Production and Operation Management free essay sample

State the important considerations for locating an automobile plant. Following are the important considerations for locating a Automobile plant (1) Market. (2) Transportation. (3) Electricity. (4) Communitys liking for having a plant in their locality. (5) Taxation. (6) Labour availability. (7) Water supply. (8) Transperency and ease of land accusition. (9) Availability of raw materials. (10) cheap land (11) train station (12) local distriboutors (13) waste disposal system (river etc) (14) Government Policy, SEZ, etc.Q2. Explain essentials of Project Management Philosophy All projects share one common characteristic – the projection of ideas and activities into new endeavours. The ever-present element of risk and uncertainty means that the events and tasks leading to completion can never be accurately foretold. Examples abound of projects that have exceeded their costs by enormous amounts, finishing late or even being abandoned before completion. Such failures are far too com mon and are seen in all kinds of projects in industry, commerce and the public sector. The purpose of project management is to predict as many of the dangers and problems as possible and to plan, organize and control activities so that projects are completed successfully in spite of all the risks. We will write a custom essay sample on Production and Operation Management or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page This process should start before any resource is committed and must continue until all work is finished. The primary aim of the project manager is for the result to satisfy the project sponsor or purchaser and all the other principal stakeholders within the promised timescale and without using more money and other resources than those that were originally set aside or budgeted. For any technical assistance program to be successful, it is important to have professional management systems in place. We are guided by a set of principles for the design and implementation of technical assistance projects in developing countries. These emphasize: Dialogue and Cooperation: We emphasize a consultative, inclusive approach to project implementation. The involvement of counterparts in the design and implementation is essential to ensure that change management programs are effective and supported. Ownership and Empowerment: It is important to emphasize the development of local talent. We are keen on empowering staff based on solid risk management approaches and motivational strategies. We enjoy coaching project staff and interns in field offices on all aspects of project management, including human resources, turn around and change management, donor relations, internal financial control and work planning. Integrity and Accountability: Especially in difficult environments such as Afghanistan and many other developing countries, it is important to adhere to the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, client concern and service. Internal Financial and Risk Controls: Strong internal risk management systems, such as those based on the COSO, AS/NZS 460:2004 and ISO 30001 are critically important to the implementation of programs, especially larger programs. Quality and Innovation: We try to utilize the latest technology in support of project implementation. Content Management Systems such as joomla and Drupal are examples of how free opensource software that can be used to manage projects document repository and to provide information on the programs to counterparts in different languages. However a good project management methodology provides a framework, process, guidelinesand techniques to greatly increase the chances of being successful, and therefore providesvalue to the project. ? Define the project ? Reduce it to a set of manageable tasks ? Obtain appropriate and necessary resources ? Build a team or teams to perform the project work ? Plan the work and allocate the resources to the tasks ? Monitor and control the work ? Report progress to senior management and/or the project sponsor ? Close down the project when completed Review it to ensure that the lessons are learnt and widely understood Q3. Several different strategies have been employed to assist in aggregate planning. Explain these in brief? Aggregate planning is an operational activity that does an aggregate plan for the production process, in advance of 2 to 18 months, to give an idea to management as to what quantity of materials and other resources are to be procured and when, so that the total cost of operations of the organization is kept to the minimum over that period.. The quantity of outsourcing, subcontracting of items, overtime of labour, numbers to be hired and fired in each period and the amount of inventory to be held in stock and to be backlogged for each period are decided. All of these activities are done within the framework of the company ethics, policies, and long term commitment to the society, community and the country of operation. Aggregate planning has certain prerequired inputs which are inevitable. They include: Information about the resources and the facilities available. Demand forecast for the period for which the planning has to be done. Cost of various alternatives and resources. This includes cost of holding inventory, ordering cost, cost of production through various production alternatives like subcontracting, backordering and overtime. Organizational policies regarding the usage of above alternatives. Aggregate Planning is concerned with matching supply and demand of output over the medium time range, up to approximately 12 months into the future. The term aggregate implies that the planning is done for a single overall measure of output or, at the most, a few aggregated product categories. The aim of aggregate planning is to set overall output levels in the near to medium future in the face of fluctuating or uncertain demands. Aggregate planning might seek to influence demand as well as supply. The aggregate production plan is midway between short-range planning and long-range planning. Aggregate planning includes the following factors: 1. Work force size and composition 2. Demand forecasts and orders 3. Raw material planning 4. Plant capacity management 5. Utilizing outside subcontractors 6. Inventory management 1. Pure Strategies:- There are three focused or pure strategies are†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ ? Vary production to match demand by changes inemployment. ? Produce at a constant rate and use inventories. ? Produce with stable workforce but vary the utilization rate. 2. Chase demand Strategy In this strategy the production output is increased or decreasedaccording the demand. This is possible if workers are added or removed to vary the input capacity. It also means that if thesystem is dominantly automated then it will be either under or over-utilised as the as the situation demands. 3. Level production Strategy :- In this case, the production output is held constant irrespective of the changes in demand from period to period. Usually, theaverage demand is taken as the constant output. When thedemand exceeds the average output, in some months there isshortage and when the output is above the average there issurplus and build-up of inventory. However, wherever possibleexcess output can be used to accumulate inventory and thatinventory is maintained. 4. Stable work-force Strategy :- in this strategy the work force ismaintained at the same level on regular time. Production output isvaried either by overtime or by building up inventory. However, if the demand falls then the production output is decreased andsome workers may become idle. 5. Mixed Strategies:- in mixed strategies, the aggregate planner has a wide variety of choices by mixing to or more strategy. Thenumber of mixed strategies in alternative production plans isalmost limitless. However, based on the realities of the situations,the number of practical solutions is limited. 6. Mathematical Planning Models :- Mathematical models attempt to refine or improve upon the trail-and-error approaches. However, the solution generated may notbe feasible and need to be refined. A popular technique is theapplication of transportation algorithm which is a special case of the linear-programming model. It views the aggregate planningproblem as the linear-programming model. Q4. Illustrate the different methods by which quality is sought to be achieved using various tools and techniques Quality control techniques are specific and procedures adoptedusing data, foe determining a particular aspect of quality to arrive at decisions which are conclusive. Each technique developed andtested by senior personnel or consultants will be simple enough tobe understood , implemented and interpreted by the personnel for their immediate use. Some of the quality control technique are :1. Quality at the source. 2. Quality control tools . 3. Acceptance sampling Quality at the source The concept of quality makes the production worker responsiblefor inspecting his /her own work and for taking corrective actions since inspection is done immediately after a job is done , findingthe cause of the error with clarity aids in faster rectification. Every worker has the authority to stop production, if he /she findsome serious defect . This puts responsibility for quality on theworkers and gives them pride their work . Help should always beavailable from the quality control personnel to help workersunderstand the implications of the above actions. This bringscooperation and improves the achievement. The information generated may be used to effect improvements at the suppliers’ end also. The entire process brings in openness, commitment,participation and helps in achieving quality. ? Quality control tools The most popular and widely used tools are called as 7 QC tools. These includes the following Flow chart ? Check sheet ? Histogram ? Pareto analysis ? Scatter diagram ? Control chart ? Cause and effect diagram 1. Flow Chart ;- flow chart is a visual representation of a processshowing the various steps. It helps in locating the points at whicha problem exists or an improvement is possible. Detailed data canbe collected, analysed, and methods for correction can bedeveloped using flow charts. The various steps includes ? Listing out the various steps or activities in particular job. ? Classifying them as a procedure or a decision. 2. Check sheet :- are used to record the number defects, types of defects, locations at which they are occurring , times at whichthey are occurring, and workmen by whom they are occurring . The sheet keeps a record of the frequencies of occurrence withreference to possible defect causing parameters. It helps toimplement a corrective procedure at the point where thefrequencies are more. 3. Histogram :- are graphically representations of distribution of Data. They are generally used to record huge volumes of dataabout a process. They reveal whether the pattern of distributionhas single peak, or many peaks and also the extent of variationaround the peak value. This helps in identifying whether theproblem is serious. The various types of visual patterns have been established along with relevant interpretations whichhelps us to identify the problem. 4. Pareto Analysis :- is a tool for classifying problem areasaccording to the degree of importance and attending to themost importance and attending to the most important ones. Pareto principles , v erbally stated as â€Å"vital few; trivial many† is also called 80-20 rule because is to observe that 80% of theproblem that we encounter arise out of 20% of items. Q5. Explain the basic competitive priorities considered while formulating operations strategy by a firm? After collectively considering the products and services demanded by customers, strengths and weaknesses of competitors, the environment, and the firm’s own strengths, weaknesses, cultures, and resources, proficient firms can formulate their vision as expressed through the mission statement. This statement expresses the organization’s values and aspirations; basically its reason or purpose for existence. Based on this mission statement the firm will formulate its business strategy. This business strategy is a long-term plan for accomplishing the mission set forth in the mission statement. Each function within the business can then derive its own strategy in support of the firm’s overall business strategy (financial strategy, marketing strategy, and operations strategy). Operations strategy is the collective concrete actions chosen, mandated, or stimulated by corporate strategy. It is, of course, implemented within the operations function. This operations strategy binds the various operations decisions and actions into a cohesive consistent response to competitive forces by linking firm policies, programs, systems, and actions into a systematic response to the competitive priorities chosen and communicated by the corporate or business strategy. In simpler terms, the operations strategy specifies how the firm will employ its operations capabilities to support the business strategy. Operations strategy has a long-term concern for how to best determine and develop the firm’s major operations resources so that there is a high degree of compatibility between these resources and the business strategy. Very broad questions are addressed regarding how major resources should be configured in order to achieve the firm’s corporate objectives. Q6. Explain briefly the four classification of scheduling strategies?