ASSIGNMENT

Name: SURAIYA YASHMIN

Registration No.: 1208008219

Learning Centre: NIPSTEC LIMITED

Learning Centre: Code: 01640

Course: MBA

Subject: PRODUCTION & OPERATION MANAGEMENT

Semester: II SEMESTER

Module No.: B1627

Date of submission: 15TH MAY 2013

Signature of Centre Signature of Coordinator

Signature of Evaluator
1. State the important considerations for locating an automobile plant?
The important considerations for locating automobile plants are
GENERNAL FACTOR
The general factors that influence the plant locations are listed as follows
Availability of land – availability of land plays an important role in determining the plant locations .on
several occasions ,our plans, calculations and forecasts suggest a particular are as the best to start an
organizations .However,availiability of land may be in questions .in such cases ,we will have to choose
the second best locations .

Availability of inputs –while choosing plant locations, it is very important for the organizations to get
the labour at the right time and good quality raw material. The plant should be located.
 Near to the raw material source.
 At the market place
 Close to the market when university available, so as to minimize the transportation cost.

Closeness to the market places -organizations can choose to locate the plant near to the customer
‘market or far for them, depending upon the product they produce. It id advisable to locate the plant
near to the market place, when:
 The projected life of the product is low
 The transportation cost is high
 The products are delicate and susceptible to spoilage
 After sales services have to be prompt
The advantages of locating the plant near to the market places are:
 Consistenent supply of goods to the customers
 Reductions of the cost of transportation
Communications facilities –communications facility is also an important factor which influences the
locations of a plant .regions with good communications facilities namely postal and tele communications
links should be given priority for the selection of sites.
Infrastructure – infrastructure plays a prominent role in deciding the locations .the basic infrastructure
needed in any organizations are:
Power-for example, industries which run day and night require continuous power supply.so, they should
be located near power stations and should ensure continuous power supply throughout the year.
Water –for example process industries such as paper, chemical, and cement, require continuous water
supply in large amount, so such process industries need to locate near the source of water supply.
Water disposal-for example, for process industries such as, paper and sugarcane industries, facility for
disposal of waste is the key factor.
Transport –transport facility is a must for facility locations and layout of locations of the plant .timely
supply of raw material to the company and supply of raw materials to the company and supply of
finished goods to the customer is an important factor .the basic modes of transportations are by air,
road, rail, water, and pipeline. The choice should be made depending on these basic modes. Cost of
transportations is also an important criterion for plant locations.
Government’s support- the factors that demand additional attention for plant locations are the policies
of the state government and the local bodies concerning lobour law, building codes and safety.
Housing and recreations- housing and recreations factors also influence the plat locations .locating a
plant with or near to the facilities of good schools, housing and recreations for employee will have a
greater impact on the organizations. These factors seem to be unimportant, but there is difference as
they motivate the employees and hence the locations decisions.
2. Explain essentials of projects management philosophy?
Project management is all about mindset. Figure 9.5 depicts all the majors’ characteristics of a projects
mindset Time

Planning Responsivenes
Project s
mindset

Information’s
Processes sharing

9.5 characteristics of projects mindset

A) Time: it is an important parameter is farming the right mindset .it is possible to improve the
place of the projects by reducing the time frame of the process. The mindset is normally to work out a
comfort mode by stretching the time limits.
B) Responsiveness – responsiveness refer to quickness of response of an individual. the vibrancy
and liveliness of an individual or an organizations are proportional to its capabilities to respond to
evolving processes and structure.
C) Information sharing: information is power .information is the master key to today’s
business .information sharing is an important characteristic of the project mindset today. A seamless
flow of information is the key to build a healthy mindset among various stakeholders in a project.
D) Processes- project mindset lays emphasis on flexible processes. The major difference in a
process and a system is in its capabilities of providing flexibility to different situational encounters.
Flexible processes greater capabilities of adaptability.
E) Structure planning- structured planning based on project management life cycle enables one
easily and conveniently work according to the plan. It also enables efficient use of project resources and
priorisations of the activities based on resource planning
 3. Several different strategies have been employed to assist in aggregate planning. Explain these in
brief?
Several different strategies have been employed to assist in aggregate planning. The strategies are
divided into two groups namely ‘pure strategies ‘
And ‘mixed strategies’. The pure strategies involves taking up one type of approach and the production
is obtained when only one of the decision variables is permitted to vary while all others are held
constant. Details are explained later in the unit.
Under the mixed strategies, the production targets are achieved by a combination of approaches which
seeks to utilize resources both in – house and as well external to the organization. Again, there are
several possibilities because different combination can be developed to meet the production
requirements. Then the question is, “what is the overall objective?” it is understood that traditionally,
the total cost of an aggregate plan is taken into consideration to decide about its acceptance when
several plans are developed. However, it is also possible that the total time can also be seen as an
objective if meeting the timelines becomes the major issue rather than the cost.
In additions, contractual obligations, union guidelines. In-house policies and business trends can also
dictate the way the aggregate plan is to be developed.
Pure strategies
Three focused or pure strategies are:
 Vary production to match demand by chances in employment (chase demand strategy): This
strategy permits hiring and layoffs of workers are required. When the output is to be increased
more workers are added and when the output is to be decreased, workers are removed.

 Produced at a constant rate and use inventories (level productions strategy): This strategy
retains a stable work force producing at a constant output rate. Inventory can be accumulated
to satisfy peak demands. Promotional programs may also be used to shift demand. However, by
producing at a constant rate ,it sis possible that the entire demand is not met leading to sales
loss in some periods while excess production results in inventory build –up in some cases

.
 Produce with stable workforce but vary the utilization rate (stable work-force strategy): This
strategy retains a stable work force but permits overtime, part-time, and idle time. Some
versions of this strategy lead to a combinations of back orders, subcontracting, and use of
inventories. The strategy avoids the detrimental effects of layoff and hence is seen as a stable
strategy. Typically, information’s technology companies follow this strategy.
Features of three strategies
Heizer and render (2008) have been provided a good summary of features of different strategies.
Chase demand strategy:
In this strategy the production output is increased or decreased according the demand. This is possible if
workers are added or removed to vary the input capacity. It also means that if the system is dominantly
automated then it will be either under – utilized or over – utilized as the situations demands. Some
overtime or subcontracting might also be used, but no inventors would be accumulated.
Level production strategy:
In this case, the production output is held constant irrespective of the changes in demand from period
to period. Usually, the average demand is taken as the constant output. When the demand exceeds the
averages output. In some months there is a shortage and then the output is above the average there is
surplus and build –up of inventory. However, wherever possible excess output can be used to
accumulate inventory and that no initial inventory is maintained. in case of shortages, some back orders
could be allowed under a level production, or inventory strategy. If backorder is not allowed then the
result is loss in sales.
Stables work- force strategy:
In this strategy, the work force is maintained at the same level on regular time. Production output is
varied either by overtime or by building up inventory. However, if the demand falls then the production
output is decreased and some workers may become idle. Thus, using overtime and idle time to meet
demand would be stable work force strategy.
Mixed strategies:
In mixed strategies, the aggregate planner has a wide variety of choices by mixing two or more
strategies. The number of mixed strategies in alternative production plans is almost limitless. However,
based on the realities of the situations, the number of practical solutions is limited. These can be
evaluated on a trial and error basis to find which plan best satisfies the requirements , taking cost,
employment policies, etc . Into account.
4. Illustrate the different methods by which quality is sought to be achieved using various tools
technique?
Quality control techniques are specific activities and procedures adopted using data, for determining a
particular aspect of quality to arrive at decisions which are conclusive. Each technique developed and
tested by senior personnel or consultants will be simple enough to be understood, implemented and
interpreted by the personnel for their immediate use. The techniques to be used, the criteria to be
adopted and the way of interpreting data are handed over to them for use . Some of the quality control
techniques are:
 Quality at the source
 Quality control tools
 Acceptance sampling
Quality at the source
The concept of quality makes the production worker responsible for inspecting his/her own work and
for taking corrective actions. Since an inspection is done immediately after a job is done, finding the
cause of the error with clarity aids in faster rectifications.
Every worker has the authority to stop production, if he/she finds some serious defect. This puts
responsibility for quality on the workers and gives them pride in their work. Help should always be
available from the quality control personnel to help workers understand the implications of the above
actions. This brings in cooperation and improves the achievement of quality. 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 include flow chart, check sheet,
histogram, Pareto analysis, scatter diagram, control chart, and cause and effect diagram. These are the
basic seven quality control tools used for achieving or improving quality.
The quality control tools are:-
1. Flow chart
2. Check Sheet
3. Histogram
4. Pareto Analysis
5. Scatter Diagram
6. Control Chart
7. Cause and Effect Diagram

Acceptance Sampling
Acceptance Sampling is also known as end of line inspection and categorizing the products based on
sample based inspection. In acceptance sampling method of quality control, the supplier and customer
agree upon accepting a lot, by inspecting a small number taken randomly from the bulk supply. Out of
the sample, if a small number as agreed upon by the parties or as validated by a sampling scheme, is
determined as defective, the lot is accepted. If the number of defectives is more than the agreed size,
the entire lot is rejected. Obviously, risks for the producer and buyer exist. As the sample size increases
and the number of acceptable defectives decreases, the risk for the buyer decreases. And the converse
is true. That is the reason these numbers cannot be fixed as they depend on the customer’s
requirements. Sometimes parties go for a doubling sampling plan. In this case a range of defectives is
fixed. If defectives are less, the lot is accepted. If it is more than the higher number, the lot is rejected. If
the number of defectives falls between the above two numbers, another sample of a higher size is taken
for inspection and if the total number of defectives is less than another determined number, the lot is
accepted. Acceptance sampling is not quality improvement or correction, but only a way of ensuring
that the number of defectives is within a certain permitted number.
Q5. Explain the basic competitive priorities considered while formulating operations strategy by a
firm?

Operations strategy reflects the long-term goals of an organization in its corporate strategy. To achieve
good results, a clear understanding of the operating advantages and a good cross functional
coordination between functional areas of marketing, production, finance, and human resources
departments are required. Operating advantages depend on its processes and competitive priorities
considered while establishing the capabilities.
The basic competitive priorities are:
 Cost
 Quality
 Time
 Flexibility
1. Cost
Cost is one of the primary considerations while marketing a product or a service. Being a low cost
producer, the product accepted by the customer offers sustainability and can outperform competitors.
Lower price and better quality of a product will ensure higher demand and higher profitability. To
estimate the actual cost of production, the operations manager must address labour, materials, scrap
generations, overhead and other initial cost of design and development, etc.
2. Quality
Quality is defined by the customer. The operations manager looks into two important aspects namely
high performance design and consistent quality. High performance design includes superior features,
greater durability, convenience to services, etc where as consistent design measures the frequency with
which the product meets its design specifications and performs best.
3. Time
Faster delivery time, on-time delivery, and speedy development cycle are the time factors that
operations strategy looks into. Faster delivery time is the time lapsed between the customer order and
the delivery. On-time delivery is the frequency with which the product is delivered on time. The
development speed is the elapsed time from the idea generation up to the final design and production
of products.
4. Flexibility
Flexibility is the ability to provide a wide variety of products, and it measures how fast the manufacturer
can convert its process line used for one product to produce another product after making the required
changes. The two types of flexibilities are:
 Customization
 Volume flexibility
While customization is the ability of the firm to satisfy the specific needs of each its customer, the
volume flexibility is the ability to accelerate or decelerate the rate of production to handle the
fluctuations id demand. For example, the production of fertilizers of different specifications and
applications.
Q6. Explain briefly the four classification of scheduling strategies?
Scheduling strategy differs from organization to organization as it depends on the quantum of
production, size and type of production, company’s policy, priorities, etc. Most of these strategies are
concerned with job shop production since the problems encountered is more when more than one
product is produced in the same plant.
The four classification of scheduling strategies are:-
 Detailed Scheduling
 Cumulative Scheduling
 Cumulative-detailed Scheduling
 Priority decision rules
Details in this classification are:
1. Detailed Scheduling
All job orders from customers are scheduled to the last details. This may not be practical in case
disruptions are there in production line like machine breakdown, absenteeism, etc.(Possible in airlines,
hotels, etc)
2. Cumulative Scheduling
The customer orders are pooled to form a cumulative work load and then matched with the capacity.
The work load is then allocated in such a way that immediate periods get allocated to maximum
capacity.
3. Cumulative-detailed combination
This combines both the earlier strategies of firm and flexible nature of work load. Cumulative work load
projections can be used to plan for capacity as needed. As changes happen during the week, the
materials and capacity requirements are updated. The actual time allocated to the specified job at each
work centre is as per the standard hours needed. This is tuned further with the requirements of the
master schedule.
4. Priority decision rules
When a set of orders are to be executed, the question of prioritizing arises. These priority decision rules
are scheduling guidelines used independently or in conjunction with any one of the above three
strategies.