W1 Assignment-2
Discussion Question 1
OM is defined as "the set of activities that creates value in the form of goods and services by transforming inputs into outputs."
(Heizer, J., & Render, B. [2008]. Operations management. Upper Saddle, NJ: Pearson Education.)
Within an organization, OM is often seen as a cost center that does not generate revenue. As such, it is often difficult for a manager to justify investments within the OM function. If you were the operations manager, what kind of investments would you recommend to make your OM practice effective? Why? How would you justify these investments?
Justify your answers with examples and reasoning. Comment on the postings and views of at least two peers.
Discussion Question 3
Productivity is measured by the ratio of outputs to inputs. Some organizations use a partial measure of productivity to measure actual operations, such as a restaurant using number of customer meals per labor hour.
Assume that you are the operations manager of a local restaurant. You currently measure the following data:
Labor hours
Raw materials
Customer meals
Capital investments
Based on the above information, how would you measure productivity at the restaurant? Be sure to include single-factor and multifactor measures. What are some simple ways you would use to improve productivity? As an operations manager, why is productivity important to you?
Justify your answers with examples and reasoning.
W1 Assignment 3: What is Operations Management?
You have been asked to give a presentation on operations management practices regarding a specific product to a class at the local university.
Prepare a PowerPoint presentation of 10–12 slides addressing the following issues:
Product specifics and an overview of the organization
The essential elements of OM related to this product
Productivity measurement strategy for this product
Process strategy related to this product
Position of the product in the product life cycle
The OM strategy or issues related to the product based on the product
life cycle
Name your presentation: SU_MGT3059_W1_A3_LastName_FirstInitial.ppt.
W1 Assignment 4: Final Project
Operations Management Plan
You are currently considering expanding the business and need to develop a presentation to explain your business to potential investors. The investors are particularly interested in the operations management aspect of your business.
This Week
Develop a mission statement and strategy for CPC. The strategy should state how you expect to create a competitive advantage for CPC and the specific strategy that you will use for CPC.
Based on the facts given in the case, calculate the current productivity of the system. For this, you will need to calculate the number of pretzels that can be made each night.
In addition, discuss the operations decisions that need to be made during the company's development.
Submit your answers in a three- to four-page Microsoft Word document.
***************** WEEK-2 ***********************
W2 Assignment-1
Discussion Question 3
An economic downturn has an impact on everyone. The resulting financial crisis often leads to a decline in the real estate market and consumer spending.
Assume that you are the chief executive officer (CEO) of a large multinational company producing consumer products. How would the economic crisis affect the forecasts for your company? In your opinion, how can the forecast be adjusted, if at all, based on the crisis? What type of forecasting approach should the company use? Why? How would you determine the performance of the proposed forecasting approach?
Justify your answers with examples and reasoning. Comment on the postings of at least two peers.
Discussion Question 4
Forecasting is the art and science of predicting future events. Organizations are constantly creating forecasts for different uses within the organization. Besides setting production levels, what are some other uses of forecasts within the organization?
When an organization forecasts independent demand, it has the opportunity to take either an active role to influence demand or take a passive role and simply respond to demand.
In your opinion, under what circumstances would an organization choose to take an active or a passive role? Why? What strategies would supermarkets, airlines, hospitals, banks, and cereal manufacturers use to influence demand? Provide specific examples demonstrating why these organizations would choose such a strategy.
Justify your answers with appropriate reasoning. Comment on the postings of at least two peers.
W2 Assignment 2: Project Management
For an organization, a project schedule is given below. Assume that all times are in days.
Task
Predecessor
Normal Time
Crash Time
Crash Cost Slope
A
None
3
3
NA
B
A
2
2
NA
C
A
6
2
$600
D
A
5
5
NA
E
B
3
1
$600
F
C
2
2
NA
G
D
7
3
$600
H
F, G
4
4
NA
I
E
5
5
NA
J
H
4
4
NA
K
I, J
7
7
NA
Draw the activity on node (AON) project network using Microsoft Project or Visio. Perform a critical path analysis for the network and calculate
the earliest start (ES), earliest finish (EF), latest start (LS), and latest finish (LF) times. Calculate the slack time for each activity. Identify the critical path.
Assume that the organization will receive a $1,000 bonus for each day the duration of the project is shortened. The organization is also responsible for paying the crash cost associated with shortening the schedule.
To maximize the net profit, which task should you crash and by how much?
Submit your answers in a three- to four-page Microsoft Word document.
W2 Assignment 3: Final Project
Production Process
Based on the information provided in the case, create a table summarizing the steps for making one complete product (a box of six pretzels).
Identify any relationships—immediate predecessors—that are present.
Using this table, create a network diagram or Gantt chart detailing the production process for the following situations mentioning the time required to complete the order:
One order of 6 pretzels
One order of 12 pretzels
Two orders for 6 pretzels each
Discuss the impact on the above situations if you decide to hire any additional employees (add at least one more employee).
Based on the sales history, calculate the MAD and tracking signal for December 2008. What do these measures reveal about the accuracy of the forecast? Should you be concerned? Calculate a six month moving average forecast for January 2009.
What type of forecasting technique do you think is appropriate for use at
College Pretzel Company (CPC)? Would you need any additional information for calculating a forecast in the future?
Submit your answers in a three- to four-page Microsoft Word document.
