Study questions- Final Exam

1. Describe five basic types of production processes. What are the advantages and disadvantages of
each? When should each be used?
2. Explain product-process matrix. Identify examples of operations that fall on the major diagonal.
3. Compare product layout and process layout.
4. What are the main advantages of a process layout? The main disadvantages?

5. What are the main advantages of a product layout? The main disadvantages?
6. What is the slack time in a network?
7. What is a work breakdown schedule and how is it useful for project planning?
9. Define critical path and critical activities.
10. What is the relationship between the aggregate plan and the master production schedule?
11. Explain what the term aggregate in “aggregate planning” means.
12. What is the purpose of aggregate planning?
13. What are the benefits of using a level workforce strategy?
14. What is available-to-promise inventory?
15. Discuss the meaning of MRP terms such as planned order release and scheduled receipts.
16. Contrast independent and dependent demand.
17. How does quality of design differ from quality of conformance?
18. Briefly describe the dimensions of quality, and apply them to a specific product.
19. Define the two major categories of quality cost and how they relate to each other.
20. What is the difference between internal and external failure costs?
21. What are the elements of TQM?
22. What is the purpose of using a Pareto chart for a given problem?
23. Describe the use of cause-and-effect diagrams.
24. Explain the purpose of the scatter diagram. Give an example of how one would be used.
25. What purpose is served by flow charts?
26. Develop a fishbone diagram for the potential causes that contribute to incorrect toppings on
pizzas.
27. Explain how control charts can be used to control quality of a product.
28. Define and compare common cause and assignable variation.
29. Define “in statistical control”.
30. List some possible causes of assignable variation
31. Briefly explain the purpose of each of these control charts:
a. x –bar b. Range c. p –chart d. c -chart
32. Leisure Time Inc. manufactures high-quality sailboats. Daily production is 36 boats. Production
time available each day is 480 minutes. The information for tasks is as follows.

Task Task time (minutes) Immediate predecessor

A 5 -
B 4 A
C 6 A
D 7 A
E 8 C
F 6 B, C
G 4 D, E
H 5 F, G

Assign tasks to stations in order of greatest number of followers.

33. Producing widgets involves fourteen production tasks, lettered a through n, below. For each
task, the time required to accomplish it is given, and the immediately preceding task.
Production Time (min.) Preceding Task
Task
a .2 -
b .4 a
c .5 b
d .4 c
e 1.0 a
f .5 e
g 1.1 d, f
h .7 g
i .8 g
j .4 h
k 1.2 i
l .9 k
m .6 l
n .4 j, m
9.1
The manager expects to produce 300 widgets per eight-hour shift. The workers are allowed two 10-
minute coffee breaks per shift, and 40 minutes is allocated to cleanup and maintenance tasks.
a. Assign the tasks to workstations according to the heuristic rule of the positional weight.
b. How many workstations are required under the rule of the greatest positional weight?
c. What is the percent of idle time (or the balance delay) for this layout?

34. A final assembly plant for Dictatape, a popular dictation company, produces the DT, a hand-held
dictation unit. There are 400 minutes available in the final assembly plant for the DT, and the
average demand is 80 units per day. Final assembly requires 6 separate tasks. Information
concerning these tasks is given in the following table.
Performance Time Task Must Follow
Task (minutes) Task Listed Below
A 1 —
B 1 —
C 4 A, B
D 1 C
E 2 D
F 4 E
a. Draw a precedence diagram of this operation.
b. Given the demand, what is the cycle time for this operation?
c. What is the theoretical minimum number of work stations?
d. Assign tasks to work stations.
e. What is the overall efficiency of the assembly line?

35. The four activities described in the table below are on the critical path. Times are in days.
(Other paths are not close to the critical time and can be ignored)

Activity optimistic most likely pessimistic

A 4 7 10
B 8 10 14
E 2 4 6
G 7 8 9

What is the probability of completing the critical path in 32 days?

(Answer: 95.45%)
36. A simple project listing of five activities and their respective time estimates are presented below:
Activity Immediate Predecessor Time in Days
A None 1
B A 2
C A 1
D B and C 3
E D 2

What is the total time to complete the project?

(Answer: 8)
37. The following information is available about a project.
Time
Activity Imm. Pred. (days)
A none 2
B none 5
C A 3
D A 4
E B 4
F B 3
G C, D 2
H D, E, F 6
I G, H 4
a. Draw the network diagram for this project.
b. Find the critical path and the early and late start and finish times for each activity.
(Answer: Critical path is B - E - H – I)

38. Using the table below, how many weeks can activity B be delayed without changing the whole
project's earliest completion time?
(Answer: 3 weeks)
39. An advertising project manager has developed the network diagram shown below along with
time information for each of the activities.

A Finish
E
Start G
B C

Activity optimistic most likely pessimistic

A 1 2 3
B 4 6 8
C 3 3 3
D 2 8 10
E 3 6 9
F 1 8 15
G 4 5 6
a. compute the expected times and variances for each of the activities.
b. calculate the activity slack times and the determine the critical path.
c. what is the probability of completing the project within 18 weeks? (consider only the critical path,
not other paths that are near critical)
(Answer: b. Critical path is B - C - E - G c. 5.48% chance of completing by day 18)
40. Information concerning a project is given below. Indirect project costs amount to $250 per day
and the late penalty for the contractor is $300 per day late. The due date is day 15.
Activity Imm. Normal Normal Crash time Crash cost
time cost
Pred
A none 4 $1000 3 $1100
B none 6 800 3 2000
C A,B 3 600 2 800
D B 2 1500 1 2000
E C,D 5 700 3 1200
F E 2 1300 1 1400
G E 1 900 1 900
H G 4 100 2 900

Find the minimum cost schedule.

(Answer: Crash C by 1 day, E by 2 days, B or H by 1 day)

41. A project has the following time schedule:

Activity Time (in months) Activity Time (in months)
1—2 2 3—7 5
1—3 2 4—6 3
1—4 1 5—8 1
2—5 4 6—9 4
3—6 8 8—9 3
Construct an AOA network and find the critical path and its duration.

42. The time and cost estimates and precedence relationship of the different activities constituting a
project are given below
Job Preceded Normal Crash
By Time (days) Cost ($) Time (days) Cost ($)
A -- 3 400 2 800
B -- 6 1,100 2 1,600
C -- 5 1,000 3 1,300
D A 5 1,500 5 1,500
E B 4 1,200 2 1,500
F B 6 1,700 2 2,100
G C 3 800 2 1,200

The indirect cost per day of project is $700. Determine optimum crashing schedule.

43. XYZ Ltd. is planning to introduce a new product, by performing the following activities:

Activity Preceding activity Expected time (week)

A -- 6
B -- 3
C A 5
D A 4
E A 3
F C 3
G D 5
H B, D, E 5
I H 2
J I, G, F 3

Draw the AOA network for the project and determine the critical path and its duration. If the start of
activity B is delayed by 3 weeks, Activity E by 2 weeks and activity G by 2 weeks, how is the total
time for the project affected?
44. A small maintenance project consists of jobs in the table below. With each job is listed its normal
time and a minimum, or crash time, in days. The cost (in $ per day) of each job is also given.
Job i-j Normal day Minimum (crash) Cost/day
1-2 9 6 20
1-3 8 5 25
1-4 15 10 30
2-4 5 3 10
3-4 10 6 15
4-5 2 1 40
a. What is the normal project length and the minimum project length?
b. Overhead costs total $ 60 per day. What is the optimum length schedule in terms of both crashing and
overhead cost? List the scheduled duration of each job for your solution.
(Answer: a. 20 days; 12 days b. Optimum length = 16 days)

45. A small project is having seven activities. The relevant data about these activities is given below:

Activity Dependence Normal Crash Normal Crash

Duration duration cost cost
(days) (days) $ $
A -- 7 5 500 900
B A 4 2 400 600
C A 5 5 500 500
D A 6 4 800 1,000
E B,C 7 4 700 1,000
F C,D 5 2 800 1,400
G E,F 6 4 800 1,600

(i) Find out the normal duration and the minimum duration.
(ii) What is the percentage increase in cost to complete the project in 21 days?
46. Using the information in the following table, fill a MPS table. The order policy is to produce in
lots of multiples of 500 units. The company has 490 units on hand.

Item: X Ordering Policy: Multiples of 500 units

Quantity Weeks
On hand: 490 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Forecast 400 550 350 450 550 200 350 300

Customer 350 600 300 400 400 175 65 -

Orders
(booked)
Projected
On-hand
Inventory
MPS
Quantity

Available-to-
Promise
(ATP)
Inventory

Answer:
Item: X Week
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Available to 140 100 100 100 260 500
Promise

47. Given the following estimates of demand requirements:

April May June July August September

1,000 1,200 1,400 1,800 1,800 1,600
Assuming inventory carrying costs of $25 per unit per month, and zero ending inventory, evaluate
these four plans on an incremental cost basis. The workforce currently performs at a production level
of 1,300 units per month. Compute inventory carrying costs based on ending inventory each month.
Plan A. Produce at a steady rate (equal to minimum requirements) of 1,000 units per month and
subcontract additional units at a $60 per unit premium cost.
Plan B. Vary the workforce. The cost of hiring additional workers is $3,000 per 100 units produced.
The cost of layoffs is $6,000 per 100 units cut back.
Plan C. Keep the current workforce steady at a level producing 1,300 units per month. Subcontract
the remainder to meet demand. Assume for this plan only that 300 units remaining from March are
available in April.
Plan D. Keep the current workforce at a level capable of producing 1,300 units per month. Permit a
maximum of 20% overtime at a premium of $40 per unit. Assume that warehouse limitations permit
no more than a 180-unit carryover from month to month. This plan means that any time inventories
reach 180, the plant is kept idle. The cost of idle time per unit is $60. Any additional needs are
subcontracted at a cost of $60 per incremental unit.
(Answer: A: $168,000 B:$54,000 C:$92,000 D:$82,300)

48. Given the following data, construct a material requirements plan which will result in 100 units
of Parent #1 (P1) at the beginning of week 6, and 200 units of Parent #2 (P2) at the beginning of
week 8.

Scheduled
Receipts Lead Order
Item Parent Quantity On-Hand (due) Time Size
P1 - - - - 1 lot-for-lot
P2 - - - - 1 lot-for-lot
A P1, P2 1,2 70 0 1 Multiples of
500
B P1, P2 2,1 50 0 3 Multiples of
250
C A, B 3,4 1000 2000 (wk 2 Multiples of
2) 2000
Answer:
Planned Order Releases Week
Item 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
P1 100
P2 200
A 500
B 250 250
C 2000

49. The following is a list of components required to produce one unit of end item P:
P: 2 A's, 3 B's, 3 C's
A: 5 M's, 2 R's
B: 1 D, 3 N's.
C: 1 T, 4 N's
M: 1N

Determine the number of N's that will be needed to make 60 P's in each of these cases:
a. There are currently 10 P's on hand.
b. On-hand inventory consists of 15 P's, 10A's, 20 B's, 10 C's, 100 N's, 300 T's, and 200 M's.

(Answer: a. 1550 b. 945)

50. A company wants to produce at a level rate. There are currently 10 units of inventory on hand. Based on the
following information, what production rate will provide a projected inventory of 20 at the end of period five?

Period 1 2 3 4 5
Forecast demand 20 10 15 15 10

(Answer: 16)
51. Tom Smith has constructed the following (partial) time-phased MPS record:
On hand = 5 Week
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Forecast 20 30 20 30 20 30
Customer Orders 14 8 6 5
Projected on hand
MPS 50 50 50 50
Available to promise

a. Complete the record.

b. Are there any problems with the schedule (infeasibility, inefficiency, etc)?
c. What's the earliest week Tom can promise an order for 44 units?
d. Assume that an order for 15 is booked for week 4. Assume the order for 44 units in part c is not
booked; recompute the record.

52. The Beach Racing Bike Co. produces two models - the Basics (B) and the Supra (S). The owner plans to
have 15 basics and 10 supras each week during weeks 6 and 7. Product structure trees for each bike are shown
below.

B S

X K K(2) F

F
W(2) Q

Data on all lead times, current inventory, and ordering rules are given below.
 LT
Item (Weeks) On Hand Lot-sizing rule

B 2 5 lot-for-lot
S 2 2 lot-for-lot
X 1 5 lot-for-lot
W 2 2 lot-for-lot
F 1 10 lot-for-lot
K 1 3 lot-for-lot
Q 1 15 lot-for-lot

Answer each of the following questions.

a. The product structure tree is incomplete, why? Make any necessary changes to complete the tree (Hint: pay
special attention to the name of the components).
b. Develop a master production schedule.
c. Construct a low-level coding tree.
d. Calculate the material requirements for Components W and Q.

53. Using samples of 200 credit card statements, an auditor found the following:

Sample 1 2 3 4
Number with errors 4 2 5 9

a. Determine the fraction defective in each sample.

b. If the true fraction defective for this process is unknown, what is your estimate of it?

c. What is your estimate of the mean and standard deviation of the sampling distribution of
fractions defective for samples of this size?

d. What control limits would give an alpha risk of .03 for this process?

e. Using control limits of .047 and .003, is the process in control?

f. Suppose that the long-term fraction defective of the process is known to be 2 percent. What
are the values of the mean and standard deviation of the sampling distribution?

g. Construct a control chart for the process, assuming a fraction defective of 2 percent, using
two-sigma control limits. Is the process in control?
54. Given the following data for the number of defects per spool of cable, using three-sigma limits,
is the process in control?
Observation
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
Number of defects 2 3 1 0 1 3 2 0 2 1 3 1 2 0

55. A teller at a drive-up window at a bank had the following service times (in minutes) for 20
randomly selected customers:

SAMPLE
1 2 3 4
4.5 4.6 4.5 4.7
4.2 4.5 4.6 4.6
4.2 4.4 4.4 4.8
4.3 4.7 4.4 4.5
4.3 4.3 4.6 4.9

a. Determine the mean of each sample.

b. What alpha risk would the three-sigma control limits for the process provide?
c. Using limits of 4.14 and 4.86, are any sample means beyond the control limits? If so,
which one(s)?
d. Construct control charts for means and ranges using Table 10.3. Are any samples beyond
the control limits? If so, which one(s)?
e. If the process has a known mean of 4.4 and a known standard deviation of .18, what would
three-sigma control limits be for a mean chart? Are any sample means beyond the control
limits? If so, which one(s)?

56. XYZ Co. collected information related to its products. The observations were taken from 10
different samples each consisting of 8 units. Mean and Range of the samples are given as below:

Sample 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Mean 20 17 25 15 28 24 16 22 14 19
Range 17 8 12 7 15 18 12 19 9 23

Calculate control limits for an R chart and an X-bar chart.

(Answer: X-bar chart: UCL=25.22, LCL=14.78, R chart: UCL=26.1, LCL= 1.904)

56. Artillery shells (155 mm) are produced in a forging process and the diameter of the shell is a
critical factor that must be controlled. From sample sizes of 10 shells produced each day, the mean
and the range of this diameter have been as follows.

Day Mean Range

1 156.9 4.2
2 153.2 4.6
3 153.6 4.1
4 155.5 5.0
5 156.6 4.5

a. Calculate control limits for an R chart and an X-bar chart.

b. Suppose the next sample has a mean of 152.6 and range of 6.3. What can you say about the
process now?

57. ZZZ Motor Company manufactures bolts for its model X-350 high-performance racing engine.
If defective, the bolts typically have damaged threads or improper diameters. If a defective bolt is
passed to the assembly line, there is a chance that the thread in the engine block hole will be
damaged or that the bolt may work itself loose during operation of the engine. The historical
proportion defective has averaged 0.015.

a. Set up a p-chart for this process. The sample size is 250.

b. The following number of defects were found in the last five samples. Is there a need for concern?

Sample Number of Bad

Bolts
1 2
2 8
3 6
4 10
5 1

(Answer: a. UCL=0.038, LCL=0, b. Yes)

58. DBX Engineering has a new catalyst injection system for the countertop production line. The
process engineering department has conducted experiments and determined that the mean is 8.01
grams with a standard deviation of .03. The specifications are: Upper specification limit=8.12 and
Lower specification limit=7.88. What is the Cpk performance of the injection system?
(Answer: 1.22)

59. Hotels use statistical information and control charts to track their performance on a variety of
indicators. Recently a hotel manager has been asked whether his team is capable of maintaining
scores between 8 and 10 (on a scale of 1 to 10) for “overall cleanliness of room”. The most recent
data have a mean of 8.624, a standard deviation of 1.446, and n = 10. Is the team capable?
(Answer: No)

60. The specifications for a plastic liner for concrete highway projects call for a thickness of 6.0 mm
± 0.1 mm. The standard deviation of the process is estimated to be 0.02 mm. What are the upper and
lower specification limits for this product? The process is known to operate at a mean thickness of
6.04 mm. Is the process capable?
(Answer: LSL = 5.9 mm, USL = 6.1 mm. No)

61. A pump is designed to pump 5 gallons of water per minute. According to the product
specification, the gallons per minute should be between 4.8 and 5.2. After testing hundreds of
pumps, the quality control analyst has concluded that the mean gallons per minute is 5, and the
standard deviation is 0.1. Is the process capable?

(Answer: No)

62. Perfect Hair sells 16-ounce bottles of conditioner. According to the product specification, the
number of ounces in each bottle should be between 15.6 and 16.4. The company has found that the
mean ounces per bottle is 15.94, with a standard deviation of 0.06. Is the process capable?
(Answer: Yes)

63. Swift Beverages sells soft drinks in 12-ounce cans. According to the process specification, the
process mean should be between 11.95 and 12.05 ounces. The process mean is 11.98, and the
standard deviation is 0.03. Is the process capable?

(Answer: No)

64. Why isn’t the learning curve concept as applicable in a high-volume assembly line as it is in
more complex human activities?
65. The 5th unit of a 10-unit job took five hours to complete. The sixth unit has been worked on for
two hours, but is not yet finished. Estimate the additional amount of time needed to finish the 10-
unit job if the work has a 75 percent learning rate.
(Answer: 18.76 hours)

66. A contractor intends to bid on a job installing 30 airport security systems. Because this will be a
new line of work for the contractor, he believes there will be a learning effect for the job. After
reviewing time records from a similar type of activity, the contractor is convinced that an 85 percent
curve is appropriate. He estimates that the first job will take his crew eight days to install. How
many days should the contractor budget for
a. The first 10 installations?
b. The second 10 installations?
c. The last 10 installations?
(Answer: a. 56.93 days b. 42.29 days c. 37.51 days)

67. Estimate the number of repetitions each of the workers listed in the following table will require
to reach a time of 7 hours per unit. Time is in hours.

Trainee T1 hours T2 hours

Art 11 9.9
Sherry 10.5 8.4
Dave 12 10.2

(Answer: Art-20, Sherry-4, Dave-10)