Explain the value of seasonal indices in forecasting. How are seasonal patterns different from cyclical patterns?
> Income at the architectural firm Spraggins and Yunes for the period February to July was as follows: Use trend-adjusted exponential smoothing to forecast the firm’s August income. Assume that the initial forecast average for February
> Consider the following actual (A t) and forecast (F t) demand levels for a commercial multiline telephone at Office Max: The first forecast, F1, was derived by observing A1 and setting F1 equal to A1. Subsequent forecast averages were derived by expone
> Refer to Solved Problem 4.1 on page 144. Solved Problem 4.1: Sales of Volkswagen’s popular Beetle have grown steadily at auto dealerships in Nevada during the past 5 years (see table below). The sales manager had predicted before the
> Refer to Solved Problem 4.1 on page 144. Solved Problem 4.1: Sales of Volkswagen’s popular Beetle have grown steadily at auto dealerships in Nevada during the past 5 years (see table below). The sales manager had predicted before the n
> Refer to Solved Problem 4.1 on page 144. Solved Problem 4.1: Sales of Volkswagen’s popular Beetle have grown steadily at auto dealerships in Nevada during the past 5 years (see table below). The sales manager had predicted before the n
> Following are two weekly forecasts made by two different methods for the number of gallons of gasoline, in thousands, demanded at a local gasoline station. Also shown are actual demand levels, in thousands of gallons. What are the MAD and MSE for each
> As you can see in the following table, demand for heart transplant surgery at Washington General Hospital has increased steadily in the past few years: The director of medical services predicted 6 years ago that demand in year 1 would be 41 surgeries.
> Consider the following actual and forecast demand levels for Big Mac hamburgers at a local McDonald’s restaurant: The forecast for Monday was derived by observing Monday’s demand level and setting Mondayâ€
> Use exponential smoothing with a smoothing constant of 0.3 to forecast the registrations at the seminar given in Problem 4.10. Reference Problem 4.10: Data collected on the yearly registrations for a Six Sigma seminar at the Quality College are shown in
> As part of a study for the Department of Labor Statistics, you are assigned the task of evaluating the improvement in productivity of small businesses. Data for one of the small businesses you are to evaluate are shown at right. The data are the monthly
> Data collected on the yearly registrations for a Six Sigma seminar at the Quality College are shown in the following table: a) Develop a 3-year moving average to forecast registrations from year 4 to year 12. b) Estimate demand again for yearâ
> Lenovo uses the ZX-81 chip in some of its laptop computers. The prices for the chip during the past 12 months were as follows: a) Use a 2-month moving average on all the data and plot the averages and the prices. b) Use a 3-month moving average and add
> Daily high temperatures in St. Louis for the last week were as follows: 93, 94, 93, 95, 96, 88, 90 (yesterday). a) Forecast the high temperature today, using a 3-day moving average. b) Forecast the high temperature today, using a 2-day moving average. c)
> The actual demand for the patients at Omaha Emergency Medical Clinic for the first 6 weeks of this year follows: WEEK………………ACTUAL NO. OF PATIENTS 1…………………………………65 2………………………………..62 3………………………………..70 4………………………………..48 5………………………………..63 6………………………………..52
> The monthly sales for Yazici Batteries, Inc., were as follows: MONTH…………………SALES January…………………….20 February……………………21 March……………………….15 April…………………………14 May………………………….13 June…………………………16 July………………………….17 August…………………….18 September………………20 October………
> The Carbondale Hospital is considering the purchase of a new ambulance. The decision will rest partly on the anticipated mileage to be driven next year. The miles driven during the past 5 years are as follows: YEAR……….MILEAGE 1………………3,000 2……………..4,000
> Refer to Problem 4.2. Reference Problem 4.2: a) Plot the above data on a graph. Do you observe any trend, cycles, or random variations? b) Starting in year 4 and going to year 12, forecast demand using a 3-year moving average. Plot your forecast on th
> a) Plot the above data on a graph. Do you observe any trend, cycles, or random variations? b) Starting in year 4 and going to year 12, forecast demand using a 3-year moving average. Plot your forecast on the same graph as the original data. c) Starting i
> The following gives the number of pints of type B blood used at Woodlawn Hospital in the past 6 weeks: WEEK OF………………...PINTS USED August 31………………………360 September 7………………….389 September 14………………..410 September 21………………..381 September 28……………....3
> Figure 1.1 outlines the operations, finance/accounting, and marketing functions of three organizations. Prepare a chart similar to Figure 1.1 outlining the same functions for one of the following: a. a newspaper b. a drugstore c. a college library d. a s
> Brown’s, a local bakery, is worried about increased costs—particularly energy. Last year’s records can provide a fairly good estimate of the parameters for this year. Wende Brown, the owner, does not
> Kimpel Products makes pizza ovens for commercial use. James Kimpel, CEO, is contemplating producing smaller ovens for use in high school and college kitchens. The activities necessary to build an experimental model and related data are given in the follo
> Define chase strategy.
> List the strategic objectives of aggregate planning. Which one of these is most often addressed by the quantitative techniques of aggregate planning? Which one of these is generally the most important?
> Explain what the term aggregate in “aggregate planning” means.
> Define aggregate planning.
> Why are S&OP teams typically cross-functional?
> Define sales and operations planning.
> What is SCOR, and what purpose does it serve?
> What is e-procurement?
> Development of Version 2.0 of a particular accounting software product is being considered by Jose Noguera’s technology firm in Baton Rouge. The activities necessary for the completion of this project are listed in the following table:
> Explain how FedEx uses the Internet to meet requirements for quick and accurate delivery.
> What is the value of online auctions in e-commerce?
> What is CPFR?
> How does a traditional adversarial relationship with suppliers change when a firm makes a decision to move to a few suppliers?
> What are three basic approaches to negotiations?
> What is vertical integration? Give examples of backward and forward integration.
> How do we distinguish between the types of risk in the supply chain?
> What is the objective of logistics management?
> Define supply chain management.
> What happens to the ability to forecast for periods farther into the future?
> Three activities are candidates for crashing on a project network for a large computer installation (all are, of course, critical). Activity details are in the following table: a) What action would you take to reduce the critical path by 1 day? b) Assu
> Give examples of industries in which demand forecasting is dependent on the demand for other products.
> Give examples of industries that are affected by seasonality. Why would these businesses want to filter out seasonality?
> What is the difference between a dependent and an independent variable?
> Explain, in your own words, the meaning of the correlation coefficient. Discuss the meaning of a negative value of the correlation coefficient.
> What is the purpose of a tracking signal?
> In your own words, explain adaptive forecasting.
> Which forecasting technique can place the most emphasis on recent values? How does it do this?
> What effect does the value of the smoothing constant have on the weight given to the recent values?
> Define time series.
> What is the minimum cost of crashing the following project that Roger Solano manages at Slippery Rock University by 4 days? NORMAL CRASH TIME ACTIVITY (DAYS) (DAYS) TIME NORMAL CRASH IMMEDIATE COST COST PREDECESSOR(S) A 6 5 $ 900 $1,000 6 300 400 4
> What is the primary difference between a time-series model and an associative model?
> What three methods are used to determine the accuracy of any given forecasting method? How would you determine whether time-series regression or exponential smoothing is better in a specific application?
> What is the basic difference between a weighted moving average and exponential smoothing?
> Explain why such forecasting devices as moving averages, weighted moving averages, and exponential smoothing are not well suited for data series that have trends.
> A skeptical manager asks what medium-range forecasts can be used for. Give the manager three possible uses/purposes.
> Identify the three forecasting time horizons. State an approximate duration for each.
> Identify and briefly describe the two general forecasting approaches.
> What is a qualitative forecasting model, and when is its use appropriate?
> What is the difference between the waterfall approach and agile project management?
> Name some of the widely used project management software programs.
> Assume that the activities in Problem 3.11 have the following costs to shorten: A, $300/week; B, $100/week; C, $200/ week; E, $100/week; and F, $400/week. Assume also that you can crash an activity down to 0 weeks in duration and that every week you can
> How the variance of the total project is computed in PERT?
> Would a project manager ever consider crashing a noncritical activity in a project network? Explain convincingly.
> Students are sometimes confused by the concept of critical path, and want to believe that it is the shortest path through a network. Convincingly explain why this is not so.
> What would a project manager have to do to crash an activity?
> What is the significance of the critical path?
> What is the difference between an activity-on-arrow (AOA) network and an activity-on-node (AON) network? Which is primarily used in this chapter?
> Define work breakdown structure. How is it used?
> What are the three phases involved in the management of a large project?
> Explain the purpose of project organization.
> Give an example of a situation in which project management is needed.
> Using PERT, Adam Munson was able to determine that the expected project completion time for the construction of a pleasure yacht is 21 months, and the project variance is 4. a) What is the probability that the project will be completed in 17 months? b) W
> There are three primary ways to achieve competitive advantage. Provide an example, not included in the text, of each. Support your choices.
> Describe how an organization’s mission and strategy have different purposes.
> Define strategy.
> What are some of the possible consequences of poor outsourcing?
> How should a company select an outsourcing provider?
> What internal issues must managers address when outsourcing?
> What potential cost-saving advantages might firms experience by using outsourcing?
> Describe some of the actions taken by Taco Bell to increase productivity that have resulted in Taco Bell’s ability to serve “twice the volume with half the labor.”
> List six reasons to internationalize operations.
> Mass customization and rapid product development were identified as challenges to modern manufacturing operations. What is the relationship, if any, between these challenges? Can you cite any examples?
> Four Squares Productions, a firm hired to coordinate the release of the movie Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides (starring Johnny Depp), identified 16 activities to be completed before the release of the film. a) How many weeks in advance of the
> What are the measurement problems that occur when one attempts to measure productivity?
> Based on the descriptions and analyses in this chapter, would Boeing be better described as a global firm or a transnational firm? Discuss.
> As a library or Internet assignment, identify the mission of a firm and the strategy that supports that mission.
> Identify the 10 strategic operations management decisions.
> What are the three basic functions of a firm?
> Answer Question 4 for some other organization, perhaps an organization where you have worked.
> Define mission.
> Coca-Cola is called a global product. Does this mean that Coca-Cola is formulated in the same way throughout the world? Discuss.
> Identify four people who have contributed to the theory and techniques of operations management.
> Why should one study operations management?
> Rich Cole Control Devices, Inc., produces custom built relay devices for auto makers. The most recent project undertaken by Cole requires 14 different activities. Cole’s managers would like to determine the total project completion time
> What is a heuristic? Name several that can be used in assembly line balancing.
> What is random stocking?
> Visit a local supermarket and sketch its layout. What are your observations regarding departments and their locations?
> What are the variables that a manager can manipulate in a retail layout?
