Question

For each topic (with bullet point) please use one sentence to describe or define the topic. I just want to know you understand the concept, can be as simple as a definition.

Process Analysis

Process Flow Diagram

Little’s Law: Flow Unit, Flow Rate, Flow Time

Inventory Turns, Direct Labor Cost, Productivity, Yield

Capacity Management and Analysis

Capacity Management

Capacity Analysis: Theoretical vs Actual Capacities, Utilization, Process Capacity, Process Flow Rate, Bottleneck Identification, Load Balance, Idle Time

Capacity Improvement: Work Redesign, Load Rebalance, Work Cell

Interface of Marketing and Operations

Queue Management and Analysis

Concepts, Motivations and Challenges in Queue Management

Role of variability in operations management

Queue Analysis: Time in Queue, Time in System, Queue Length (WIP) Gannt Chart

Waiting Line Improvement: Queue Configuration, Arrival Pattern, Queue Priority

Application of Queue Analysis: Finance and Accounting

Quality Management

Concepts, Motivations and Challenges in Quality Management

Answer 1

• Process Analysis - It is a process to understand the step-by-step procedures/phases of a process. The analysis shares information about input, output, and transition stage at each phase.
• Process Flow Diagram - It is a type of flowchart that describes the relationship between major components of a process. The diagram illustrates the flow of information/WIP product between components.
• Little’s Law: Flow Unit, Flow Rate, Flow Time
  • Flow unit - This is the unit of measurement of flow/throughput. Ex - Customers/hour, Pizza processed/hour etc.
  • Flow rate - The number of flow units going thru a business process per unit time. For example - 60 Pizzas are produced per hour, so flow rate = 60 Pizzas per hour
  • Flow time - It is the total time a flow unit spends in the business process from start of the process to end. If 60 pizzas are produced in 60 minutes, then flow time = 1 minute for a pizza. Flow time is also called total processing time
• Inventory Turns, Direct Labor Cost, Productivity, Yield
  • Inventory turns - It is the rate at which business sells finished goods. It indicates the efficiency of production planning and sales team.
  • Direct labor cost - It is the cost of labor directly involved in the production of goods or services.
  • Productivity - Productivity can be simply defined as total output over input. Suppose labor has 8 working hours but they work for only 6 , then productivity = 6/8 = 75%
  • Yield - This is defined as the number of units produced divided by the input units. The produced units must be of good quality and no scrap should be there.