CHAPTER 5

DISCUSSION AND REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Design capacity is the maximum possible output. Effective capacity is the maximum output
given product mix, scheduling realities, machine maintenance requirements, and so on.

2. Design capacity

 This process may inhibit capacity utilization due to the output rate a facility can handle
because of what the facility is designed for.

Effective capacity

 This process can also contribute to capacity utilization when there are internal problems
for example scheduling or balancing operations and prioritizing tasks throughout the
facility.

Actual output

 Examples of this are having QC problems with the product that’s being produce. Also
having the man power and having shortages of material. These are situation that
operation manager has no control of this occurrences.

3. Long-term considerations are related to the overall level of capacity, while short-term
considerations are related to variations in capacity requirements caused by seasonality,
randomness, etc.

6. These amounts to a systems approach: the different parts of the system are interrelated, so
unless the entire system is considered, it is likely that the overall system capacity will suffer. One
example of this is expansion of a motel without regard to the resulting need to consider
expansion of parking, eating, and recreational facilities. Similar examples include increased air
flights into a city, housing construction (impact on roads, sewers, schools, shopping, etc.), and
increasing the capacity of one machine in a series of machines.

7. Capacity in "chunks" refers to the large stepwise increases that are frequently encountered in
capacity decisions. An example would be adding a new machine. Capacity in "chunks" is
important because it means that small capacity increases may not be feasible, or that other
alternatives (e.g., working overtime instead of buying another machine) may be worthy of
consideration.

8. Low professional qualification and minimal teacher education resulting in a deficit approach to
processional development, absence of school-based professional learning culture for empowering
teachers as internal agents of change, and hierarchical culture within a school and between
university and school hindering the process of school capacity building. Corresponding to these
challenges, we aim to propose two suggestions, including empowering teachers in ECE through
school-based professional learning community and promoting authentic external support in the
process of university–school collaboration.

9. Failure to take all aspects of a system into account can result in uneven capacity, which is
evidenced by bottlenecks. The systems approach helps to avoid this by a "big picture"
perspective and by dealing with interrelationships.

10. Capacity designs establish constraints within which operations must function. They offer an
opportunity to achieve productivity improvements if done carefully. However, mistakes here can
hamper future productivity improvements because poor design can be very difficult to overcome.

11. It is the most efficient position. If a producer should choose some other combination, such as
an assembly line for a customized product or service, he or she would find that the highly
customized requirements of the various products were in direct conflict with the more uniform
requirements needed to effectively operate in the assembly-line mode. Matching process
capabilities with product requirements can provide insights to those making process selections as
well as to those managing existing operations. For process choice, decision-makers should make
every attempt to achieve the aforementioned matching of product and process requirements. For
an ongoing operation, a manager should examine existing processes to see how well processes
and products are matched. Poor matches would suggest the potential for improvement, perhaps
with a substantial increase in efficiency and lowering of cost.

A second important concept is that products and services often go through life cycles that begin
with low volume that increases as products or services become better known. When that
happens, a manager must know when to shift from one type of process (e.g., job shop) to the next
(e.g., batch), and perhaps to the next (e.g., assembly line). Of course, some operations remain at
a certain level (e.g., magazine publishing), while others increase (or decrease as markets become
saturated) over time. Again, it is important for a manager to assess his or her products and
services and make a judgment on whether to plan for changes in processing over time.

12. Uncertainty could have an effect on demand, which in turn would have an effect on volume
or desired production, which in turn would determine the capacity of the operation. As the level
of uncertainty increases, the need for flexibility in scheduling and the need for
larger capacity also increase.

13. It ensures you have team members with the correct skills when you need them. Beyond
keeping your team busy (but not too busy), capacity planning has two key benefits: increasing
project efficiency and making it easier for agencies to plan for the future which is beneficial for
police officers or fire trucks.

14. The long-term strategic implications of capacity planning can be enormous. If we do not
obtain the necessary capacity when we need to, our firm could be at a significant disadvantage.
On the other hand, we could commit our company to a major capacity expansion that was
unnecessary. In this scenario, we are faced with the opportunity cost of having our money
invested in an unnecessary capacity expansion project in lieu of another, wiser investment
alternative.

15. Because capacity planning for services is more challenging is that there are more variables.
In a service it is not "cut and dry" it can be difficult to measure (quantify), but is more pervasive.
Having too much capacity will result in idle time and wasted resources.
17. As well as reducing costs by using capacity more efficiently, and reducing risk by providing
the ability to cope with periods of peak demand, capacity management provides the IT function
and the business with much more control over how resources are being used, offering a more
consistent view of performance and capacity across the entire IT estate.

PROBLEM