Cases In Operations Management 3rd Edition Robert Johnston - Solutions

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5 Evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the questionnaire in its objective of providing a priority agenda for improvement to operations.
4 Derive a plan of action and priority list which will help the zoo decide which aspects of its service provision to tackle first. What factors may need to be taken into account while formulating this order of action?
3 Do the visitors’ priorities vary in a similar manner and why?
2 What do the various sets of figures tell you about the zoo’s performance from the visitors’ perspective? In which are the zoo performing best of all, and where are the areas of poor performance? Which areas and type of the operational processes do they reflect? How and why do they vary?
1 (a) Using the 18 determinants of service quality, devise your own questionnaire for the zoo. Compare your questionnaire to the one actually used.(b) Which determinants of service quality are investigated by which question?
2 What advice would you give to Peter Woodrow?
1 What is the purpose of benchmarking?
4 What steps would you recommend PBR to take?
3 Identify the improvement priorities for PBR using the importance–performance matrix.
2 What seem to be the weaknesses in PBR’s systems?
1 How is PBR’s operational performance monitored and controlled?
2 Suggest alternatives and explain in which ways they might or might not be better than the measures currently being used.
1 Critique each of the measures used at the Newtown Customer Service Centre.How useful are they as measures of customer satisfaction?
2 What do you think Jane should say to each of them?
1 Evaluate the performance of FastFlowers’ suppliers.
6 Comment on the sequence of events leading up to the introduction of control charting for the sunroof at Sun Products.
5 The customer is now pressing for the engineering tolerances to be reduced to±0.5mm. What effect would this have on process capability at Sun?
4 Table 44.2 shows data for P3 that was collected on a subsequent day. Again, plot the data on the X– and R chart. Comment on the degree of process control this indicates.
3 Given the ±1.00mm engineering tolerance for all four profile points, calculate the Cp and the Cpk of the process.For a sample size of 2, assume that 6σ = 5.319 R–.[Cp = tolerance ÷6σ of the process, Cpk = the smaller of (the upper specification limit – the grand average) ÷3σand (the
2 From Table 44.1, calculate the grand average and the upper and lower control limits for the P3 profile height setting process at Sun. Use the formulae and constants given on the control chart. Plot the hourly data on the chart. Given that action on special causes is called for if there is any
1 Why was Sun’s process before SPC implementation prone to giving problems to its customer in spite of 100 per cent inspection?
3 How could SPC be used at Valley to analyse the number of litter items by sample area? (Clue: use a Number of Defects (c) control chart, and analyse the data by depot area ignoring Mondays.)c¯ = Σc/n, and UCL = c¯ + 3√c¯, LCL = c¯ – 3√c¯What do the control charts suggest about the
2 What do you think about Councillor Anderson’s remarks about ‘protecting jobs’?
1 Should the measurement system for the litter campaign be more widely understood?
6 What steps would you advise Paul Stone to take to improve quality?
5 How should Executive Holloware measure quality at each stage of the process?
4 What are the underlying causes of the problems at Executive Holloware?
3 How would you specify ‘quality’ for Executive Holloware?
2 What do you understand by the term ‘quality’?
1 Why is quality important to Executive Holloware?
5 What are the main contextual differences for a chief executive of a public sector organisation operating at the level of the sector, such as NHS Supplies, as opposed to one operating as an individual private sector firm?
4 Assess the relative merits of privatisation of all or part of NHS Supplies.
3 NHS Supplies went through distinct stages of development. At each stage, what enabled NHS Supplies to move to the next stage and what blocked it?
2 Do a SWOT analysis for NHS Supplies in 1991 – what were the main strategic alternatives for dealing with supply for the NHS at that time?
1 Map the supply network for the NHS in 1991.
4 If you had responsibility for this project, what initiatives would you start?
3 How might the Agency remove those barriers and enable an effective e-commerce strategy to be implemented?
2 What are the main barriers to such a strategy being effective across the NHS?
1 What are the key elements of a strategy for e-commerce for the NHS?
5 Suggest the effect your proposed actions would have on the supply chain in terms of:Working capital:● raw and finished goods inventories● warehouse space in the UK Performance:● supply chain lead times● delivery performance, for example no supply or late deliveries Ability to respond to
4 Propose actions that Finnforest could take to realise the opportunities you highlighted in Question 3.
3 Using the information supplied, list where opportunities exist to reduce the overall supply chain lead-time.
2 Which steps in the supply chain contain the largest amounts of wasted time?
1 What proportion of the supply chain process lead-time is made up of wasted time?
5 Suggest the effect your proposed actions would have on the supply chain in terms of:Working capital:● raw and finished goods inventories● warehouse space in the UK Performance:● supply chain lead times● delivery performance, for example no supply or late deliveries Ability to respond to
4 Propose actions that Finnforest could take to realise the opportunities you highlighted in Question 3.
3 Using the information supplied, list where opportunities exist to reduce the overall supply chain lead-time.
2 Which steps in the supply chain contain the largest amounts of wasted time?
1 What proportion of the supply chain process lead-time is made up of wasted time?
3 How different would the situation be if the two organisations were 200km apart instead of being on the same site? Focus in particular on the human issues involved in the case, and ignore the likely increases in stocks and transportation costs.
2 How can Michael Bond manage the internal difficulties within Chemco, with most of his employees questioning the level of priority that Wheatco grants to Chemco? How convincing is the Wheatco position?
1 How can Michael Bond and Jonathan Price face the crisis situation within both firms, which is expressed through the lack of trust and conflicts that make the relationship difficult to manage?
3 What are the potential failure modes within the Wheatco–Chemco relationship?
2 What information flows should ideally underpin the physical flows?
1 Map the supply chain management process, indicating the physical product flows.
4 It is sometimes argued that the supermarkets have developed new paradigms for effective supply chain management which many organisations in non-food manufacturing are attempting or would dearly love to emulate.● What aspects of supermarket supply chains would these manufacturers ‘dearly love
3 In the case study there is a brief debate between ‘lean’ versus ‘agile’ operations.● Is ‘agile’ merely a rebranding of ‘lean’ ideas, as some authors suggest, or are there any real differences in the two approaches?● What are the advantages and disadvantages of lean operation
2 What factors influence your own selection of a grocery retailer? Rank these as either ‘order winning’ or ‘order qualifying’ factors.● Do you believe that your own preferences can be generalised to a wider population or do you believe that Mary Johnson’s research reveals your own
1 Evaluate the validity of the pilot research undertaken by Marsden. For example:● Was the supply chain orientation of the research sufficiently rigorous?● What other sources of information could have been explored in the timescale required?
4 It is sometimes argued that the supermarkets have developed new paradigms for effective supply chain management which many organisations in non-food manufacturing are attempting or would dearly love to emulate.● What aspects of supermarket supply chains would these manufacturers ‘dearly love
3 In the case study there is a brief debate between ‘lean’ versus ‘agile’ operations.● Is ‘agile’ merely a rebranding of ‘lean’ ideas, as some authors suggest, or are there any real differences in the two approaches?● What are the advantages and disadvantages of lean operation
2 What factors influence your own selection of a grocery retailer? Rank these as either ‘order winning’ or ‘order qualifying’ factors.● Do you believe that your own preferences can be generalised to a wider population or do you believe that Mary Johnson’s research reveals your own
1 Evaluate the validity of the pilot research undertaken by Marsden. For example:● Was the supply chain orientation of the research sufficiently rigorous?● What other sources of information could have been explored in the timescale required?
5 The information decoupling point only concerns information about changes in demand and market. This is information that flows upstream in the supply chain.In the poultry supply chain, living chickens and perishable products are exchanged. Wings & Legs therefore not only have to take into account
4 The network-based approach of an agile operations strategy could solve part of the matching problem for Wings & Legs. In supply chain management much attention is paid to improvement of the vertical processes in a supply chain.However, Wings & Legs also outsource part of production (they buy
3 Most managers of Wings & Legs see the exchange of tactical information about(price) promotions between Wings & Legs and the retail companies as difficult to accomplish. What are the advantages for the retail companies of exchanging more timely and more accurate information about promotions with
2 What are the relative merits of each possible position of the material decoupling point and of the information decoupling point. How do they relate to each other with respect to supply chain planning and control?
1 How might Wings & Legs combine a lean and an agile approach in its supply chain?
4 The modular product concept of MCC permits customisation of the product in the dealer channel through logistical postponement. However, at present the final assembly is done at the plant in Hambach. What could be the rationale behind that decision?
3 The order to delivery lead-time is generally faster than other manufacturers.However, visiting the Smart user club at www.thesmartclub.co.uk revealed such problems as:‘Just picked up my new Smart Pash tonight. Been dead excited all day. However, there were a few things not quite right when I
2 Another problem was how to control and assure performance in the supply chain, not on the basis of ownership but through cooperation with suppliers.MCC is heavily focused on integrating the flow of information between players and levels in the chain, but how should the performance of partners be
1 Why should MCC assemble cars itself when suppliers are already integrated on the site? VW, for example, at its truck plant in Latin America, involves suppliers in assembly, thus further lowering the financial commitment of the OEM. In line with the question whether car makers should assemble cars
5 Weighing all the evidence available, do you believe that it would be feasible and advantageous to move towards a JIT based system for spares provisioning to Royal Navy warships? Explain your reasoning.
4 Based on the illustrative numerical data presented above, how attractive is the JIT proposition from a financial perspective, assuming this simplified quantitative example is typical of others (work through the calculations to produce your answer).
3 The stakeholders involved in implementing this proposal may be broadly grouped into three categories: the MOD/Navy, the prime contractors (organisations who provide first-line and dockyard services to the MOD) and subcontractors (the organisations in the industries that supply and support the
2 What are the qualitative benefits that might accrue, based on the data made available in the case study?
1 How does the proposed JIT system compare with/differ from the existing conventional spares provisioning process?
1. What improvements do you consider that the management team at Aylesbury should be giving priority to, and why?
2 What changes should Mike make?
1 Evaluate the stock holding policies at WFA.
2 Thompson’s customers are complaining that deliveries are unreliable and that promises are often broken, but stocks are high and stock turns are sluggish. How should Thompson plan to overcome these problems?
1 What problems are being created for Manufacturing by:● Sales● Engineering● Current procedures for stock control and production control.
6 Do you think that John Lincoln’s desire to extend the pea harvest period is the best strategy for the overall operation?
5 Summarise the reasons why capacity is lost on some days in mid-season.What could be done to reduce this problem?
4 Prepare graphs showing:(a) the daily output compared to design and effective capacity(b) cumulative output compared to cumulative design and effective capacity What do these tell us about the operation?
3 (a) What is the design capacity of the overall operation?(b) What is the effective capacity?(c) Calculate the efficiency and utilisation for the operation over the current year’s pea season. Would this give a good indication of the factory performance, for example in benchmarking against other
2 Which is the bottleneck process, and how is this managed to maximise throughput?
1 What are the capacities at each main stage of the pea processing?
3 How might production levels be changed in the light of changes in the forecast demand?
2 What combination of ‘strategies’ would you recommend in order to meet the production plan?
1 What level of output will be required each month for the plant to meet its demand?
7 In a typical UK summer, the weather can cycle frequently between cool, dull periods with spells of heavy rainfall, and periods of hot, dry and sunny weather.What capacity management problems could arise during such variations in the weather, and how can management best respond to such
6 Compare the actual output to the capacity. What does this suggest about the operations management tasks involved in running all six rigs?
5 How well balanced are the capacities, and what could adversely affect this balance?
4 Calculate the capacities for each part (micro-operation) of the Iceberg rig, and from this estimate the total capacity. To what extent does the overall capacity depend on the product mix? What problems are encountered when attempting these capacity calculations?
3 How would you describe the type of process and the layout used in this unusual operation?
2 What are the main operations objectives for the macro-operation?
1 What are the inputs and outputs of the transformation process described in this case?
3 Is it possible to construct an argument which could justify the company accepting a 7.5 per cent reduction in gross profit margin through the adoption of an alternative purchasing policy, which would significantly reduce stock levels? Ignore any effect of price inflation, and take account of your
2 What are the longer-term capacity planning issues? Evaluate the impact of the projected 15 per cent growth over five years.

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Cases In Operations Management 3rd Edition Robert Johnston - Solutions

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