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MNG2601 Exam pack 2024(General Management)
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MNG2601 Exam pack 2024(General Management)
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MNG2601 EXAMPACK 2024
QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS
FOR ASSISTANCE CONTACT
EMAIL:gabrielmusyoka940@gmail.com
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Benchmarking is the process of learning from others and involves comparing one’s own performance
or methods against other comparable organisations. It’s a broader issue than setting performance
targets and includes investigating other organisations’ operations practise to derive ideas that could
contribute to performance improvement. Its rationale is based on the idea that (a) problems in
managing processes are almost certainly shared by processes elsewhere and (b) there is probably
another operation somewhere that has developed a better way of doing things.
Practise benchmarking is a comparison between an organisation’s operations practises and
those adopted by another organisation.
Performance benchmarking is a comparison between the levels of achieved performance in
different operations.
External benchmarking is a comparison between an operation and other operations in a
different organisation
Internal benchmarking is a comparison between operations or parts of operations which are
within the same organisation.
SU 6, Chapter 10 on page 280 - 293
Planning and control requires the reconciliation of supply and demand in terms of volumes, timing
and quality. There are four overlapping activities namely loading, sequencing, scheduling and
monitoring and control. Different organisations may use these in different ways.
1. Loading: [page 280]
Loading can be defined as the amount of work that’s allocated to a work centre. E.g. A machine in a
manufacturing business is in theory available for 168 hours a week but this does not necessarily
mean that 168 hours of work can be loaded onto the machine -> for some periods it can’t be worked
due to holidays/ time can be lost through breakdown/ remain idling for another reason. Thus the
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valuable operating time available for productive working can significantly below the maximum time
available even in the best operations.
Finite loading is an approach to planning and control that only allocated work to a work centre up to
a set limit (usually its useful capacity). Work over and above this capacity is not accepted. It’s
particularly relevant for operations where:
- It is possible to limit the load e.g run an appointment system for a hairdresser
- It is necessary to limit the load e.g. for safety reasons a finite number of people and luggage
allowed on aircraf
- The cost of limiting the load is not prohibitive e.g. cost of maintaining a finite order book at a
specialist car manufacturer does not adversely affect demand
Infinite loading is an approach to planning and control that allocated work to work centres
irrespective of any capacity or other limits. It’s relevant for operations where:
- It is not possible to limit the load e.g emergency room
- It is not necessary to limit the load e.g fast food outlets can up or down capacity demanding
on demand
- The cost of limiting the load is prohibitive e.g. if retail bank turned away customers they
would be unhappy with service
2. Sequencing [page 282 – 286]
The activity within planning and control that decides on the order in which work is to be performed.
The priority given to work in an operation are ofen determined by some predefined set of rules –
examples below:
- Physical constraints: the physical nature of materials processed determines the priority of
work
- Customer Priority: An important or aggrieved customer or item is processed prior to others,
regardless of arrival time
- Due Date: Prioritising by when work is due for delivery regardless of size of the job or
importance of the customer
- Last in, First Out: method of sequencing usually selected for practical reasons e.g. unloading
an elevator is more convenient on a LIFO basis
- FIFO: Serve customers exactly in the sequence in which they arrive
- Longest Operation Time: Operations sequence their longest jobs first
- Shortest operation Time First: Tackle short jobs first
All five performance objectives can be used to judge the effectiveness of sequencing rules:
- Meeting due date promised to customer (dependability)
- Minimising the time the job spends in the process / flow time (speed)
- Minimising work in progress inventory (an element of cost)
- Minimising idle time of work centres (an element of cost)
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3. Scheduling [page 286 – 291]
Scheduling indicates the detailed timetable of what work should be done, when it should be done
and where it should be done.
Forward scheduling involves starting work as soon as it arrives, thus loading work onto work centres
as soon as it’s practical to do so. Advantages include high labour utilisation and flexibility.
Backward scheduling involves starting jobs at the last possible moment to prevent them from being
late so they should be finished exactly when they’re due. Advantages includes lower material costs,
less exposure to risk in case of a scheduling change by the customer and focus of the operation on
customer due dates.
The most common method of scheduling is by use of the Gantt chart. Advantages includes that they
provide a simple visual representation of what should be happening and what’s actually happening
in the operation.
4. Monitoring and controlling the operation [page 291 – 293]
Each part of the operation must be monitored to ensure that planned activities are indeed
happening and any deviation from the plans can be rectified through some kind of intervention in
the operation. An important decision is how periodic intervention takes place. The key distinction is
between intervention signals which push work through the processes within the operation and those
which pull work only when it is required.
Push control indicates that work is being sent forward to workstations as soon as it is finished on the
previous workstation. In a push system of control, activities are scheduled by means of a central
system and completed in line with central instructions such as MRP system. Each work centre pushed
out work without considering whether the succeeding work centre can make use of it. Idle time,
inventory and queues ofen characterise push systems.
In a pull system, a workstation requests work from the previous station only when it is required so
they set the pace and specification of what is done. The ‘customer’ workstation is the only trigger for
movement. If a request is not passed back from the customer to the supplier, the supplier can’t
produce anything or move any materials. Pull systems are far less likely to result in inventory build-up
and are therefore favoured by JIT operations.
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