we are ready to expand into new markets. Minimotors is on its way to becoming a global player."
Sparky was meeting with potential financial backers in an effort to obtain funding for some expensive new machinery he wanted to purchase. "You may have heard about some of the ways we've cut costs," Sparky continued. "We've developed a new arrangement with several of our biggest suppliers. They've agreed to make more frequent deliveries tied directly to our production schedules. This will help us reduce our inventory costs dramatically. We've also greatly reduced the number of defective motors we produce by carefully keeping tabs on all of our manufacturing processes. In fact, we have set a goal of reducing our defects to 3.4 parts per million. The main purpose of my meeting with you today is because we want to install some sophisticated new machinery and software that will allow us to quickly design and produce motors to the exact specifications of our customers. The machinery is computer-controlled and can produce custom-designed products at very little increase in cost compared to our mass-produced motors. We feel this flexibility and quick response time will give us a tremendous competitive advantage and help us attract new customers. Installing the new equipment and training our workers to use it properly will be a complex project, but I'm confident that once we get everything up and running we'll be able to strengthen our position as the leading maker of high-quality electric motors."
315) One of Sparky's goals is to expand globally. He is most interested in doing business with the nations of the EU. In order to do business with the European Union, Sparky's company should
A) gain ISO 9001 certification.
B) make sure his production workers all belong to an international union.
C) put more emphasis on low cost rather than product quality.
D) buy at least 50 percent of its supplies from countries belonging to the European Union.
316) The arrangements Minimotors has worked out with its suppliers to reduce the amount of inventory the company holds at any one time show that it is committed to a(n)
A) priority inventory scheduling system.
B) first in, first out inventory processing system.
C) just-in-time inventory control system.
D) ABC inventory system.
317) The equipment and software Sparky wants to purchase will allow the computers used to design motors to be linked directly to the computer-aided equipment on the factory floor. Sparky is proposing to set up a(n)
A) modular manufacturing system.
B) computer-integrated manufacturing system.
C) E-hub that relies on network software to control the production process.
D) first-in, first-out production system.
318) In order to schedule deliveries, Minimotors's suppliers need detailed information about when parts are needed. Minimotors will purchase a computer application that will link its operation to sales forecasts to make sure needed parts and supplies are available at the right time to meet customer demands. This planning system is known as
A) materials requirement planning (MRP).
B) program evaluation and review technique (PERT).
C) minimum daily requirements scheduling (MDRS).
D) sales-based requirements forecasting (SBRF).
319) Sparky sees quality control in terms of detecting potential problems to prevent their occurrence and thus save Minimotors money. The quality control process that is most closely linked to Sparky's goal is known as
A) Six Sigma.
B) Quality function deployment.
C) ERP.
D) PERT analysis.
320) Sparky knows that installing the new equipment and training workers to use it efficiently will be a long and complex process consisting of many different tasks. Which of the following methods would help him determine how long this project is likely to take?
A) TPSM (task priority scheduling method)
B) DA (dependency analysis)
C) TRSS (task and resource scheduling system)
D) PERT (program evaluation and review technique)
321) While Minimotors has focused on improving production efficiencies, global customers are inquiring about its environmental policies. In light of its strategy to serve customers in the EU, Sparky has requested two of its lead engineers to investigate what it would take to meet the environmental standards of its socially responsible customers. The engineers should investigate ________ as best practices for managing a firm's impact on its environment.
A) the EPA's minimum pollution standards
B) ISO 14001
C) RG3 Regulations
D) WTO environmental policy