Deck 6: Process-Flow Analysis

Question 1

A diamond symbol in a flowchart indicates:

A)Evaluation with more than one possible outcome
B)Decision
C)Both (a)and (b)
D)Neither (a)nor (b)

Answer 1

Both (a)and (b)

Question 2

Which of the following is NOT a prerequisite to process flowcharting?

A)Identifying system boundaries
B)Identifying the manager overseeing the process
C)Identifying sequential flows
D)Identifying suppliers

Answer 2

Identifying the manager overseeing the process

Question 3

The first step in process flow analysis is:

A)To develop a flowchart
B)To break the process down into blocks
C)To decide what technique will be used to analyze the process flow
D)To select an appropriate transformation process for analysis

Answer 3

To select an appropriate transformation process for analysis

Question 4

Analysis of the flow of information:

A)Is only necessary if management wants tight control of the system
B)Is more important than materials flow
C)Should always accompany an analysis of materials flow
D)Is only of concern to service industries

Question 5

Which of the following statements regarding business process reengineering (BPR)is NOT true?

A)BPR is a term coined by Hammer and Champy in the book called "Reengineering the Corporation."
B)BPR refers to extensive process redesign.
C)BPR simplifies processes and eliminates the non-value added elements from the process.
D)BPR is synonymous to the Total Quality Management approach of process improvement.

Question 6

In the process view of business,which of the following should be identified when defining the system?

A)Inter-connected processes across functional areas
B)The process-flow analysis approach to be used
C)Only the operations function
D)The vertical nature of the organizational design

Question 7

Which of the following statements is NOT true about process-flow analysis?

A)Process-flow analysis is dependent on systems thinking.
B)Flowcharts are used to describe and improve the transformation process in a business.
C)Process flows must always be forward,and cannot 'loop back' to previous operations.
D)Service blueprinting is another name for a flowchart.

Question 8

A service blueprint is used to analyze and manage the service process because it involves:

A)The identification of flows,bottlenecks,and customer interaction points
B)The design of the services advertising campaign
C)The identification of the consumer benefit concept
D)All of the above

Question 9

The capacity of a process is determined by:

A)The bottleneck
B)The maximum of the required capacity resources
C)Throughput time
D)None of the above

Question 10

A process view emphasizes that it is important for a business to function as independent silos.

Question 11

Process elements that might be changed when improving a process include:

A)Job design
B)Product or service design
C)Equipment or tools
D)All of the above

Question 12

What does a square or rectangle symbol indicate in a flowchart?

A)Operation
B)Inspection
C)Storage
D)Delay

Question 13

If a factory has 100,000 units of materials in the system and if the average flow rate of the system is 5000 units per day,then according to Little's Law,the average throughput time is:

A)0.5 days
B)20 days
C)0.05 days
D)100 days

Question 14

If I denotes the average inventory in the system,T denotes the average throughput time,and R denotes the average flow rate of the system,then by Little's Law:

A)I = T/R
B)T = I + R
C)I = R/T
D)R = I/T

Question 15

A numerically controlled machining center has an average processing capacity of 5000 units per day.It receives an average of 3000 units of inventory from another machining center and it has to supply an average of 1000 units of finished goods to the packaging section.Assuming that the company incurs a significant cost for carrying finished goods supplied to the packaging section,the flow rate of the machining process is:

A)3000 units per day
B)5000 units per day
C)1000 units per day
D)None of the above

Question 16

Which of the following would NOT be changed due to process flow analysis?

A)Raw materials
B)Product or service design
C)Job design
D)Customers

Question 17

One step in process flow analysis is to describe the existing process.If a new system is being developed,(there is no existing system):

A)This step is simply omitted
B)Process flow analysis cannot be performed
C)A socio-technical design must be used
D)The analysis must include a hypothetical process for comparison

Question 18

A service blueprint:

A)Shows all points of interaction between the customer and the service providers
B)Contains a "line of visibility"
C)Includes front office and back office process flows
D)All of the above

Question 19

Which of the following statements about Little's Law is NOT include?

A)Little's Law cannot be applied to service operations
B)Little's Law relates the average number of units in the system to average throughput time and average flow rate
C)Little's Law includes processing and waiting time
D)Little's Law assumes that the system is in steady state

Question 20

Which of the following is NOT one of the four principles of process redesign?

A)Organize around outcomes,not tasks
B)Have the people who do the work process their own information
C)Eliminate unnecessary steps in the process
D)Automate the remaining steps in the process

Question 21

If there are multiple resources that process each transaction,then the process capacity is the sum of all the individual capacities of the resources.

Question 22

A line of visibility separates the parts of a service that come in direct contact with customers from those that do not.

Question 23

A process will generally have at least one bottleneck.

Question 24

It takes 1 minute to remove a burger from the cooler.The burger is cooked for 2 minutes and requires constant monitoring (the worker cannot do something else during cooking).Cooked burgers are assembled into sandwiches with buns,lettuce,and tomato.This step takes 45 seconds per sandwich.Finally,packaging the sandwich takes about 10 seconds.What is the bottleneck in the process? Why?

Question 25

Process redesign tends to be cross-functional in nature and requires a complete overhaul of work methods,flows,and information systems.

Question 26

A store open 24 hours per day is interested in determining store traffic.They found that customers arrive uniformly at the rate of 10 customers per hour.The store has a single worker to process customers.The worker takes an average of 5 minutes to process a customer.If we assume that every customer must be processed,what is the average number of customers in the store?