Operations Management Fourteenth Edition Jay Heizer Barry Render Chuck Munson Solutions Manual for Operations Managemen t, 14e NOTE: (For Complete File, Download link at the end of this File) Copyright ©2023 Pearson Education, Inc. 1 11CHAPTER Operations and Productivity DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 1. The text suggests four reasons to study OM. We want to underst and (1) how people organize themselves for productive enterpris e, (2) how goods and services are produced, (3) what operations ma nagers do, and (4) thi s costly part of our economy and most ent erprises. LO 1.1: Define operations management AACSB: Application of knowledge 2. With some 40% of all jobs being in the OM field, the career opp ortunities are prolific. The text suggests many career opportun ities. OM students find initial jobs throughout the OM field, including s upply chain, logistics, purchasing, production planning and sch eduling, plant layout, maintenance, quality control, inventory management, etc. LO 1.3: Identify career opportunities in operations management AACSB: Application of knowledge 3. Possible responses include: Adam Smith (work specialization/ d ivision of labor), Charles Babbage (work specialization/divisio n of labor), Frederick W. Taylor (scientific management), Walter Shewart (st atistical sampling and quality control), Henry Ford (moving assembly line), Charles Sorensen (moving assembly line), Frank and Lillian Gilbreth (motion study), and Eli Whitney (standardization). LO 1.1: Define operations management AACSB: Application of knowledge 4. See references in the answer to Question 3. LO 1.1: Define operations management AACSB: Application of knowledge 5. The actual charts will differ, depending on the specific organ ization the student chooses to describe. The important thing is for students to recognize that all organizations require, to a greater or le sser extent, (a) the three primary functions of operations, fin ance/accounting, and marketing; and (b) that the emphasis or detailed breakdown of these functions is dependent on the specific competitive str ategy employed by the firm. LO 1.1: Define operations management AACSB: Application of knowledge 6. The basic functions of a firm are marketing, accounting/ finan ce, and operations. An interesting class discussion: “Do all firms/organizations (private, government, not-for-profit) perform these three funct ions?” The authors’ hypothesis is yes, they do. LO 1.1: Define operations management AACSB: Application of knowledge 2 CHAPTER 1 OPERATIONS AND PRODUCTIVITY Copyright ©2023 Pears on Education, Inc. 7. The 10 strategic decisions of operations management are produc t design, quality, process, location, layout, human resources, supply chain management, inventory, scheduling (intermediate and short-term) , and maintenance. We find this structure an excellent way to h elp students organize and learn the material. LO 1.1: Define operations management AACSB: Application of knowledge 8. The 10 decisions as applied to Amazon: (1) Product design —defining the product may initiate an interesting discussion. I s the product the over 12 million products available, or is the product the e ase of order entry, convenience, and home delivery? Probably bo th. (2) Quality management —quality is built into every aspect of the Amazon culture, from item and order identificat ion, and from the supplier through receipt, process design, human resource training, inven tory tracking, etc. Multiple checks of items are standard. Erro rs in order receipts or shipment are very expensive. (3) Process strategy —receipt, movement to storage, and pulling of product for shipm ent are all state of the art. Amazon’s process mimics in many ways an assem bly line … where the workers st and still and the product is bro ught to the worker, rather than movement of personnel up and down aisles to “pull” merchandise. (4) Location strategy —Amazon’s facilities are strategically located worldwide to facilitate rapid delivery. ( 5) Layout strategy —facilities are designed and redesigned to meet the changing state-of-the-art innovations, fro m Kivas (moving storage bins) to “pull to light.” (6) Human resources —a non-union workfo rce has allowed continuing innovation in job design, work assignments, flexible short-term and long-term (seasonal) work schedules, and benefi ts. (7) Supply chain management —volume has given Amazon substantial negotiating flexibility. A mazon has also been willing to design and produce its own “copycat” products when it seems advantageous. (8) Inventory management —sophisticated item receipt and storage over multiple facilities, along with c ustomer order tracking that fa cilitates shipment of orders from multiple locations to ensure complete orders, gives Amazon a huge advantage. (9) Scheduling —the combination of inventory mana gement, superior software, an d a great process allows Amazon to ship in 15 minutes … the time from the customer’s key board order click to shipment is 15 minutes. (10) Maintenance —the facility maintenance is rather simple as factories go … it is c omplex, but they are not making rockets either. However, the so ftware for customer order entry, Kiva contr ol, inventory, and order manage ment—over multiple facilities—is complex and requires ongoing development, backups, and updating. LO 1.1: Define operations management AACSB: Application of knowledge 9. Four areas that are important to improving labor productivity are (1) basic education (basic reading and math skills), (2) di et of the labor force, (3) social overhead that makes labor available (water, s anitation, transportation, etc.), and (4) maintaining and expan ding the skills necessary for changing technology and knowledge, as well as for teamwork and motivation. LO 1.8: Identify the critical variabl es in enhancing productivity AACSB: Application of knowledge 10. Productivity is harder to measure when the task becomes more in tellectual. A knowledge society implies that work is more intellectual and therefore harder to measure. Because the U.S. and many other countries are increasingly “knowledge” societies , productivity is harder to measure. Using labor-hours as a measu re of productivity for a postindustrial society versus an indus trial or agriculture society is very different. For example, decades spe nt developing a marvelous new drug or winning a very difficult legal case on intellectual property rights may be significant for postindustr ial societies, but not show much in the way of productivity imp rovement measured in labor-hours. LO 1.8: Identify the critical variabl es in enhancing productivity AACSB: Analytical thinking 11. Productivity is difficult to measure because precise units of measure may be lacking, quality may not be consistent, and exog enous variables may change. LO 1.8: Identify the critical variabl es in enhancing productivity AACSB: Reflective thinking 12. Mass customization is the flexibility to produce to meet specif ic customer demands, without sacrificing the low cost of a prod uct-oriented process. Rapid product development is a source of competitive a dvantage. Both rely on agility within the organization. LO 1.1: Define operations management AACSB: Application of knowledge CHAPTER 1 O PERATIONS AND PRODUCTIVITY 3 Copyright ©2023 Pearson Education, Inc. 13. Labor productivity in the service sector is hard to improve bec ause (1) many services are labor intensive and (2) they are ind ividually (personally) processed (the customer is paying for that service —the haircut), (3) it may be an intellectual task performed by professionals, (4) it is often difficult to mechanize and automate, and (5) it is often difficult to evaluate for quality. LO 1.8: Identify the critical variables in enhancing productivity AACSB: Reflective thinking 14. Taco Bell designed meals that were easy to prepare; with actual cooking and food preparation done elsewhere; automation to sav e preparation time; reduced floor s pace; manager training to incr ease span of control. LO 1.8: Identify the critical variables in enhancing productivity AACSB: Application of knowledge 15. Bureau of Labor Statistics (stats.bls.gov) is a good place to start. Results will vary for eac h year, but overall data for th e economy will range from 0.9% to 4.8%, and mfg. could be as high as 5% and se rvices between 1% and 2%. The data will vary even more for mont hs or quarters. The data are frequently revised, often substantially. LO 1.7: Compute multifactor productivity AACSB: Application of knowledge ETHICAL DILEMMA AMERICAN CAR BATTERY INDUSTRY You may want to begin the discussion by asking how ethical it i s for you to be in the lead battery business when you know that any batteries you recycle will very likely find their way to an overseas faci lity (probably Mexico) with, at best, marginal pollution contai nment. Then after a likely conclusion of “Well someone has to provide batteries,” y ou can move to the following discussion. (a) As owner of an independent auto repair shop trying to dispo se of a few old batteries each week, your options may be limite d. But as an ethical operator, your first option is to put pressure on yo ur battery supplier to take your old batteries. Alternatively, shop for a battery supplier who wants your business enough to dispose of y our old batteries. Third, because there is obviously a market f or the lead in old batteries, some aggressive digging may uncover an i maginative recycler who can work out an economical arrangement for pickup or delivery of your old batteries. Another option is, of course, to discontinue the sale of batteries. (This is a probl em for many small businesses; ethical decisi ons and regulation may be such that they often place an expensive and disproportionate burden on a small firm.) (b) As manager of a large reta iler responsible for disposal of thousands of used batteries each week, you should have little t rouble finding a battery supplier with a reverse supply chain suitable for dis posal of old batteries. Indeed, a sophisticated retailer, early on in any supply-chain development process, includes responsible disposal of environmentally dangerous material as part of the negotiati ons. Disposal of old batteries should be a minor issue for a large r etailer. (c) For both a small and large retailer, the solution is to fin d a “sustainable” solution or get out of the battery business. Burying the batteries behind the store is not an option. Supplement 5: Sustainability in the Supply Chain provides some guidelines for a deeper class discussion. END-OF-CHAPTER PROBLEMS 120 boxes(a) = 3.0 boxes/hour40 hours1.1 125 boxes(b) = 3.125 boxes/hour40 hours (c) Change in productivity = 0.125 box/hour ( d ) 0.125 boxPercentage change = = 4.167%3.0 1.2 ( a ) Labor productivity is 160 valves/ 80 hours = 2 valves per hour (b) New labor productivity = 180 valves/80 hours = 2.25 valves per hour (c) Percentage change in productivity = .25 valve/2 valves = 12.5%
