Drawing$-$Based Question on Operations Management

Question:

Below is a drawing of a process flowchart for a manufacturing operation. Use this flowchart to answer the following questions:

$($Note: Replace this with an actual flowchart relevant to your operation management question.$)$

A$.$ Identify the bottleneck in the process.

A$)$ Step $1$

B$)$ Step $2$

C$)$ Step $3$

D$)$ Step $4$

B$.$ Which step would benefit most from a process improvement initiative aimed at reducing cycle time?

A$)$ Step $1$

B$)$ Step $2$

C$)$ Step $3$

D$)$ Step $4$

C$.$ If Step $2$ has a cycle time of $5$ minutes and Step $3$ has a cycle time of $10$ minutes, what is the impact on the overall process time if Step $3$s cycle time is reduced to $6$ minutes?

A$)$ Total process time remains unchanged

B$)$ Total process time decreases by $4$ minutes

C$)$ Total process time decreases by $1$ minute

D$)$ Total process time decreases by $10$ minutes

D$.$ In the given flowchart, which step would you target for lean manufacturing techniques to eliminate waste?

A$)$ Step $1$

B$)$ Step $2$

C$)$ Step $3$

D$)$ Step $4$