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operations management
Operations And Process Management 5th Edition Nigel Slack; Alistair Brandon-Jones - Solutions
5 Look again at the example, ‘Tea and Sympathy’.(a) Why do you think ‘Nicky’s Rules’ help to make the Tea and Sympathy operation more efficient?(b) The restaurant’s approach to quality of service seems very different to most restaurants. Why do you think it seems to work here?
4 Understanding type I and type II errors is essential for a surgeon’s quality planning. Consider, for example, appendectomy operations. Following a diagnosis of appendicitis, removal of the appendix is necessary because of the risk of it bursting, causing potentially fatal poisoning of the
3 Ryanair, the best-known budget airline in Europe, focuses on popular routes and very low operating costs. For years, the boss of the airline, Michael O’Leary’s policy on customer service was clear. ‘Our customer service’, he said ‘is about the most well defined in the world. We
2 The owner of a small wedding photography business realises that the market is changing. ‘I used to take a few photos during the wedding ceremony and then formal group shots outside. It rarely took more than two hours. Around 30 photos would go in a standard wedding album. You had to get the
1 Human error is a significant source of quality problems. Think through the times that (with hindsight) you have made an error and answer the following questions.(a) How do you think that human error causes quality problems?(b) What could one do to minimise human error?
2 The plant’s processes eventually were brought under control. What were the main benefits of this?
14. Have quality systems been explored, such as ISO 9000 and the EFQM Excellence Model?
13. Do individual processes have any idea of their own variability of quality performance?
12. Has the idea of statistical process control (SPC) been explored as a mechanism for controlling quality?
11. Is quality adequately controlled?
10. Are quality costs categorised as prevention, appraisal, internal failure and external failure costs?
9. Is the cost of quality measured?
8. Is quality measured using all relevant quality characteristics?
7. Is quality defined in terms of a series of quality characteristics?
6. Is some form of gap model used to diagnose quality problems?
5. Are service level agreements used to establish concepts of internal customer service?
4. Do all parts of the organisation understand their contribution to maintaining and improving quality?
3. Do people understand that there are many different definitions and approaches to quality, and do they understand why the business has chosen its own particular approach?
2. Is there an accepted definition of quality used within the business?
1. Does everyone in the business really believe in the importance of quality, or is it just one of those things that people say without really believing it?
5. Does quality management always lead to improvement?
4. Is quality adequately controlled?
3. Is quality adequately measured?
2. Is ‘quality’ adequately defined?
1. Is the importance of quality management universally understood and applied?
5 (a) – As a group, identify a ‘high visibility’ operation that you all are familiar with. This could be a type of quick service restaurant, record stores, public transport systems, libraries, etc.(b) – Once you have identified the broad class of operation, visit a number of them and use
4 A transport services company provides a whole range of services to railway operators. Its reputation for quality was a valuable asset in its increasingly competitive market. ‘ We are continually looking for innovation in the way we deliver our services because the continuous improvement of our
3 For over 10 years a hotel group had been developing self-managed improvement groups within its hotels.At one hotel reception desk, staff became concerned about the amount of time the reception desk was left unattended. To investigate this, the staff began keeping track of the reasons they were
2 Develop cause–effect diagrams for the following types of problem:(a) staff waiting too long for their calls to be answered at their IT helpdesk(b) poor food in the company restaurant(c) poor lecturing from teaching staff at a university(d) customer complaints that the free plastic toy in their
1 ‘Everything we do can be broken down into a process’, said Lucile, COO of an outsourcing business for the‘back-office’ functions of a range of companies. ‘It may be more straightforward in a manufacturing business, but the concept of process improvement is just as powerful in service
3 Which two suggestions put forward by Robyn and Nick would you recommend?
2 What improvement priority would you give to each of these performance measures?
1 What factors would you use to judge the operations performance of Ferndale Sands’?
19. Does the operation have a well thought through approach to managing improvement?
18. Does the operation show any signs of becoming a fashion victim of the latest improvement approach?
17. Are the more common improvement techniques used to facilitate improvement within the operations?
16. Has the Six Sigma approach to improvement been evaluated?
15. If they are, has continuous improvement become a part of everyone’s job?
14. Are continuous improvement methods and problem-solving cycles used within the operation?
13. Have breakthrough improvement approaches such as business process re-engineering been evaluated?
12. To what extent does the operation have a predisposition towards breakthrough or continuous improvement?
11. Is some formal method of comparing actual and desired performance (such as the importance–performance matrix) used?
10. Is benchmarking done on a regular basis and seen as an important contribution to improvement?
9. Are both performance and process methods benchmarked against similar operations and/or processes externally?
8. Is target performance set using an appropriate balance between historical, strategic, external and absolute performance targets?
7. Is some kind of balanced scorecard approach used that includes financial, internal, customer and learning perspectives?
6. Do performance measures allow likely problem areas to be diagnosed?
5. Does performance measurement focus on factors that reflect the operation’s strategic objectives?
4. Is the current performance measurement system seen as forming a basis for improvement?
3. Is the gap between current and desired performance clearly articulated in all areas?
2. Do all operations and process managers see performance improvement as an integral part of their job?
1. Is the importance of performance improvement fully recognised within the operation?
5. What techniques are being used for improvement?
4. Does improvement always stick?
3. What is the most appropriate improvement path?
2. Why is improvement so important?
1. What is the gap between current and required performance?
5 Go back to Chapter 10 and re-read the description of the Theory of Constraints (ToC). Now consider the similarities and differences between ToC and lean synchronisation in terms of their overall objectives, measures of effectiveness, improvement method and implementation.
4 Examine the value-added versus non-value-added times for some other services. For example,(a) Handing-in an assignment for marking if you are currently studying for a qualification. (What is the typical elapsed time between handing the assignment in and receiving it back with comments?) How much
3 An insurance underwriting process consists of the following separate stages.What is the ‘value-added’ percentage for the process? (Hint – use Little’s Law to work out how long applications have to wait at each stage befoer they are processed. Little’s Law is covered in C hapter 6 .)
2 Consider this record of an ordinary flight. ‘Breakfast was a little rushed but left the house at 6.15. Had to return a few minutes later, forgot my passport. Managed to find it and leave (again) by 6.30. Arrived at the airport 7.00, dropped Angela off with bags at terminal and went to the
1 Re-examine the description of the Toyota production system at the beginning of the chapter.(a) List all the different techniques and practices that Toyota adopts. Which of these would you call just-intime philosophies and which are just-in-time techniques?(b) How are operations objectives
5 Are any benefits of scrapping the waiting room in the clinic worth the underutilisation of the four consulting rooms that Fredrik envisages?
4 Denize cannot see the benefits of Fredrik’s proposal. What do you think they might be?
3 On the St Bridget’s website there are several references to its ‘Quality Care’ programme, but none to its lean initiatives, even though lean is regarded as important by most clinicians and administrators in the hospital. Why do you think this might be?
2 Do you think that Pär Solberg is right in thinking that there is a limit to how far a hospital can go in adopting lean ideas?
1 What benefits did St Bridget’s get from adopting first a continuous improvement, then a lean, approach?
13. Has the possibility of blending push (such as MRP) and pull (such as lean synchronisation) been considered?
12. Is the concept of lean synchronisation applied throughout the supply network?
11. Are the various techniques used to promote lean synchronisation understood and practiced?
10. Are the ideas of continuous improvement understood and used in practice?
9. Does the culture of the organisation encourage the involvement in the improvement process of all people in the organisation?
8 Are capacity utilisation performance measures likely to prove a barrier to achieving lean synchronisation?
7. How much waste is caused because of variability (especially of quality) within the operation’s processes?
6. How much waste is caused because of inflexibility in the operation’s processes?
5. How much inventory (products, customers and information) is building up because of inexact supply?
4. Can flow of items through processes be made more regular?
3. Is the extent of waste within operations and processes fully understood?
2. Notwithstanding that the idea derives from manufacturing operations, have the principles been considered for non-manufacturing processes within the business?
1. Are the benefits of attempting to achieve lean synchronisation well understood within the business?
7. Is lean synchronisation applied throughout the supply network?
6. What are the barriers to lean synchronisation?
5. Is variability minimised?
4. Are processes flexible?
3. Is flow streamlined?
2. Does supply exactly match demand?
1. What are the benefits of lean synchronisation?
5 Think through the following three brief examples. What type of control (according to Figure 10.13 ) do you think they warrant?a. The Games Delivery Authority (GDA) was a public body responsible for developing and building the new venues and infrastructure for the ‘International Games’ and
4 Read the following descriptions of two cinemas.Kinepolis in Brussels is one the largest cinema complexes in the world, with 28 screens, a total of 8,000 seats, and four showings of each film every day. It is equipped with the latest projection technology. All the film performances are scheduled
3 It takes six hours for a contract laundry to wash, dry and press (in that order) a batch of overalls. It takes 3 hours to wash the batch, 2 hours to dry it and 1 hour to press it. Usually, each day’s batch is collected and ready for processing at 8.00 a.m. and needs to be picked up at 4.00 p.m.
2 It is week 35 of a busy year at Ashby Architect’s and Jo Ashby is facing a big problem. Both her two junior partners have been diagnosed with a serious illness contracted on a trip to scope out a prospective job in Lichtenstein. So Jo has to step in and complete the outstanding jobs that were
1 Mark Key is an events coordinator for a small company. Returning from his annual holiday in France, he is given six events to plan. He gives them the codes A–F. He needs to decide upon the sequence in which to plan the events and wants to minimise the average time the jobs are tied up in the
2 What would you suggest that subText do to tighten up their planning and control procedures?
1 What went wrong with the fifty three slash F job and how could the company avoid making the same mistakes again?
11. If not, have bottlenecks been identified and their effect on the smooth flow of items through the operation been evaluated?
10. Are bottlenecks accounted for in the way planning and control decisions are made?
9. If so, have the possibilities of web integration and supply chain scope been investigated?
8. Have the advantages and disadvantages of moving to a sophisticated (but expensive!) ERP system been investigated?
7. How well is resource planning and control information integrated?
6. Is the balance between human and automated decision-making understood and appropriate for the circumstances?
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