Deck 5: Strategic Capacity Planning

Question 1

The stages of product design do NOT include:

A) Prototyping and final design
B) Screening
C) Preliminary design
D) The scale
E) Evaluation and improvement

Answer 1

The scale

Question 2

As part of concept generation, a company may use focus groups. A focus group will typically comprise:

A) Staff who take apart competitors' services/products and focus on how they have been made
B) People identified at random by street market researchers
C) Contact staff in a service organisation or the salesperson in a product-orientated organisation
D) Seven to ten participants who are unfamiliar with each other and have certain characteristics in common that relate to the particular topic

Answer 2

Seven to ten participants who are unfamiliar with each other and have certain characteristics in common that relate to the particular topic

Question 3

There are five main stages in design of products or services. Which is the correct sequence?

A) Preliminary design, Screening, Concept generation, Prototyping and final design, Evaluation and improvement.
B) Preliminary design, Screening, Concept generation, Evaluation and improvement, Prototyping and final design.
C) Concept generation, Screening, Preliminary design, Prototyping and final design, Evaluation and improvement.
D) Concept generation, Screening, Preliminary design, Evaluation and improvement, Prototyping and final design.

Answer 3

Concept generation, Screening, Preliminary design, Evaluation and improvement, Prototyping and final design.

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT important in reducing a design's 'time to market' (TTM):

A) Simultaneous engineering
B) Simultaneous development
C) Early conflict resolution
D) Project-based organisation structures
E) Last in first out (LIFO)

Question 5

Which of the following is not a factor that can significantly reduce time to market for a product or service:

A) Simultaneous development of the various stages in the overall process
B) An organisational structure which reflects the development project
C) Separation of the design of products and services from the design of the processes which will produce them
D) An early resolution of design conflict and uncertainty

Question 6

What is the evaluation criteria fro the following evaluation question: Do we have the capabilities to produce it?

A) Feasibility
B) Vulnerability
C) Acceptability

Question 7

There are five main stages in design of products or services. Which is the correct sequence?

A) Concept generation, Screening, Preliminary design, Prototyping and final design, Evaluation and improvement.
B) Preliminary design, Screening, Concept generation, Prototyping and final design, Evaluation and improvement.
C) Preliminary design, Screening, Concept generation, Evaluation and improvement, Prototyping and final design.
D) Concept generation, Screening, Preliminary design, Evaluation and improvement, Prototyping and final design.

Question 8

The main purpose of Taguchi methods is to:

A) Reduce costs and prevent any unnecessary costs before producing the product or service
B) Test the robustness of a design
C) Create a 'house of quality'
D) Articulate the 'voice of the customer'

Question 9

Form is the way in which the product or service operates.

Question 10

The common types of blueprinting techniques do not include:

A) Routing sheets
B) The customer processing framework
C) Process flow charts
D) Simple flow charts
E) Gantt charts

Question 11

What is the evaluation criteria fro the following evaluation question: How much will we have to reorganise our activities to produce it?

A) Acceptability
B) Vulnerability
C) Feasibility

Question 12

Transferring a design idea into a concept does not include:

A) Function
B) Purpose
C) Benefits
D) Prototype
E) Form

Question 13

There are many techniques that can be used for documenting processes or blueprinting, all of which have two main features:

A) Specify the component products and services and define the processes to create the package
B) Flow-process charts and the customer-processing framework
C) Determine the overall shape of the product or service and the way in which the product or service operates
D) Show the flow of materials/people/information through the operation and identify the different activities that take place during the process

Question 14

Purpose is the overall shape of the product or service.

Question 15

What is the evaluation criteria fro the following evaluation question: What is the risk of us being unable to produce it acceptably?

A) Feasibility
B) Vulnerability
C) Acceptability

Question 16

What is the correct order in which the following elements of a customer-processing framework should be assembled (assuming the customer has already selected a preferred service operation)?

A) Point of entry/Response time/Point of impact/Delivery/Follow-up
B) Point of entry/Response time/Point of impact/Delivery/Point of departure/Follow-up
C) Point of entry/Point of impact/Delivery/Point of departure/Follow-up
D) Point of entry/Response time/Point of impact/Point of departure/Follow-up

Question 17

A design concept is the set of expected benefits that the customer is buying.

Question 18

Which one of the following is NOT a named symbol in a flow process chart?

A) An operation
B) Storage
C) A movement
D) A delay
E) A selection

Question 19

The final stage of the design activity will NOT involve which one of the following elements:

A) Screening
B) Computer-aided design (CAD)
C) Virtual prototyping
D) Computer simulations
E) Wire-frame modelling

Question 20

A design package defines the relationship between the 'component' products and services.

Question 21

Operations managers are indirectly responsible for the design of goods and services.

Question 22

Why is the timescale for product development in the computing and electronics industry relatively short?

A) There is a high demand for secondhand products, forcing new goods into the market.
B) There is a rapid rise and decline of products in the computing and electronics market.
C) Electronic products are simple to manufacture.
D) There is little competition in the computing and electronics market.

Question 23

Specifying the component products and services in the package is normally part of:

A) Screening
B) Concept generation
C) Evaluation and improvement
D) Preliminary design
E) Prototyping and final design

Question 24

Product and service design should start with the customer and finish with those in Human
Resources.

Question 25

The nature of product and service design is the same for different types of operation.

Question 26

If a product is well designed, an organisation will benefit financially from its launch.

Question 27

'Food' and 'drink' are not aspects of a concept for a restaurant.

Question 28

CAD may be used in which part of the design process?

A) Prototyping and final design
B) Screening
C) Preliminary design
D) Concept generation
E) Evaluation and improvement

Question 29

A 'process' is one aspect of a product or service. It describes the package of components that
provide benefits defined in the concept.

Question 30

Where should product or service design start?

A) With the customer.
B) With the operations manager.
C) With human resources, operations, and marketing.
D) With the marketing department.

Question 31

There are similarities in product and service design across industries.

Question 32

Operations managers are directly responsible for product and service design.

Question 33

Benefits are the advantages the product or service will bring to customers.

Question 34

A company may use focus groups as part of concept generation. A focus group will typically comprise:

A) Seven to ten participants who are unfamiliar with each other and have certain characteristics in common that relate to the particular topic
B) People identified at random by street market researchers
C) Contact staff in a service organisation or the salesperson in a product-orientated organisation
D) Staff who take apart competitors' services/products and focus on how they have been made

Question 35

Feasibility analysis would normally be used in which part of the design process?

A) Concept generation
B) Evaluation and improvement
C) Prototyping and final design
D) Preliminary design
E) Screening

Question 36

Concepts comprise of a package of products and/or services.

Question 37

Reverse engineering is taking apart a product to understand how a competing organisation has
made it.

Question 38

The 'design' of a theme park and new drug are essentially the same.

Question 39

Form is the overall shape of the product or service.

Question 40

A focus group will typically comprise a small group of people who know each other well.

Question 41

Ideas for new products can come from:

A) The research and development department
B) Interviews with customers
C) Sources within the organisation
D) All of the above

Question 42

Structured interviews are considered to be the most effective means of generating ideas.

Question 43

The amount of money that an electronics company stands to lose from the launch of a new laptop
if things do not go to plan relates to the concept's 'vulnerability'.

Question 44

Not all concepts which are generated during concept generation can be developed into products
and services.

Question 45

The cost of changing the design of a product or service reduces over time.

Question 46

In the case of a washing machine, a guarantee can be considered a 'core' part of the package.

Question 47

The underlying principle of product or service design is to refine an original idea over time.

Question 48

To make a final design, 'components' need to be connected in some way by having the relationship
between them formalised.

Question 49

The design funnel depicts the progressive reduction of design options from many to one.

Question 50

The stages of design are the same for all companies.

Question 51

Which of these is NOT an example of a 'feasibility' criteria?

A) How much market share could it gain?
B) Is the market likely to be big enough?
C) Do we have access to sufficient finance to develop and launch it?
D) Do we have the capability to produce it?

Question 52

Which of the following is correct?

A) Concept generation comes after screening.
B) Screening is the first stage of product or service design.
C) Preliminary design comes after concept generation, but before screening.
D) Evaluation comes before prototyping.

Question 53

The risk of being unable to produce a product or service acceptably relates to 'feasibility' in
evaluating a concept.