Deck 11: Process Design and Analysis

Question 1

A triangle is conventionally used in a process flowchart to represent a storage area or queue.

Answer 1

True

Question 2

McDonald's fast-food restaurants use a make-to-order production process.

Answer 2

False

Question 3

Process analysis can help answer many important questions such as how many customers can a process handle per hour.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

Hybrid processes combine features of make-to-order and make-to-stock production processes.

Question 5

Blocking in production processes is when activities in a stage must continue because there is no place to deposit completed items.

Question 6

Process analysis can help answer many important questions such as why change in a process is necessary.

Question 7

Cycle time is the ratio of the time that a resource is actually activated relative to the time that it is available for use.

Question 8

One way to categorize a process is to determine whether it is a multiple-stage or a single-stage process.

Question 9

Utilization of a production process is the ratio of output to input.

Question 10

A rectangle is conventionally used in a process flowchart to represent a task or operation.

Question 11

When a make-to-order production process is used, production is based on forecasts.

Question 12

A service operation by its very nature is a make-to-stock type of production process.

Question 13

Make-to-stock production processes can easily handle requests for customized product features.

Question 14

Make-to-order production processes are well suited for high-volume production of a standardized product.

Question 15

A bottleneck occurs when a stage in a production process is starving.

Question 16

Pacing in production processes refers to the fixed timing of the movement of items through the process.

Question 17

When we use a make-to-stock production process, we control our production based on a desired amount of finished goods inventory.

Question 18

Buffering in a production process refers to a storage area between stages of production activity where output of a stage is placed prior to being used in a "downstream" stage.

Question 19

A diamond is conventionally used in a process flowchart to represent a storage area or queue.

Question 20

Productivity in a production process can be measured by the ratio of output to input.

Question 21

A process has three stages. Their capacities per hour are 45, 25, and 35 respectively. Due to its higher capacity, the first stage is the bottleneck.

Question 22

Efficiency of a production process is the ratio of the actual output of a process to some standard.

Question 23

If you want to reduce process flow time, it has been suggested that you can perform activities in the process in parallel.

Question 24

Benchmarking refers to the practice of comparing the production metrics of one firm with the production metrics of another.

Question 25

Job design is defined as the function of specifying the work activities of an individual or group in an organizational setting.

Question 26

The operation time is the sum of the setup time, run time, and transfer time for a batch of parts that are run on a machine.

Question 27

Utilization of a production process is the ratio of time that a resource is actually being used relative to the time it is available for use.

Question 28

Throughput rate of a production process is the amount of time a unit spends actually being worked on.

Question 29

Process velocity is the ratio of the total throughput time to the value added time.

Question 30

Value-added time is the total of all the time that work is being done on the unit plus all the transfer times.

Question 31

Methods Time Management (MTM) and Most Work Measurement System (MOST) are proprietary examples of predetermined motion-time data systems (PMTSes).

Question 32

Run time is calculated by multiplying the number of units in a batch by the setup time.

Question 33

Setup time is the time required to prepare a process to produce a particular item.

Question 34

A buffer refers to a storage area used to store finished goods prior to shipping them to the customer.

Question 35

Little's law says there is a long-term relationship among the inventory, throughput, and flow time of a production system in steady state.

Question 36

Inventory turn is the cost of goods sold divided by the average inventory value.

Question 37

Cycle time and flow time mean about the same thing.

Question 38

Starving occurs when the firm must stop because there are no customer orders.

Question 39

If you want to reduce process flow time, it has been suggested that you can reduce interruptions in the production process.

Question 40

Inventory turn is a better measure than the total value of inventory for comparative purposes because it is a relative measure.

Question 41

A process flowchart uses which of the following symbols to represent flows of material or customers in a flow diagram?

A) Rectangle
B) Arrow
C) Inverted triangle
D) Diamond
E) A dashed line

Question 42

Consider a three sequentially stepped process named as Process A, Process B, and Process C. Input comes into Process A. Output from A goes into Process B. Output from B goes into Process C. Output of C is the final output. Suppose that it takes 2 minutes per unit in Process A, 3 minutes per unit in Process B and 1 minute per unit in Process C. Suppose further that Process A receives input at the rate of 30 per hour. Which process will be experiencing starving?

A) Process A
B) Process B
C) Process C
D) Process B and Process C
E) None of these choices are correct.

Question 43

A job is said to be enlarged vertically if the worker performs a greater number or variety of tasks.

Question 44

According to Little's law, which of the following can be used to estimate inventory?

A) Process time ÷ Cycle time
B) Throughput rate × Flow time
C) Process velocity ÷ Flow time
D) Setup time ÷ Throughput rate
E) Value-added time ÷ Process velocity

Question 45

A process flowchart uses which of the following symbols to represent tasks or operations in a flow diagram?

A) Rectangle
B) Arrow
C) Inverted triangle
D) Diamond
E) A dashed line

Question 46

To reduce process throughput time, you might try which of the following actions?

A) Outsource activities.
B) Change the sequence of activities.
C) Improve teamwork.
D) Reduce management interference.
E) Introduce incentive pay.

Question 47

Which of the following best describes the term "cycle time"?

A) Average time between completions of successive units
B) Ratio of the time a resource is activated over its use
C) Can be no more that 60 minutes
D) The same as utilization
E) The labor content of the item being measured

Question 48

To reduce process flow time, you might try which of the following actions?

A) Perform activities in parallel.
B) Change the sequence of activities.
C) Reduce interruptions.
D) Acquire additional equipment.
E) All of these choices are correct.

Question 49

Which of the following terms describes the time a unit spends actually being worked on together with the time spent waiting in a queue?

A) Cycle time
B) Flow time
C) Run time
D) Setup time
E) Efficiency

Question 50

Little's law states that Inventory = Throughput rate ÷ Flow time.

Question 51

Consider a three sequentially stepped process named as Process A, Process B, and Process C. Input comes into Process A. Output from A goes into Process B. Output from B goes into Process C. Output of C is the final output. Suppose that it takes 2 minutes per unit in Process A, 3 minutes per unit in Process B and 1 minute per unit in Process C. What will be maximum steady state output from this system?

A) 30 per hour
B) 60 per hour
C) 20 per hour
D) 10 per hour
E) Cannot tell since it depends on the input rate

Question 52

Which of the following production process terms best describes the situation when activities in a stage of production must stop because there is no work?

A) Blocking
B) Buffering
C) Starving
D) Buffer
E) Setup time

Question 53

A process flowchart uses which of the following symbols to represent a decision point in a flow diagram?

A) Rectangle
B) Arrow
C) Inverted triangle
D) Diamond
E) A dashed line

Question 54

A process flowchart uses symbols to represent which of the following?

A) Factory location
B) Warehouse space available
C) Workforce schedules
D) Flows of material or customers
E) Data analysis

Question 55

A process flowchart uses which of the following symbols to represent storage areas or queues in a flow diagram?

A) Rectangle
B) Arrow
C) Inverted triangle
D) Diamond
E) A dashed line

Question 56

An advantage of a make-to-stock process is which of the following?

A) It features rapid delivery of a standard product.
B) All units of output are unique.
C) It responds directly to customer orders.
D) It allows the firm to avoid inventory costs.
E) It combines the best features of other processes.

Question 57

According to Little's law, which of the following ratios is used to find flow time?

A) Cycle time/Process time
B) Throughput time/Process velocity
C) Process velocity/Throughput time
D) Inventory/Throughput rate
E) Value-added time/Process velocity

Question 58

A job is said to be enlarged horizontally if the worker is involved in planning, organizing, and inspecting his or her own work.

Question 59

Consider a three sequentially stepped process named as Process A, Process B, and Process C. Input comes into Process A. Output from A goes into Process B. Output from B goes into Process C. Output of C is the final output. Suppose that it takes 2 minutes per unit in Process A, 3 minutes per unit in Process B and 1 minute per unit in Process C. Suppose further that Process A receives input at the rate of 30 per hour. Where would you place a buffer?

A) in front of Process A
B) in front of Process B
C) in front of Process C
D) in front of both Process B and Process C
E) None of these choices are correct.

Question 60

The long-term relationship among the inventory, throughput, and flow time of a production system in steady state is called which of the following?

A) Peterson's rule
B) Murphy's law
C) Little's law
D) Robert's rule
E) None of these choices are correct.

Question 61

Which of the following terms describes the time required to prepare a machine to make a particular item.

A) Cycle time
B) Flow time
C) Run time
D) Setup time
E) Efficiency

Question 62

Which of the following production process terms best describes a technique that allows the stages in a production process to operate independently?

A) Blocking
B) Buffering
C) Starving
D) Phase buffer
E) Setup time

Question 63

Which of the following production process terms best describes a situation where the activities in the stage must stop because there is no place to deposit the item just completed?

A) Blocking
B) Buffering
C) Starving
D) Phase buffer
E) Setup time

Question 64

Which of the following terms describes a ratio of the actual output of a process relative to some standard.

A) Cycle time
B) Flow time
C) Run time
D) Setup time
E) Efficiency

Question 65

Which of the following terms describes the time required to produce a batch of parts.

A) Cycle time
B) Flow time
C) Run time
D) Setup time
E) Efficiency

Question 66

Which of the following terms describes sum of the setup time and run time for a batch of parts that are run on a machine.

A) Cycle time
B) Operation time
C) Run time
D) Setup time
E) Efficiency

Question 67

Consider a business that can be run using a make-to-stock or make-to-order process. Further suppose that your demand is 10,000 per month and is spread out during the month. Capacity of both processes is 15,000 per month. Based only on this information, what would be the best choice?

A) Choose make-to-stock process.
B) Choose make-to-order process.
C) Install an assembly line.
D) Raise prices in order to increase demand.
E) None of these choices are correct.