Narrative 17-1
In recent years,Japanese companies such as Mitsubishi,NEC,Fujitsu,and Sony began turning to North America to manufacture Japanese products. While Sony,Panasonic,and other Japanese giants still excel at cranking out high-quality consumer electronics products-such as camcorders and TVs-by the millions,it's a different story in industries with short product cycles and factories that must build what customers order instead of churning out products in anticipation of demand. Japan's great strength-repetitive manufacturing-is becoming its greatest weakness. This production-on-demand form of management cannot depend on JIT. Instead,the North American companies rely on raw-in-process inventory,or RIP. RIP calls for keeping a reasonable quantity of varied raw materials or components on hand to meet changing customer demand.
-Refer to Narrative 17-1. Which type of manufacturing operation are North Americans who manufacture NEC,Fujitsu,and Sony products using?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The North American companies who manufacture Japanese products such as NEC, Fujitsu, and Sony are using a make-to-order manufacturing operation, where the factories build what customers order instead of churning out products in anticipation of demand. This is in contrast to Japan's repetitive manufacturing, which is becoming a weakness in industries with short product cycles. The North American companies rely on raw-in-process inventory to meet changing customer demand, rather than JIT, which is commonly used in repetitive manufacturing. Therefore, the best choice is D - make-to-order.

Narrative 17-1 In Recent Years,Japanese Companies Such as Mitsubishi,NEC,Fujitsu,and Sony Began Turning