The Copperbelt University

School of Business
DEPARTMENT OF OPERATIONS AND SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

Tuesday 29th October 2013, K211.

End of Term II

BSc in Purchasing and Supply Chain Management

BSc in Production Management

BSP 234: PRODUCTIVITY METHODS I

Time: 9hrs to 11hrs, Duration: 2hr

Instructions: There are four (4) questions in this exam, answer all (80marks).

You are allowed to illustrate your arguments with relevant practical examples.

QUESTION 1

Mr. Takanawadi is a production supervisor at Toyota-Mitsui Plant in Japan at Assembly

Line I. After a careful analysis of production records from his plant, he observed a
serious 10% production decline every month for half a year to date. Consequently, Mr.
Takanawadi decided to study the assembly line task and observed the following motions:

a) Classify these motions into effective and ineffective time. (8Marks)

b) Explain some symbols that these motions can be associated with. (5Marks)

c) The motions in the table above can be presented using various charts or diagrams
such as string diagram, flow process chart, flow diagram. What do you understand
by the term:

1) String Diagram (4Marks)

1
 2) Flow Diagram (3Marks)

QUESTION 2

The following data refers to SAMSUNG Mobile phone factory in China. It involves a
worker assembling one type of phone on a single workstation.

One Handed Process Control

Time Worker Rating
Element
(Seconds) (%)
Reach, grasp and position Key Pad 20 95
Reach, grasp and position Main Casing 25

Reach, grasp and position Back Cover Production

23 Time/day (Hrs)
Reach, grasp and position Main body 32 8
Reach, grasp and position wrapper 20
Operational
Reach, grasp and position Box Cover
15 Allowance (%)
Assemble Phone 14 8
Place Battery in Box Cover 16  
Place Head sets in Box Cover 20  
Place Phone in Box Cover 185  
Close Box 10  
Place Box on Packing Plant Conveyor 5  

a) Calculate normal time for this assembly operation (6 Marks)

b) Calculate the standard time (6 Marks)

c) Calculate probable production per worker per shift (8 Marks)

QUESTION 3

Mr. Jethuro Phiri is the Production Manager at National Milling in Lusaka and is
considering making a presentation to production staff on Work Measurement. The table
below is an extract from his incomplete presentation.

No Technique Definition/Description Application

2
 1 Time Study

2 Synthetic Data

3 Work Sampling

4 PMTS

Analytical
5
Estimating

Complete this table on behalf of Mr. J. Phiri (20Marks)

QUESTION 4

A B

Plant layout is an important decision as it represents long term commitment. An ideal

plant layout should provide the optimum relationship among output, flow area and
manufacturing process.

a) Identify the layout represented by image A and show the merits and demerits.

(10Marks)

b) Identify the layout represented by image B and discuss conditions of its suitability
(10
Marks)