Manufacturing Management Exam Study Guide

Flashcards for Manufacturing Management Exam Review

What is Aggregate Planning?

Plan production over a long term to meet business objectives like product demands and customer orders

Output of aggregate planning

Master Production Schedules

The MPS must balance

Company needs - sales requirements for a wide product range to meet shifting demand

Financial needs to minimise lead time and stockholding

Production needs for steady output and large lots to cut costs

Resource/labour needs for smooth utilisation

What is Master Production Scheduling (MPS)?

Allocates production resources efficiently to meet delivery dates

Often in the form of a list of jobs with associated due dates

MPS is an input

Medium term

What is Production Scheduling?

lot sizing, process routing, dispatch/loading, sequencing

Constraints of production scheduling

balancing workloads, meeting delivery dates, capacity

limits, minimise lead times, reduce overall length of the required

production period, ensure uniform rate of productivity – smooth

production profile

What is Production Activity Control?

Focuses on executing production plans, monitoring progress, and dealing with problems

Functions of Production activity control

Monitoring and production data collection

Inspection policies for parts

Support services like material handling, tooling, and fixturing

Breakdown handling policies

Schedules for periodic preventive maintenance. 

What does MRP I cover?

Planning to have the correct quantities of components and materials available at the correct time in order to fulfill the Master Production Schedule.

MRP I features

Push system

Product oriented (based on BOM)

Future orientated (driven by MPS)

Priority planning (meeting demand rather than considering capacity constraint)

What is MRP II?

Extension of MRP I to include business, marketing, production and resource requirements planning

What is Just-in-Time (JIT)?

Aims to reduce waste in all forms, where waste is defined as everything that adds to the cost but not the value.

Is JIT pull or push

Pull

In JIT it is wasteful to

Store large amounts of anything

Overproduce

Moving in-process items unnecessarily

Generating scrap

Performing unneeded work

Time scale of aggregate

Months to years

Output of aggregate

MPS

Aggregate planning balances

demand forecasts with resources constraints

aggregate planning focuses on overall

production goals by determining what product, what quantity, when

Production scheduling converts

MPS into specific plans

Production scheduling time scale

days to weeks

Production activity control time scale

(minutes to hours)

Production activity control involves

real-time execution and monitoring of production on the shop floor

Is Optimized Production Technology pull or push

Pull

What is Bottleneck?

A resource/process that holds down the amount of product a factory can produce

Key point about bottlenecks in OPT

Time lost at a bottleneck is time lost for the total production system

What is Forecasting?

Predicting future trends in a time series based on past data or relationships.

Accuracy of a forecast relies on

the quality of historical data and the chosen method

Key principles of forecasting

Assuming future patterns will resemble the past
Using sufficient data
Testing multiple methods against actual outcomes

Direct data

The primary time series being forecasted

Indirect data

Explains irregularities in the direct data

Time series vs econometric forecasting

Time series only uses direct data
Econometric uses both direct and indirect

Why is Forecasting Critical?

Informs Business Decisions

Aligns Production with Demand

Minimises Costs and Boosts Efficiency

Reduces Uncertainty and Aids Strategy

Drives Aggregate Planning and MPS

Moving average benefits

Easy to use and understand

Smooths out fluctuations

moving average limitations

Lag in response to recent change

Ignores data outside of averaging window

Judgemental method

Equal weight

Exponential Smoothing features

Responsive, no need to choose window, reduce lag, flexible

What are the 4 types of patterns in data

Trend

Cyclical

Seasonal

Random

What is a Process Layout volume/variety?

Low volume

High variety

What is a Product Layout volume/variety?

High volume

Low variety

What is a Hybrid Layout volume/variety?

Medium high volume

Moderate variety

Process layout movement of parts

Complex variable paths

Product layout movement of parts

Linear fixed sequence

Hybrid layout movement of parts

Semi linear within cells

Some cross cell

Process layout WIP/ throughput

High WIP

Long throughput

Product layout WIP/ throughput

Low WIP

Short throughput

Hybrid layout WIP/ throughput

Moderate

Process layout flexibility

High

Process layout flexibility

Low

Hybrid layout flexibility

Moderate/high

What does EOQ balance?

Ordering and holding costs

How to design hybrid layout

Group parts with common processes

Group processes to form manufacturing cells

Duplicate process

Use process layout

Allow part to visit more than one cell

H =

Holding cost

Q =

Quantity

Q/2

Average inventory

S =

Order cost

D =

Average annual demand

D/Q

Number of orders

What are the Pros of Inventory?

Buffer between supply and demand

Decouples process

Flexibility

What are the Cons of Inventory?

Holding costs

Obsolescence costs

Operating inefficiency

JIT inventory

Lower inventory

Exposes problems

Less buffer

MRP

Higher inventory

More buffer

Higher holding costs

What is ABC Analysis?

Classifies inventory into A, B, and C items based on their value and importance to the business

A items % of inventory

5-20

B items % of inventory

30-50

C items % of inventory

40-70

A items % of expenses

50-70

B items % of expenses

20-30

C items % of expenses

10-20

A items control level

Very tight

B items control level

Moderate

C items control level

Simple/relaxed

A items typical action/focus

Accurate records

Frequent review

Priority management

B items action/ focus

regular review

standard controls

C items action/ focus

Basic controls

Infrequent review

What is Efficiency?

Using resources in the best possible way to minimize waste and cost

doing things right

What is Effectiveness?

Achieving the desired outcome or goal

doing the right thing

Efficiency focuses on

the process and resource utilisation

Effectiveness focuses on

meeting objectives and customer needs

Leadership involves

planning, organising, coordinating and controlling resources to achieve organisational goals

Managers cope with

Complexity

ensures processes run smoothly and focus on efficiency and consistency

Management involves

setting a vision, motivating and inspiring people to achieve their goals

Leaders cope with

change

provide direction

encourage innovation

Unitary organisation description

Employees group by function

Each person has one clear boss

Matrix organisation description

Employees report to both a functional managers and a project/product manager

Unitary organisation advantages

Clear responsibilities

Simple management oversight

Easier management of specialists

Clear career path in specialties

Matrix organisation advantages

Emphasises on creativity and knowledge sharing

Improved project manager control

Max use of resources

Better coordination

Focus on customer/project goals

Job enlargement description

Horizontal loading

Increase number of similar tasks assigned to a job

Job rotation description

Employees move between different jobs or tasks

Job enrichment description

vertical loading

gives employees more responsibility such as quality checks

Job enlargement advantages

increase task variety

reduces monotony and boredom

broadens skills

reduces repetitive strain injury

Job rotation advantages

increase variety

broadens skills

reduced boredom

improves understanding of other roles

Job enrichment advantages

Increases autonomy and responsibility

higher motivation and engagement

Job satisfaction

Utilises employee skill

Job enlargement disadvantages

Increase training time and costs

may be seen as more work same pay

no more autonomy or responsibility

Job rotation disadvantages

Requires cross training

Can disrupt workflow during transitions

Job enrichment disadvantages

higher skill level

more complex to manage

may increase stress

not ideal for all

Positives of empowerment

Responsiveness to customers

company reputation

What is Unitary Organizational Structure?

Employees group by function, Each person has one clear boss

What is Matrix Organizational Structure?

Employees report to both a functional manager and a project/product manager

Stars

High market share

High growth rate

Require heavy investment to sustain growth

Star strategy

Invest to maintain/increase market share

Cash Cows

High share

Low growth

mature successful products generating strong cash flow with little investment