MB0044 Production and Operations Management Assignment Set - 1

1- What is meant by productivity? Write a brief note on capital productivity. Productivity is a measure of the efficiency of the system and looks at the economies achieved during the processes. Every process will have a number of contributors which help in achieving maximum productivity. The processes are: People, Machines, Facilitating goods, Ancillary equipment and Technology. Each of these elements attempts to enhance the contribution of other elements. Opportunities exist at all stages of the workflow in the entire system to introduce measures forincreasing productivity. However in actual manufacturing situations, the inefficiencies will have cascading effect in hampering productivity. Communication, effective review processes and innovative methods will ensure optimisation of resources. Building up reliability into the equipment managing the supply chain to economise on the cost factors improves productivity. Capital Productivity Capital deployed in plant, machinery, buildings and the distribution systems as well as working capital are the components of the cost of manufacturing. Demand fluctuations, uncertainties of production owing to breakdowns, and inventories being created drag the productivity down. Therefore, strategies are needed to maximise the utilisation of the funds allotted towards capital. The strategies included are: Outsourcing strategies Methods improvement Balancing of workstations Quality circles Rationalisation of packaging methods

2. What is automation? What are the kinds of automation? Automation is the use of scientific and technological principles in the manufacture of machines that take over work normally done by humans. For services, automation usually means increase in quality and productivity using labor saving devices. Automation is ideal when the service provided or the product manufactured is highly standardized. Some extent

of automation can be designed even with customization, that is, product or services meant to produce or deliver low volumes specific requirement.The cost per unit determines the extent of automation required. Automation syst ems cost huge sums of money andtherefore, a deep analysis of the various factors has to be done. The advantage of automation is that it has low variability and will be more consistent on a repetitive basis. On the shop floor variability causes loss of quality. There are three kinds of automation: 1.Fixed: By its very nature, fixed automation is rigid. They are designed for high volume production and their rigidity ensures less variability. They are not amenable to change in product or process. They need minimal human intervention. Examples: Oil refineries and chemical processing units. 2.Programmable: Programming devices enable machines to operate automatically. The machines have sensing andcontrol devices that enable this. The simplest of them called machine attachments replace human effort. They guide,locate, move, and achieve relative positions by means of cams, optical sensing, and load sensing mechanisms andactivate the controls to remove human intervention. Numerically controlled machines read instructions and convertthem to machine. Computers are used for controlling one machine or a number of them and they have programswritten into them for operations. They are Computer Numerically Controlled or for short, CNC machines. 3.Flexible: Robots are higher in the order of automation as they perform a variety of tasks. They are designed to movematerials by holding them in their arms and making precise movements according to programs written into thecomputers that reside in them. They simulate human actions. They can grip and hold tools with the help of sensors.These sensors are sensitive to touch and force to know that the material is to be held with the requisite pressure for the conduct of operations. Vision sensors are used for inspection, identification and guidance. They use optics based instruments to gather data and feed them to the computers for activating the other parts of the robot.With the help of automation, 100% inspection of components can be done which ensures highest quality.Identification and movement of materials are helped by bar codes which are read and fed into the system formonitoring quantity, location, and movement. They help the automated systems to sort information and provideinformation for effecting any changes necessary. 3. What are the factors that influence the plant location? Factors influencing Plant Location can be broadly divided into two types namely: general factors and special factors General factors The general factors that influence the plant location are listed below 1.Availability of land:Availability of land plays an important role in determining the plant location. Many-a-time,our plans, calculations and forecasts suggest a particular area as the

best to start an organization. However,availability of land may be in question. In such cases, we will have to choose the second best location. 2.Availabilityof inputs: While choosing a plant location, it is very important for the organization to get the labor atthe right time and raw materials at good qualities. The plant should be located: Near to the raw material source when there is no loss of weight. At the market place when there is a loss of weight in the material. Close to the market when universally available, so as to minimize the transportation cost 3.Closeness to market places: Organisations can choose to locate the plant near to the customers market or far from them, depending upon the product they produce. It is advisable to locate the plant near to the market place,when: The projection life of the product is low

The transportation cost is high

The products are delicate and susceptible to spoilage

After sales services are promptly required very often Theadvantages of locating the plant near to the market place are: (i)Consistent supply of goods to the customers (ii)Reduction of the cost of transportation 4.Communication facilities: Communication facility is also an important factor which influences the location of aplant. Regions with good communication facilities viz. Postal and Tele communication links should be givenpriority for the selection of sites. 5.Infrastructure: Infrastructure plays a prominent role in deciding the location. The basic infrastructure needed inany organization are: a. Power: For example, industries which run day and night requir e continuous power s u p p l y . S o t h e y s h o u l d b e l o c a t e d n e a r t o t h e p o w e r s t a t i o n s a n d s h o u l d e n s u r e continuous power supply throughout the year. b. Water: process industries such as, paper, chemical, and cement, requirescontinuous water supply in large amount. So, such process industries need to be located near to the water. c. Waste disposal:

For example, for process industries such as, paper and sugarcane industries facility for disposal of waste is the key factor. 6. Transport: Transport facility is a must for facility location and layout of location of the plant. Timely supply of raw materials to the company and supply of finished goods tothe customers is an important factor. The basic modes of transportation are by Air, Road,Rail, Water, and Pipeline. The choice of location should be made depending on these basic modes. Cost of transportation is also an important criterion for plant location. 7. Government support: The factors that demand additional attention for plant locationa r e t h e p o l i c i e s o f t h e s t a t e g o v e r n m e n t s a n d l o c a l b o d i e s c o n c e r n i n g l a b o u r l a w s , building codes, and safety. 8. Housing and recreation: Housing and recreation factors also influence the plantlocation. Locating a plant with the facilities of good schools, housing and recreation for e m p l o y e e s w i l l have a greater impact on the organization. These factor seems to b e unimportant, but have a difference as they motivate the employees and hence the locationdecisions. Special factors The special factors that influence the plant location are: 1. Economic stability outside investments 2. Cultural factors 3. Wages 4. Joint ventures

4. Describe the seven basic quality control tools. Flow Chart, Check sheet, Histogram, Pareto Analysis, Scatter Diagram, Control Chart, and Cause and Effect Diagram are the basic seven control tools considered for achieving quality. a)Flow Chart: Flow chart is a visual representation of process showing the various steps. It helps in locating the points atwhich a problem exists or an improvement is possible. Detailed data can be collected, analysed, and methods forcorrection can be developed using flow charts. The various steps include: Listing out the various steps or activities in a particular job Each decision point generates alternatives. Criteria and consequences that go with decisions are amenable to evaluation forpurposes of assessing quality. b)Check Sheet: Check sheets are used to record the number of defects, types of defects, locations at which they areoccurring, times at which they are occurring, and workmen by whom they are occurring. The sheet keeps a record of the frequencies of occurrence with reference to

possible defect causing parameters. It helps to implement acorrective procedure at the point where the frequencies are more. c)Histogram: Histograms are graphical representations of distribution of data.They are generally used to record huge volumes of data about a process. They reveal whether the pattern of distribution has a single peak, or many peaks and also the extent of variation around the peak value. This helps inidentifying whether the problem is serious. When used in conjunction with comparable parameters, the visualpatterns help us to identify the problem which should be attended to.The values shown are the number of observations made regarding a parameter. Sometimes, the percentages areshown to demonstrate the relative contribution of each of the parameters. d)Pareto Analysis: Pareto analysis is a tool for classifying problem areas according to the degree of importance andattending to the most important. Pareto principle, also called 80-20 rule, states that 80% of the problems thatwe encounter arise out of 20% of items. If we find that, in a day, we have 184 assemblies having problems andthere are 11 possible causes, it is observed that 80%of them, that is, 147 of them have been caused by just 2 or3 of them. It will be easy to focus on these 2 or 3 and reduce the number of defects to a great extent. When the causeof these defects has been attended, we will observe that some other defect becomes predominantly observed and if the process is continued, we are marching toward zero defects. e)Scatter Diagram: Scatter diagram is used when we have two variables and want to know the degree of relationshipbetween them .We can determine if there is cause and effect relationshipbetween the variables and the degree of extent over a range of values of the variables. Sometimes, we can observethat there is no relationship, in which we can change one parameter being sure that it has no effect on the otherparameter.We can see that the change in variable 2 does not have much effect on variable 1. The other interpretation can be that for a small change in variable 1,

f)Control Charts: Control charts are used to verify whether a process is under control. Variables, when they remainwithin a range, will render the product and maintain the specifications. This is called the quality of conformance. Therange of permitted deviations is determined by design parameters. Samples are taken and the mean and range of thevariable of each sample (subgroup) is recorded. The mean of the means of the samples gives the control lines.Assuming normal distribution, we expect 99.97% of all values to lie within the Upper Control Limit (UCL) andLower Control Limit (LCL) The graphical representation of data helps in changing settings tobring back the process closer to the target. g)Cause and Effect Diagram: Cause and effect diagram represents all the possible causes which lead to a defect onquality characteristics. These are arranged in such a way that different branches representing causes connect the stemin the direction of the discovery of the problem. When each of them is investigated thoroughly we will be able to pin-point some factors which cause the problem. We will alsoobserve that a few of them can have cumulative effect or even a cascading effect.When we observe that we have excessive defects from a machine, we try to identify and try to correct it.

5. Define project management. Describe the five dimensions of project management.

Managing a project is the practice of controlling the use of resources, such as cost, time, manpower, hardware, andsoftware involved in the project. It usually starts with a problem statement and ends with delivery of a complete product. Project management involves understanding the scope and various processes in a projectcycle. Management is the technique of understanding the problems, needs, and controlling the use of resources such as cost, time,manpower and material

a)Project cycle:
A project cycle consists of the various activities of operations, resources, and the limitations imposed onthem.

b)Process:
A process is part of the project which consists of simple and routine instructions to achieve a desired result of any activity of the project. A process is responsible for bringing about the changes in the inputs fed to the process andgiving out the desired output.

c)Resource:
The resource of a project refers to manpower, machinery, money, and materials which are required in theproject.

d)Scope:
Scope of the project refers to the various parameters that affect the project in its planning, formulation, andexecutions.

e)Project cost:
Project cost is the budgeted expenditure of the project. 6. Write a brief note on Just-In-Time (JIT).

Just-In-Time (JIT) manufacturing is a process by which companies don't keep lots of excess inventory; instead, they manufacture a product as an order comes in. It is a management philosophy of continuous and forced problem solving. The objective of JIT manufacturing system is to: # Eliminate waste i.e. minimise the amount of equipment, materials, parts, space and workers time, which adds a great value to the product. # Increase productivity JIT means making what the market demands when it is in need. It is the most popular systems that incorporate the generic elements of lean systems. Lean production supplies customers with exactly what the customer wants, when the customer wants, without waste, through continuous improvement. Deploying JIT results in decrease of inventories and increases the overall efficiencies. There are many advantages of JIT: # Increases the work productivity

#Reduces operating cost #Improves performance and throughput #Improves quality #Improves deliveries # Increases flexibility and innovativeness For industrial organisations to remain competitive, cost efficiencies have become compulsory. JIT helps in this process. It is extended to the shop floor and also the inventory systems of the vendors. JIT has been extended to mean continuous improvement. These principles are being applied to the fields of Engineering, Purchasing, Accounting, and Data processing.