Exam (elaborations)
MNO3701 EXAM PACK 2023
- Institution
- University Of South Africa (Unisa)
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
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MNO3701EXAM
PACK 2023
QUESTIONS WITH
ANSWERS
, lOMoARcPSD|24668432
(Nishab)
Benchmarking is 'the process of learning from others' and involves comparing one's own performance or methods against
other comparable operations.
It is a broader issue than setting performance targets and includes investigating other organisations’ operations practice in
order 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.
Benchmarking is essentially about stimulating creativity in improvement practice.
• Internal benchmarking is a comparison between operations or parts of operations which are within the same
total organisation.
• External benchmarking is a comparison between an operation and other operations which are part of a different
organisation.
• Non-competitive benchmarking is benchmarking against external organisations which do not compete directly in
the same markets.
• Competitive benchmarking is a comparison directly between competitors in the same, or similar, markets.
• Performance benchmarking is a comparison between the levels of achieved performance in different operations.
• Practice benchmarking is a comparison between an organisation's operations practices, or way of doing things,
and those adopted by another operation.
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.
, lOMoARcPSD|24668432
Loading is the amount of work that is allocated to a work centre. It is important to note that even if a machine
has e.g. 168 hours of work that can be loaded onto the machine it doesn’t necessarily mean it can be loaded.
For some periods the machine cannot be worked, e.g. holidays and weekends and this must be taken into
consideration.
Sequencing is the activity within planning and control that decides on the order which work is to be
performed. The priorities given to work in an operation are often determined by some predefined set of rules;
certain constraints must be taken into consideration, e.g. Physical – lighter dye to be loaded prior to darker
dye. Customer priority – an aggrieved client might need to be processed prior to others. DD,LIFO,FIFOLOTSOT
Scheduling is a term used in planning and control to indicate the detailed timetable of what work should be
done, when it should be done and where it should be done.
Monitoring and control which involve detecting what is happening in the operation, replanning if necessary
and intervening in order to impose new plans. Two important types are ‘pull’ and ‘push’ control. Pull control is
a system whereby demand is triggered by requests from a work centres (internal) customer. Push control is a
centralised system whereby control (and sometimes planning) decisions are issued to work centres which are
then required to perform the task and supply the next workstation. In manufacturing, ‘pull’ schedules
generally have far lower inventory levels than ‘push’ schedules.
(TB 296)
o Planning and control require the reconciliation of supply and demand in terms of
▪ (a) loading, which means determining the amount of work allocated to the work
centre.
▪ (b) Sequencing, which means determining the order in which work will be
performed.
▪ (c) scheduling, which means deciding on detailed timetables of start and finish dates
o loading
▪ In working out the loading the difference between maximum available time and
valuable operating time (eg of a machine) takes into consideration certain
unavoidable losses in time (public holidays, weekends, equipment idling, set-up and
changeover - planned times of unproductivity, etc) and avoidable losses in time
(quality losses, slow running equipment, breakdown, failure - unplanned times of
unproductivity, etc) in well-run operations.
▪ finite loading is ``an approach which only allocates work to a work centre up to a set
limit'', which is the estimate of the capacity of the work centre. Infinite loading is
``an approach to loading work which does not limit accepting work, but tries to cope
with it''
o sequencing
▪ when priorities are given to work in an operation, some predefined set of rules may
apply, or physical constraints (physical nature of materials being processed) may
determine the priority. This predefined set of sequencing rules includes:
• Customer/client priority sequencing is when important or aggrieved
customers/clients are processed prior to others, irrespective of the order of
arrival
• DD sequencing is when work is sequenced according to the due date for
delivery, irrespective of the size of each job or importance of the
customer/client.
, lOMoARcPSD|24668432
• LIFO sequencing is when work is selected for practical reasons ,meaning
those last in move out first.
• With FIFO sequencing customers/clients are served as they arrive - this is
also known as first-come-first-served.
• LOT sequencing is when jobs that take the longest are done first
• SOT is usually when cash constrained operations do the shortest jobs first
to invoice, receive payment quicker and improve cash £low
▪ the five performance objectives may also be used to judge the effectiveness of the
sequencing rules. These performance objectives include dependability (meeting
dues dates promised), speed (minimizing the time a job spends in process) and cost
minimizing work-in-process inventory and minimizing idle time at work centres).
o scheduling
▪ scheduling activity is considered to be one of the most complex tasks in
production/operations management, because it deals with several different types of
resources simultaneously (eg machines with different capabilities and capacities)
and the number of possible schedules increase rapidly as the number of activities
and processes increase.
▪ forward scheduling involves starting work as soon as it arrives, while backward
scheduling involves starting the jobs at the last possible moment. In theory both
MRP (material requirements planning) and JIT (just-in-time) use backward
scheduling, which means that the work is only started when it is required.
o after a plan has been created for the operation through loading, sequencing and scheduling,
each part of the operation has to be monitored to ensure that the planned activities do take
place. Any deviation from the plans must be rectified through some kind of intervention and
may involve replanning.
o An important distinction is made between intervention signals that push work through the
process within the operation (work is pushed out without considering whether the
succeeding work centre can use it and idle time occurs - inventory build-up and queues may
result) and intervention signals that pull work only when it is required (the customer works
as trigger to pull the work from the preceding work station).
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 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 aircraft
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