Question 1

An entrepreneur identifies a product that he knows will sell like crazy if he can only figure out a way to bring it to her area.The idea is so fantastic that I can't tell you what it is,so we will just refer to it as X.The entrepreneur has identified four ways to bring X to the masses; she can import it,she can smuggle it,she can try to produce it on her own,and she can have a local reputable producer make it for her.The fixed and variable costs for each of these alternatives are shown below.Develop a graph showing the ideal alternative across a range of demand that reflects all decision points.

Accepted Answer

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Question 2

The average waiting time on a Thursday night for a table at a popular Chinese restaurant is 30 minutes.If customers arrive at the rate of four per hour and both the service and arrival rates are Poisson distributed,what is the average service time?
A) greater than 3 but less than 4 per hour
B) greater than 4 but less than 5 per hour
C) greater than 5 but less than 6 per hour
D) cannot be determined from the information provided.

Accepted Answer

We can use the M/M/1 queuing model, where arrivals and service times follow a Poisson distribution and there's one server.

From the given information, we know:
- Lambda (arrival rate) = 4 customers per hour
- W (average waiting time) = 30 minutes = 0.5 hours
- L (average number of customers waiting in queue) = Lambda * W = 2 customers

We can also find:
- Ls (average number of customers in the system, including those being served) = L + λ * W
- Utilization factor (p) = λ/μ, where μ (service rate) is what we want to find

Since the average service time is μ^-1, we can solve for μ:
- Ls = L + λ * W
- Ls = 2 + 4 * 0.5 = 4 customers in the system
- p = λ/μ
- μ = λ/p = λ/(λ * W/L + λ) = λ * L / (λ * W + L)
- μ = 4 * 2 / (4 * 0.5 + 2) = 5 customers per hour
- Average service time = 1/μ = 0.2 hours = 12 minutes

Therefore, the average service time is greater than 5 but less than 6 per hour, so the answer is C.

Question 3

A major computer manufacturer is interested in establishing a customer service center to handle business for the next decade.They conduct exhaustive research on land and construction costs,utilities,tax breaks,and wages at three sites,Oklahoma City,Austin,and Nashville.Answer these questions using these costs as displayed in the table below.
  Graph the total cost curves and indicate the range of output that is best for each prospective site.What are the assumptions you have made in this analysis?

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The answer of A major computer manufacturer is interested in...

Question 4

Wally's Filling Station is manned by one capable attendant that can fill your tank and check your tires,oil,and water in 5 minutes.If four customers arrive each hour,and the service and arrival rates are governed by the Poisson distribution,what is the utilization of the attendant?
A) 0.33
B) 0.50
C) 0.66
D) 0.80

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Question 5

Consider the system composed of four processes linked by a conveyor belt.There is no storage between these processes pictured below and market demand exceeds the company's ability to produce.Which statement is best? 
A) The overall system output is 220 units/hr.
B) The overall system output is 70 units/hr.
C) The overall system output is 40 units/hr.
D) The overall system output is 55 units/hr.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Consider the system composed of four processes...

Question 6

A wise professor crafts a midterm that is beautiful to behold,painful to take,and a chore to grade.The first exam takes almost an hour and a half to grade (89 minutes and 24.7 seconds to be precise)but the second one takes only seventy-six minutes to complete.Realizing that learning effects are at work,the professor looks at his social calendar and spots an important social engagement at this time on the following day,exactly 24 hours from now.How long will it take to grade the third exam? How long will it take to finish grading exams for the entire class of 30 students?

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Question 7

In waiting line theory,a customer service attendant is a(n)________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of In waiting line theory,a customer service attendant...

Question 8

The Theory of Constraints would support the statement that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

Accepted Answer

The Theory of Constraints (TOC) focuses on identifying the weakest link in a system and improving it to enhance the overall performance of the system. Therefore, the statement that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link aligns with the core principles of TOC.

Question 9

Business at the Kwik-E-Mart is brisk,with one customer arriving at a rate of six per hour on average.Ringing up purchases is an easy matter for owner/operator Apu; he can usually do so in 2 minutes.If both arrival and service rates are Poisson distributed,how many customers are in the store on average?
A) 0.05
B) 0.16
C) 0.25
D) 0.50

Accepted Answer

The arrival rate is given as six customers per hour, so the arrival rate parameter, λ, is 6. The service time can be calculated as 1/30 hours (2 minutes/60 minutes), so the service rate parameter, μ, is 1/0.0333 = 30. Therefore, the traffic intensity, ρ, can be calculated as ρ = λ/μ = 0.2.

Using the M/M/1 queuing model, the average number of customers in the system can be calculated as Ls = ρ/(1-ρ) = 0.25. Therefore, the answer is C.

Question 10

Consider the system composed of four processes linked by a conveyor belt.There is no storage between these processes pictured below.Which statement is best? 
A) The overall system output is 220 units/hr.
B) The process that determines the system's capacity is process 4.
C) If process 3 experiences 5 minutes of unplanned downtime, the system's overall output is diminished.
D) Overall system improvement efforts should focus on process 1.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Consider the system composed of four processes...

Question 11

Consider the system composed of four processes linked by a conveyor belt.There is no storage between these processes pictured below and market demand of 50 units per hour drives the conveyor belt.Assume that no defective units are made.Which statement is best? 
A) There are about 18 units in the process at any given time.
B) There is more actual time spent in Process 2 and Process 3 combined than in Process 1 and Process 4 combined.
C) The flow rate through Process 1 is the highest.
D) The flow rate through Process 4 is the highest.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Consider the system composed of four processes...

Question 12

A Seattle entrepreneur must decide on the size of a latte stand to construct.The manager has narrowed the choice down to large or small.If he builds large and experiences low demand he could grin and bear it for a $200 daily profit,lower prices ($225 daily profit),or hire street performers to attract attention ($175 daily profit).If he builds small and experiences high demand he could do nothing ($175 profit per day),stay open longer hours (profit of $225/day),improve processes ($250/day profit),or raise prices ($200/day profit).Building large for high demand has an expected payoff of $250/day and building small for low demand has an expected payoff of $175/day.There is a 0.7 probability of high demand and 0.3 probability of low demand.Sketch a decision tree for this scenario and determine what size stand should be constructed to slake the unquenchable thirst of caffeine addicts.

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Question 13

Saul Goodman represents several clients and bills at $400 per hour.He forgot to record the time it took to complete each activity,but he knows his eight hour day was spent representing three clients involved in one high profile case.He also remembers that Walt told him once that his learning curve percentage was 85%.How much more should Saul bill each of his three clients?

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Question 14

A steady stream of eager fresh-faced students waits in line to register for spring semester classes.Students arrive at the rate of 100 per hour and it takes the registrar 30 seconds to check their schedule and verify they have paid in full.What is the average time waiting in line and the average number of people in line? How busy is the registrar?

Accepted Answer

The answer of A steady stream of eager fresh-faced students...

Question 15

Consider the system composed of four processes linked by a conveyor belt.There is no storage between these processes pictured below and market demand of 40 units per hour drives the conveyor belt.Assume that no defective units are made.Which statement is best? 
A) The average time a unit spends in Process 1 is 2 and a half minutes.
B) The average time a unit spends in Process 2 is 5 minutes.
C) The flow time for a unit through the entire process is 33 minutes.
D) The flow rate through the entire process is 160 units per hour.

Accepted Answer

The flow time is the total amount of time it takes for one unit to go through all four processes. In this case, the total working time for all four processes is 13 minutes (3 + 2 + 5 + 3 = 13). Therefore, the flow time for one unit is 13 minutes. If market demand is 40 units per hour, then the flow rate through the entire process is 40 units per hour. Therefore, the correct choice is (C).

Question 16

Customers arrive at Rent a Wreck and hope to score an inexpensive and unsightly vehicle to use for what typically is a short period of time.About twenty customers show up in any hour of the day and it takes the customer service representative about two minutes to photocopy their driver's license and insurance card and take an impression of a credit card.Assume that the service and arrival rates are governed by the Poisson distribution; how long does it take for the average customer to clear the system?
A) 10 minutes
B) 6 minutes
C) 3.33 minutes
D) 3 minutes

Accepted Answer

Since the arrival rate and service rate are Poisson distributed, we can use the M/M/1 queuing model. 
λ = 20 customers/hour 
μ = 30 customers/hour (since each customer takes 2 minutes, µ = 1/2 customers/minute; there are 60 minutes in an hour, so µ = 30 customers/hour) 
Using the formula for the expected waiting time in an M/M/1 queuing model, we get: 
W = (1/µ) / (1 - λ/µ) 
W = (1/30) / (1 - 20/30) 
W = (1/30) / (1/3) 
W = 3 minutes 
Then, we add the average service time of 2 minutes to get the average time a customer spends in the system: 
3 minutes + 2 minutes = 5 minutes 
Therefore, the average time for a customer to clear the system is 5 minutes. However, since the question asks about how long it takes for the average customer to clear the system, we need to divide by the arrival rate: 
5 minutes / 20 customers/hour = 0.25 hours or 15 minutes 
Finally, we round up to get the best choice: 6 minutes.

Question 17

In operations and supply chain environments that must deal with random demand and variable processing time,it is virtually impossible to achieve very high capacity utilization levels and still provide acceptable customer service.

Accepted Answer

When dealing with random demand and variable processing time, it is important to have some buffer capacity in order to maintain acceptable customer service levels. This means that it may not be possible to operate at very high capacity utilization levels without risking service disruptions or delays.

Question 18

Students arrive at a professor's office every 20 minutes during final exam week according to a Poisson distribution.What is the probability that the professor's one hour afternoon nap will not be disrupted by any student arrivals?
A) 0.00
B) 0.05
C) 0.15
D) 0.45

Accepted Answer

The answer of Students arrive at a professor's office every...

Question 19

The process step that limits throughput for the entire process chain is the ________.

Accepted Answer

The answer of The process step that limits throughput for...

Question 20

A busy toll highway that has four toll collectors for northbound traffic is an example of a single-channel,single-phase system.

Accepted Answer

A single-channel, single-phase system has only one server and one waiting line for customers, but in the example given, there are four toll collectors, which means there are multiple servers. Therefore, it is not a single-channel, single-phase system.

Quiz 6: Managing Capacity

The average waiting time on a Thursday night for a table at a popular Chinese restaurant is 30 minutes.If customers arrive at the rate of four per hour and both the service and arrival rates are Poisson distributed,what is the average service time?

Wally's Filling Station is manned by one capable attendant that can fill your tank and check your tires,oil,and water in 5 minutes.If four customers arrive each hour,and the service and arrival rates are governed by the Poisson distribution,what is the utilization of the attendant?

Consider the system composed of four processes linked by a conveyor belt.There is no storage between these processes pictured below and market demand exceeds the company's ability to produce.Which statement is best?

In waiting line theory,a customer service attendant is a(n)________.

The Theory of Constraints would support the statement that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

Consider the system composed of four processes linked by a conveyor belt.There is no storage between these processes pictured below.Which statement is best?

Consider the system composed of four processes linked by a conveyor belt.There is no storage between these processes pictured below and market demand of 50 units per hour drives the conveyor belt.Assume that no defective units are made.Which statement is best?

Consider the system composed of four processes linked by a conveyor belt.There is no storage between these processes pictured below and market demand of 40 units per hour drives the conveyor belt.Assume that no defective units are made.Which statement is best?

In operations and supply chain environments that must deal with random demand and variable processing time,it is virtually impossible to achieve very high capacity utilization levels and still provide acceptable customer service.

Students arrive at a professor's office every 20 minutes during final exam week according to a Poisson distribution.What is the probability that the professor's one hour afternoon nap will not be disrupted by any student arrivals?

The process step that limits throughput for the entire process chain is the ________.

A busy toll highway that has four toll collectors for northbound traffic is an example of a single-channel,single-phase system.