Name: Nikita Punera

IUU19BBA061

Q1. “A Good Product Design Contributes To “TQM” in the Organisation.” Explain

how this may happen.

Answer : Product design is an essential activity for firms competing in a global

environment. Product design drives organizational success because it directly
and significantly impacts nearly all of the critical determinants for success.
Customers demand greater product variety and are quick to shift to new,
innovative, full-featured products. In addition, customers make purchase
decisions based on a growing list of factors that are affected by product design.
Previously, customers made purchase decisions based primarily on product
price and/or quality. While these factors are still important, customers are
adding other dimensions such as customizability, order-to-delivery time,
product safety, and ease and cost of maintenance. Environmental concerns are
expanding to include impacts during production, during the product's operating
life, and at the end of its life (recycle-ability). In addition, customers demand
greater protection from defective products, which leads to lower product
liability losses. Safer and longer lasting products lead to enhanced warrantee
provision, which, in turn, impact customer satisfaction and warrantee repair
costs.
Organizations are embracing concepts such as mass customization, design for
manufacturing and assembly, product disposal, quality function deployment,
and time-based competition. They are using technology such as rapid
prototyping and computer-aided design to examine how products function, how
much they may cost to produce, and how they may impact the environment.
Firms are searching for and implementing new technologies to determine ways
to design better products. They are examining legal and ethical issues in product
design as well as the impact of product design on the environment.

Q2. How will you incorporate environmental concerns into product design?
Discuss.

Answer : Eco-design is an approach that aims to reduce a product’s

environmental impact throughout its life-cycle. It thus assesses every stage of
its development, from the initial idea to the end of its life, including its
production, logistics, distribution and use. It also factors in its consumption of
raw materials and possible negative impact on the environment (atmospheric
pollution, discharges into natural environments, harmful effects on biodiversity,
etc.). The approach also applies to product packaging. The aim is to achieve
optimum packaging : neither too much nor too little, so that it can play its role
in storage, hygiene and protection against contamination (with food products)
while minimizing the resources used and the waste generated.

The following steps can also be followed to reduce environmental concerns:

Reduction of scrap and waste, allowing a more efficient use of resources and a
decrease in the volumes of refuse, and more generally a reduction in the impact
associated with the management of waste materials
Optimal management of materials, consisting of the correct use of materials on
the basis of the performance required, in their recovery at the end of the
product’s life and in the reduction of toxic or polluting materials
Optimization of production processes, consisting of the planning of processes
which are energetically efficient and result in limited emissions
Q3. What are the functions of Material Management? Explain any three in
detail.
Answer: The concept of having one department responsible for the flow of
materials, from supplier through production to consumer, is relatively new. The
name usually given to this function is materials management.
Materials management is a coordinating function responsible for planning and
controlling materials flow. Its objectives are as follows:
• Maximize the use of the firm’s resources.
• Provide the required level of customer service.

Manufacturing planning and control are responsible for the planning and
control of the flow of materials through the manufacturing process.
The primary activities carried out are as follows:

1. Production planning : Production must be able to meet the demand of the

marketplace.

Finding the most productive way of doing so is the responsibility of production

planning. It must establish correct priorities (what is needed and when) and
make certain that capacity is available to meet those priorities. It will involve:
a. Forecasting.
b. Master planning.
c. Material requirements planning.
d. Capacity planning.

2. Implementation and control : These are responsible for putting into action
and achieving the plans made by production planning.
These responsibilities are accomplished through production activity control
(often called shop floor control) and purchasing.
3. Inventory Management : Inventories are materials and supplies carried on
hand either for sale or to provide material or supplies to the production process.
They are part of the planning process and provide a buffer against the
differences in demand rates and production rates.
Production planning, implementation, control, and inventory management
work together.
Inventories in manufacturing are used to support production or are the result of
production.
Only if items are purchased and resold without further processing can inventory
management operate separately from production planning and control. Even
then, it cannot operate apart from purchasing.

Q4.What is JIT? Explain its uses and benefits for a manufacturing organization.

Answer : One of the most popular methods for inventory management is just-in-
time (JIT) manufacturing. JIT refers to a system of manufacturing that lets
business owners produce products once a customer has requested and paid for
it, rather than having already assembled products on the shelves waiting for
purchase.
Benefits of JIT :

Less space needed: With a faster turnaround of stock, you don’t need as much
warehouse or storage space to store goods. This reduces the amount of storage
an organisation needs to rent or buy, freeing up funds for other parts of the
business.
Waste reduction: A faster turnaround of stock prevents goods becoming
damaged or obsolete while sitting in storage, reducing waste. This again saves
money by preventing investment in unnecessary stock, and reducing the need
to replace old stock.

Smaller investments: JIT inventory management is ideal for smaller companies

that don’t have the funds available to purchase huge amounts of stock at once.
Ordering stock as and when it’s needed helps to maintain a healthy cash flow.

Q5. What are Quality Circles? Explain their use as a management tool for
productivity improvement in an organization.

Answer : A quality circle or quality control circle is a group of workers who do

the same or similar work, who meet regularly to identify, analyze and solve
work-related problems.

A Quality circle is defined as a small group of employees who voluntarily

cooperate to solve problems relating to:

1) production, wastage of materials,

2) quality of raw material, tool, semi-finished and finished goods,
3) work-environment, energy consumption, scheduling, delay,
maintenance, safety and anything that acct these factors.

Advantages of Quality Circles

The following are some of the advantages of Quality Circles.
1. It infuses team spirit among the workers.

2. It improves decision making ability.

3. It improves employee communication at all levels of the organization.

4. It improves problem solving ability.

5. It improves leadership skill.

6. It builds confidence / trust.

7. It incorporates a sense of belonging to their organization.

8. It creates a sense of corporate loyalty and corporate pride.

9. It improves the relationship between managers and the work force.

10. It improves quality, production and productivity.

11. It improves the self image of the employees.

12. It reduces cost of production.

13. It enhances customer satisfaction.

14. It increases demand for product/services of the organization.

15. There is greater job security and more employment opportunity