Questions from General Operations Management

Q: Examine the marking process of an assignment you are currently working on

Examine the marking process of an assignment you are currently working on. What is the typical elapsed time between handing the assignment in and receiving it back with comments? How much of this elap...

Q: A production process is required to produce 980 of product X,

A production process is required to produce 980 of product X, 560 of product Y and 280 of product Z in a 4-week period. If the process works 7 hours per day and 5 days per week, devise a mixed model s...

Q: Sophie was sick of her daily commute. ‘Why’, she

Sophie was sick of her daily commute. ‘Why’, she thought ‘should I have to spend so much time in a morning stuck in traffic listening to some babbling halfwit on the radio? We can work flexi- time aft...

Q: Everything we do can be broken down into a process’ said Lucile

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 manufactur...

Q: Develop cause–effect diagrams for the following types of problem:

Develop cause–effect diagrams for the following types of problem: • staff waiting too long for their calls to be answered at their IT helpdesk; • poor food in the company restaurant; • poor lecturing...

Q: For over 10 years, a hotel group, had been developing

For over 10 years, a hotel group, had been developing self-managed improvement groups within its hotels. At one hotel reception desk, staff were concerned about the amount of time the reception desk w...

Q: A transport services company provides a whole range of services to railway

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 lookin...

Q: Step 1 – As a group, identify a ‘high visibility’

Step 1 – 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. S...

Q: Human error is a significant source of quality problems. Think through

Human error is a significant source of quality problems. Think through the times that you have (with hindsight) made an error and answer the following questions. (a) How do you think that human error...

Q: Focus plastics originally made precision plastic components for the Aerospace sector,

Focus plastics originally made precision plastic components for the Aerospace sector, together with some basic (cheap) ‘homeware’ items such as buckets and dustpans. However, competition became intens...