Question

1. What are the qualitative and quantitative factors involved in choosing a facility location?

2. What methods are used to evaluate locations?

3. Can the layout of a facility impact efficiency? How?

4. How are capacity decisions made?

5. What is the difference between a process and product layout?

6. What layout considerations are important for services?

7. What tools are used in forecasting?

Answer 1

Ans1)Qualitative factors that influence the selection of facility location are-

• Size of the community
• Surroundings of a community
• Local connectivity between nearby markets and the community

Quantitative factors that influence the selection of facility location are-

• llabor rates
• building costs
• logistics costs
• utility rates and taxes.

Ans2)Several ways used in evaluating location alternatives are-

• locational cost-profit-volume analysis
• factor rating
• the center of gravity method

Ans3)The layout of a facility can impact manufacturing operations. These operations include the flow of work, information, and supply around the site. These processes will ultimately decide the outcomes for the firm.

Ans4)Following factors and data is considered while making capacity decisions-

• Evaluation of Existing Capacity
• Forecasting Future Capacity Requirements
• Identification of Ways to Adjust Capacity
• Analysis of Financial, Economical, and Technological Capacity Alternatives also contribute to deciding the capacity.
• Selection of the most suitable Capacity Alternative

Ans5)Product layout-It deals with the manufacturing of a single and similar product.
Process layout- It deals with the manufacturing of multiple products concurrently.

Ans6)Following are the layout considerations for services-

• The service itself
• Customer support in the process
• Location of service delivery
• Status of Standardization
•   The complexity of the service.

Ans7)

Tools used in forecasting-

• Qualitative methods
• Quantitative methods
• Causal methods.
• Demand Works
• QuickBooks
• Tableau