MGMT2026 Production and Operations Management Semester II 2023-2024

The University of the West Indies

GLOBAL CAMPUS

MGMT 2026 Production and Operations Management – Problem Sheet Assignment Semester II
2023/2024

This Assignment is comprised of four (4) Questions – All questions must be attempted

Note:

Although this assignment is being currently assessed out of 100 marks it would be prorated to

Contribute a maximum of 40% towards your final course marks.

 MGMT2026 Production and Operations Management Semester II 2023-2024

Question 1

Tailwind, Inc., produces high-quality but expensive training shoes for runners. The Tailwind
shoe, which sells for $210, contains both gas- and liquid-filled compartments to provide more
stability and better protection against knee, foot, and back injuries. Manufacturing the shoes
requires 10 separate tasks. There are 400 minutes available for manufacturing the shoes in
the plant each day. Daily demand is 60. The information for the tasks is as follows:

Performance Time Task Must Follow

Task (in minutes) This Task
A 1 —
B 3 A
C 2 B
D 4 B
E 1 C, D
F 3 A
G 2 F
H 5 G
I 1 E, H
J 3 I
25

Required:

a. Draw the precedence diagram showing the task precedence and their times [5 marks ]

b. Determine the cycle time associated with the rate of output required. [3 marks ]

c. What is the theoretical minimum number of work stations required to satisfy this output rate?
[3 marks ]

d. Allocate the tasks to work stations taking into consideration the precedence requirements and using
the LOT rule to break ties between feasible tasks. [10 marks]

e. What is the efficiency of the line and the idle time percentage? [ 4 marks ]

TOTAL 25 MARKS
 MGMT2026 Production and Operations Management Semester II 2023-2024

QUESTION 2
a.

Month Demand
1 45
2 48
3 43
4 48
5 49
6 54
7 47
8 50
9 46
10 47

Using the table above, calculate two forecasts using the following method:-
i. First, for periods 4 through 10, develop the exponentially smoothed forecasts
using a forecast for period 3 (F3) of 45.0 and an alpha of 0.4. [3 marks]
ii. Calculate the weighted moving average for periods 4 through 10, using weights of
.70, .20, and .10, with 0.70 applied to the most recent data. [3 marks]
iii. Calculate the mean absolute deviation (MAD) for each forecasting procedure.
Which forecasting procedure would you select? Why? [6 marks]
b.
The number of disk drives (in millions) made at a plant in China during the past 5 years follows:

Year Disc Drives

1 140
2 160
3 190
4 200
5 210

i. Forecast the number of disk drives to be made next year, using linear regression.
[13 marks]
TOTAL 25 MARKS
 MGMT2026 Production and Operations Management Semester II 2023-2024

QUESTION 3
a.
A single facility is needed to meet the demands of four markets. The locations and demands of
these four markets are shown below.

Market Coordinates Demand

A (8, 6) 10
B (4, 12) 15
C (3, 2) 10
D (9,6) 6

i. Using the data in Table 13.2, identify an optimal location for the new facility.
[8 marks]
b.
An operations manager has narrowed down the search for a new King Kola plant to three
locations. Fixed and variable costs follow.

Location Fixed Cost Variable Cost

A $100,000 $10
B $150,000 $7
C $200,000 $5

i. Plot the total cost curves in the chart provided above and identify the range over
which each location would be best. [7 marks]
ii. Use break-even analysis to calculate exactly the break-even quantity that defines each
range. [3 marks]

c.
A manufacturing firm is considering three potential locations for a new parts manufacturing facility. A
consulting firm has assessed three sites based on the four factors supplied by management as critical to
the location's success. Management-supplied the factor weights and the consultant team scores as seen
 MGMT2026 Production and Operations Management Semester II 2023-2024

in the table below. Scores are based on 50 = best.

Location
Factor Weight A B C
Labor Climate 10 35 45 20
Taxes 30 30 40 40
Utilities 20 25 20 45
Wages 40 10 25 25

i. Which location should be selected and why? [7 marks]

TOTAL 25 MARKS

QUESTION 4

a. What factors should be considered when selecting the appropriate capacity cushion? How
does the choice of capacity cushion relate to other decisions in operations management?
To other functional areas? [8 marks]
b. Capacity planning requires a demand forecast for an extended period of time into the
future. What concerns would you have regarding an extended forecast as a capacity
planner? [5 marks]
c. Christopher's Cranks uses a machine that can produce 100 cranks per hour. The firm
operates 12 hours per day, five days per week. Due to regularly scheduled
preventive maintenance, the firm expects the machine to be running during
approximately 95% of the available time. Based on experience with other products,
the firm expects to achieve an efficiency level for the cranks of 75%. What is the
expected weekly output of cranks for this company? [5 marks]
d. An executive conference center has the physical ability to handle 1,500 participants.
However, conference management personnel believe that only 1,300 participants can be
handled effectively for most events. The last event, although forecasted to have 1,300
participants, resulted in the attendance of only 1080 participants.
i. Calculate the utilization rate of the conference facility. [4 marks]
ii. Calculate the efficiency of the conference facility. [3 marks]
TOTAL 25 MARKS

END OF ASSIGNMENT