OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN DECISIONS & CASES 7Th Edition By Roger – Test Bank

OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT IN THE SUPPLY CHAIN DECISIONS & CASES 7Th Edition By Roger – Test Bank

Chapter 4 Process Selection Answer Key

Multiple-Choice Questions 

1. A large office with a printing department, a drafting department with all of the engineers located together, and all of the managers located together in a large suite of offices is an example of
A. an assembly line process.
B. a batch process.
C. a project process.
D. a continuous process.

LO: 4.1

Topic: Product Flow Characteristics

Difficulty: 2 Moderate
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Bloom’s: Understand
Feedback: Work is most likely to flow in batches through the various departments.

2. The throughput ratio (TR) is the ratio of the total processing time for the job divided by
A. total waiting time.
B. utilization.
C. total waiting time plus total processing time.
D. 100.

LO: 4.1

Topic: Product Flow Characteristics

Difficulty: 2 Moderate
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Bloom’s: Understand
Feedback: The formula for throughput ratio is total processing time for the job divided by total time in operations.

3. Process efficiency is usually highest in which type of process?
A. Assembly line
B. Batch
C. Project
D. Job shop

LO: 4.1

Topic: Product Flow Characteristics

Difficulty: 1 Easy
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Bloom’s: Remember
Feedback: Assembly line has the highest efficiency or throughput ratio of these choices.

 4. A company makes necklaces with attached letters. Department A manufactures the necklace chains and letters ahead of demand. Department B assembles the necklaces for specific names when orders are received. Departments A and B are, respectively,
A. make-to-stock, make-to-stock.
B. make-to-stock, assemble-to-order.
C. make-to-order, make-to-stock.
D. make-to-order, assemble-to-order.

LO: 4.2
Topic: Approaches to Order Fulfillment
Difficulty: 2 Moderate
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Bloom’s: Understand
Feedback: Manufacturing ahead of demand is make-to-stock; assembling when orders are received is assemble-to-order.

5. A make-to-order operation would be primarily concerned with
A. forecasting demand.
B. production planning.
C. balancing inventory and service.
D. lead time.

LO: 4.2
Topic: Approaches to Order Fulfillment
Difficulty: 2 Moderate
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Bloom’s: Understand
Feedback: The key metric of MTO is the lengths of time it takes to design, make, and deliver the product, also known as lead time.

6. An entrepreneur is planning to start a factory to produce high-tech plastic containers in high volumes. She will use either an assembly line or batch process and has selected two possible sites, one in a small town and one in a big city. She has discovered the following:

Based on the information just presented, which of the following should be chosen?
A. Assembly line in city.
B. Assembly line in small town.
C. Batch process in city.
D. Batch process in small town.

LO: 4.1, 4.2

Topic: Product Flow Characteristics, Approaches to Order Fulfillment

Difficulty: 2 Moderate
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Bloom’s: Understand
Feedback: With the information given, high volume indicates assembly line, and the large market and availability of labor indicate city.

 7. Identify the correct statement from the following:
A. A batch process is characterized by jumbled flow while an assembly line process is characterized by a sequential flow.
B. A project process is characterized by difficult planning and scheduling.
C. A job shop process is used to produce to customer order.
D. All of the above are true.

LO: 4.1

Topic: Product Flow Characteristics

Difficulty: 2 Moderate
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Bloom’s: Understand
Feedback: All are correct statements (see Section 4.1).

8. Referring to the product-process matrix, if a company has a few major products with high demand and a jumbled flow (job shop) process, we know the company
A. has a company strategy.
B. is on the diagonal of the matrix.
C. is further in its product life cycle than its process life cycle.
D. is further in its process life cycle than its product life cycle.

LO: 4.4

Topic: Product Process Strategy

Difficulty: 2 Moderate
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Bloom’s: Understand
Feedback: A few major products combined with a job shop process indicate that the product has evolved faster than the process (a few major products suggest an assembly line or possibly a very large batch). 

9. An important lesson from the product-process matrix is
A. give importance to product choice decisions over process choice decisions.
B. give importance to process choice decisions over product choice decisions.
C. give importance to aligning product choice decisions and process choice decisions.
D. most firms should operate off the diagonal to achieve competitive status.

LO: 4.3

Topic: Process Selection Decisions

Difficulty: 2 Moderate
AACSB: Reflective thinking
Bloom’s: Understand
Feedback: The product-process matrix represents the strategic choices available to firms in both product and process dimensions, and most organizations want to be positioned on the diagonal, indicating alignment.