Questions from General Operations Management


Q: The time between incoming calls to a help desk can be seen

The time between incoming calls to a help desk can be seen as a Poisson distributed random variable with an average of three minutes, and the duration can be seen as a discrete random variable. The fo...

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Q: Barbara Flynn sells papers at a newspaper stand for $.35.

Barbara Flynn sells papers at a newspaper stand for $.35. The papers cost her $.25, giving her a $.10 profit on each one she sells. From past experience Barbara knows that: a) 20% of the time she sell...

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Q: Arnold Palmer Hospital is studying the number of emergency surgery kits that

Arnold Palmer Hospital is studying the number of emergency surgery kits that it uses on weekends. Over the past 40 weekends, the number of kits used was as follows: The following random numbers have b...

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Q: Susan Sherer’s grocery store has noted the following figures with regard to

Susan Sherer’s grocery store has noted the following figures with regard to the number of people who arrive at the store’s three checkout stands and the time it tak...

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Q: A warehouse manager at Mary Beth Marrs Corp. needs to simulate

A warehouse manager at Mary Beth Marrs Corp. needs to simulate the demand placed on a product that does not fit standard models. The concept being measured is “demand during lead tim...

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Q: Phantom Controls monitors and repairs control circuit boxes on elevators installed in

Phantom Controls monitors and repairs control circuit boxes on elevators installed in multistory buildings in downtown Chicago. The company has the contract for 108 buildings. When a box malfunctions,...

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Q: Johnson Chemicals is considering two options for its supplier portfolio. Option

Johnson Chemicals is considering two options for its supplier portfolio. Option 1 uses two local suppliers. Each has a “unique-event” risk of 5%, and the probability of a “superevent” that would disab...

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Q: Kryoneri Perfume Company is considering two alternatives for the supply of vetiver

Kryoneri Perfume Company is considering two alternatives for the supply of vetiver oil (an essential oil used in high-end perfumes). Alternative 1 is to use two suppliers located in Haiti, where half...

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Q: Consider the supply chain illustrated here: / Last year

Consider the supply chain illustrated here: Last year, the retailer’s weekly variance of demand was 200 units. The variance of orders was 500, 600, 750, and 1,350 units for the retai...

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Q: Tim Urban, owner/manager of Urban’s Motor Court in Key

Tim Urban, owner/manager of Urban’s Motor Court in Key West, is considering outsourcing the daily room cleanup for his motel to Duffy’s Maid Service. Tim rents an average of 50 rooms for each of 365 n...

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