OPERATION MANAGEMENT

MGT345 OPERATION MANAGEMENT (UiTM)

Chapter 2: Product Design

1)      Briefly explain five (5) the importance of product design.

The importance of product design are physical characteristics, meets expectation, replace obsolete designs, market competition and enhancing profitability.

The first importance of product design is physical characteristics. The appearance of the product able to distinguish the product from any other products. A product design must be eye-catching and attracts the customers. It is important to present a good product design as it is first impression to a product when customers look at the packaging, body of the product and necessary design. For example, the design of a blender is importance to impress customers and attracts them to buy it.

Second importance of product design is meets expectation. A good product design should able to meets or exceed the customers expectation. When the product design is articulated and desired by the customers, it will always satisfy them. For instance, customers expect a blender design where it is easy to remove and wash the blades. Therefore, when ILO Hand Blender was released, the product design meets a lot of customers’ expectation.

Then, the third expectation of product design is replacing obsolete designs. We tend to like something faster and quicker these days because we need to run after time to go to work or school. Therefore, customers want a product with design that ease them to do the chores such as making breakfast, cooking and cleaning before going off for work. Mostly, obsolete design is not suitable for these purposes. Hence, we need to replace it with something that reliable and quicker. For instance, back then we use knife and chop board to prepare ingredients for our breakfast. But now, we have multipurpose chopper that make chopping faster and safe.

Fourth importance of product design is market competition. In industry, we have different types of competitors that have a lot better product design. To survive the market, we need to beat all other product design by continuously make improvement to the product design and do research and development. In addition, we need to follow the needs and expectation from customers to manufacture a good product design and put it in the market. For example, we see different designs of blender in the market such as hand blender, cordless blender and multipurpose blender. These designs are competitors to each other and only one will stand out.

Finally, the fifth importance of product design is enhancing profitability. A good product design will make the business grow and generate profit. This is because it transforms the needs of customers into desired shape and add value to the product demanded. For example, customers need a blender that easy to wash and safe children to use it. If the product design is release, customers will buy it because it is their desired shapes.

2)      Briefly explain nine (9) stages of product design.

The stages of product design are ideas, ability, customer requirements, functional specifications, product specifications, design review, test market, introduction and evaluation.

The first stage is ideas. The ideas are gathered from various sources such as customers, employees and suppliers. There are many ways on how to get the ideas. For example, we can run a survey to get feedbacks from the sources needed.

The second stage is ability. An organization must know its ability to carry out and progress the idea. There are many factors that should be considered such as resources, facilities and machinery.

Third stage of product design is customer requirements. An organization should ensure that the product design meet the needs of customers. Competitors may address the same customers requirements. Therefore, an organization needs to be creative to meets the expectations and requirements.

The fourth stage of product is functional requirements. Organization must know how the product is going to function so the organization able to demonstrate it to the customers. Also, the organization must ensure the product is user-friendly and well function.

Next, the fifth stage of product design is product specifications. A company must identify how will the product going to be made and what is the attributes of the product to the company.

The sixth stage of product design is designs review. This stage involves reviewing and analysing the product design. Also, it is where the workers do the inspection on the product.

The seventh stage of product design is tests market. A company can test the product market by promoting it at selected places. This can help the company to find out whether the product meet customers requirement or not.

The eighth stage of product design is introduction. After the seventh stage is done, the product can be introduced to the market for sale.

Finally, the ninth stage of product design is evaluation. The organization should evaluate the results of the product whether it is a failure or a success.

Chapter 3: Process Strategy

1)      Discuss three (3) types of process strategies.

The three types of process strategies are process focus, repetitive focus and product focus.

The first type of process strategies is process focus. It is a strategy where production facilities such as equipment, work centres, materials and workers are organized around specific activities or processes. Process focus strategy is also called intermittent process or job shop. Mostly, a large printing organization apply process focus strategy. Where the process flows are dependent on the customers’ printing requirement of products such as documents, newspapers and banners.

The second type of process strategies is repetitive focus strategy. In this strategy, production facilities are organized as assembly lines. The function of assembly lines is to assemble models, which are parts and components that have been made previously. Repetitive focus strategy is also called assembly lines or production lines. Usually, automobiles, household appliances and fast-food restaurant apply this strategy in their operation. For example, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) combines the modules of burgers, fried chicken, side orders and drinks to produce a variety of outputs.

The third type of process strategies is product focus strategy. Product strategy is a process strategy that organizes the facilities by product. It is suitable for organization that has large quantities of production to enable a smooth production process. This strategy is also called line flow production or continuous production. The production of soft drinks, paper, potato chips and stationery are applying the product focus strategy.

Chapter 4: Facility Layout

1)      Briefly explain the five (5) objectives of facility layout.

The five objectives of facility layout are higher utilization of space, reduced bottlenecks in moving people or material, improved employees’ morale and safer working conditions, efficient use of labour and improved customer and vendor interaction.

The objective of facility layout is higher utilization of space. Space utilization is consuming costs, the more space is utilized, the more costs incurred. So, to reduce the cost, the company must arrange the facilities in a way that is appropriate to ensure all area is used.

Next, the objective of facility layout is reduced bottleneck in moving people or material. A bottleneck refers to an operation that limits the output in the production sequence. It occurs when there is poor arrangement of facilities and causing difficulties in moving people and materials. Bottleneck cause movement of people and materials slow down due to inappropriate arrangement of work centres, material and workers.

Then, the third objective of facility layout is improved employees’ morale and safer working conditions. Good facility layout can increase employees’ morale which means making employees feel comfortable and happy to work. Plus, good arrangement of facilities also provides safer working environments where injuries and accidents can be reduced. For instance, Tesla manufacturing factory facility layout very organized and they provide big space for the labour walks around safely.

The fourth objective of facility layout is efficient use of labour. Labour time is precious and good facility layout can reduce the movement of labour to perform their tasks. Without proper arrangements, the labour will move a lot and resulting underutilization of labour. For example, the company of Tesla allow their workers to use bicycles in the factory to reduce their time walking.

Finally, the fifth objective of facility layout is improved customers and vendor interaction. A good facilities layout will ease communication within different areas of the business. Interaction with vendors and customers are easy and effective as there is a specific space allocated for serving and entertaining these parties.

2)      Briefly explain five (5) factors influencing layout design.

The five factors influencing layout design are types of product, volume of production, plant location, repairs and maintenance of equipment and machines, availability of space floor and policies management.

The factor influencing layout design is types of product. Products are divided into goods and services. Firms producing goods might have a different layout compared to service-oriented firms. In addition, goods can be standardized or customized, which also influences the layout decision.

Next, the volume of production is the factor that influence layout decision. There are three systems of production which are job production, mass production and batch production. Under job production method, products are produced in accordance with the orders received from the customers. Besides, under mass production method involves a continuous production of standardized products on large scale. Lastly, batch production method is where identical products are produced in batches based on demand of customers.

The factor that influence layout decision is plant location. Plant location is greatly influencing the layout of the plant. Shape, climate conditions and size of the site selected also influence the general arrangement of the layout.

Then, the factor that influence the layout decision is repairs and maintenance of equipment and machines. The plant layout should be designed appropriately with proper care and regard to repair and maintenance different types of machines. The equipment and machine should not be arranged closely because it will be difficult to do repair and maintenance task.

Besides, the availability of space floor is the factor that influence the layout decision too. The scarcity of spaces may affect the layout decision because the space could be easily fully utilized.

Finally, the factor that influence the layout decision is policies management. It is important to remember that various managerial policies and plans before deciding plant layout. Various managerial policies relate to future volume of production and expansion, facilities and integration of production processes.

Chapter 5: Facility Location

1)      Briefly explain five (5) importance of location decision.

The five importance of location decision are location affects the fixed cost and variable cost of the organization, location also has an impact on the overall risk and profit, a new location is necessary if demand has exceeded the current production capacity, changes in labour productivity, exchange rates, costs or community attitudes and shifts in demographics and customer demand.

The first importance of location decision is location can affect the fixed costs and variable cost of the organization. The cost incurred includes transportation cost and labour which may cause loss to the organization if it is greater than the capital.

Second importance of location decision is location also has an impact on the overall risk and profit. When the location is not suitable for a business, the sale generated decreased and will leads to loss. While the location is suitable for a business and there are other facilities near by to the business, the company will generate more sale.

Next, the third importance of location decision is a new location is necessary if demand has exceeded the current production capacity.

The fourth importance of location decision is changes in labour productivity, exchange rates, costs or community attitudes. Good location decision will increase labour productivity because the working environment is safe and conducive.

Finally, the importance of location decision is shifts in demographics and customer demand. The demand form consumers will change based on the location. The consumers in big city will demand fast food more than consumers in the rural area.

2)      Briefly explain (5) factors influencing decisions.

The factors influencing decisions are proximity to market or customers, proximity to suppliers, proximity to competitors, labour supply and availability of facilities.

The first influence factors influencing decision is proximity to market or customers. A business that is closer to its customers is most preferred, especially for a service-oriented organization. Customers want to buy products or services which are easily accessible. The proximity helps to ensure that the customers’ needs are incorporated into products being developed and built.

The factor influencing location decision is proximity to suppliers. When a business located close to the supplier, it indicates the firm is near raw materials. Organizations prefer to be near to the supplier for ease during production and reduce production costs. For example, cost of transportation. A high quality and competitive supplier base make a given location suitable.

Proximity to competitors is also the factor influencing location decision. Many organizations prefer to be close to their competitors. This is because the major resources such as labour, material, infrastructure and information are available at the same area. Also, being near to competitors can increase the sale because there many potential customers.

Then, the factor influencing location decision is labour supply. Companies that require a lot of labour normally choose a location that has high availability of labour especially skilled labour. High availability of labour can reduce the cost of hiring as the firm do not have to spend so much on costs. For example, the transportation and interview costs.

Finally, the factor influencing location decision is availability of facilities. Facilities are important in selecting a location. For example, telecommunication and transportation facilities. The organization can stay connected with suppliers, government and customers when there is access to the Internet, telephones and fax. In addition, accessibility to land, air and water transportation modes enables organizations in transporting materials and finished goods easily.

Chapter 6: Project Management

1)      Explain three (3) advantages of PERT and CPM

The advantage of PERT and CPM is graphical networks help to highlight the relationship among project activities.

Also, the advantage of PERT and CPM is project documentation and graphics highlight who is responsible for various activities.

Finally, the advantages of PERT and CPM is analyses of critical path and float or slack time help to pinpoint activities that require close watch.

2)      Explain three (3) limitations of PERT and CPM

The limitations of PERT and CPM is project activities have to be clearly defined, independent and stable in their relationship.

Next, precedence relationship must be specified and networked together is also the limitations of PERT and CPM.

Lastly, the limitations of PERT and CPM is times estimates tend to be subjective and are subject to evasion by managers.

Chapter 7: Work Measurement

1)      Explain four (4) importance of work measurement.

The importance of work measurement is manpower planning. Work measurement data is used for manpower planning. This is because it provides information about the number of hours required to carry out the work.

Next, the importance of work measurement is production planning and scheduling. Work measurement data is used for production planning and scheduling. Scheduling means to determine the starting and finishing time for each job and cannot be done without work measurement data.

Besides, the importance of work measurement is estimating productions costs. The work measurement data helps a manager to estimate the cost of production for a project. Also, this data helps the manager to estimate the cost of labour or wages.

Finally, the importance of work measurement is basis for incentives. Incentives schemes are created to motivate the workers to work hard and the company identify the efficient workers to reward them with higher wage rate.

2)      List four (4) types of allowances.

·         Relaxation allowance

·         Contingency allowance

·         Process allowance

·         Policy allowance

Chapter 10: Quality Management

1)      Briefly explain four (4) objectives of quality management.

The objective of quality management is to ensure the companies produce goods and services that meet standards for specifications.

Next, the objective of quality management is to reduce the production cost that are linked to non-compliance of standard and specifications.

Third objective of quality management is to protect the companies from lawsuits caused by producing goods that are harmful to the customers.

Finally, objective of quality management is achieving zero defects by producing high-quality products, starting from the beginning until the end of the production.

2)      Briefly explain four (4) dimensions of quality for a product.

Chapter 11: Maintenance

1)      Explain four (4) importance of maintenance.

The four importance of maintenance are it maintains the capability of systems, it prevents work stoppage caused by equipment malfunction, it minimizes costs and it ensures the entire workplace is safe.

The importance of maintenance is it maintains the capability of systems. Good maintenance will remove variability. The systems must be designed and maintained to reach the expected performance and quality standards. Therefore, maintenance smoothed the production process with minimal interruptions.

Then, importance of maintenance is it prevents work stoppage caused by equipment malfunction. Work stoppage will affect the production system and affects the organization profit and sales too. Regular inspections may reduce the failure rate of equipment, thus preventing work stoppage.

The third importance of maintenance is it minimizes costs. Maintenance activities help to reduce equipment malfunction, thus enabling the organization to reduce the cost of repairs.

Finally, importance of maintenance is it ensures the entire workplace is safe. Equipment failure may cause harm to workers. So, with proper and regular maintenance, equipment is kept in good order which reduces the probability of accidents at the workplace.

2)      Briefly explain two (2) types of maintenance.

The types of maintenance are breakdown maintenance and preventive maintenance.

The type of maintenance is breakdown maintenance. It generally means only repairing equipment if it breaks down or stop functioning. This type of maintenance involves performing activities to repair machine breakdowns or malfunction, then carrying out subsequent repairs on an emergency or priority basis.

Second type of maintenance is preventive maintenance. Preventive maintenance is maintenance on a daily or regular basis, which is designed to maintain the pristine condition of equipment and prevent a failure through deterioration prevention, periodic inspections or equipment condition diagnosis to measure impairment.

References

Md Zani, R., & Mohd Khir, M. (2016). Operation Management For UiTM(1st ed.). Malaysia, Selangor Darul Ehsan: Oxford Fajar.