Get premium membership and access revision papers, questions with answers as well as video lessons.
Got a question or eager to learn? Discover limitless learning on WhatsApp now -
Start Now!
Production And Operations Management(Buss 323) Question Paper
Production And Operations Management(Buss 323)
Course:Business Administration
Institution: Kenya Methodist University question papers
Exam Year:2010
TIME : 2 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS Answer Question ONE (compulsory and any Other TWO Questions
Question 1
Kilomax (k) Ltd has had very successful operations in Kenya for the last twenty years. Theirs can be cited as a success story of entrepreneurs who saw an opportunity and made good use of it. The current Chairman of the Board was retrenched from his civil service job where he worked as a District Trade officer (DTO). Desperation for a job pushed him to start a small outfit assembling farm tools like pruning scissors, fork jembes and eventually chaff cutters, ploughs, posho mills, ox-driven water boozers and now bore hole drilling equipment
Over the years, the company has grown into major leaps. It has three key departments; Marketing, Finance and Administration. The chairman’s role is an executive one while the administration manager acts as his principle assistant. The operation function is in the administration department. Top management is composed of the chairman, the finance, and marketing and administration managers respectively.
The company now wants to expand their operation. They have spotted a big potential in the Southern Sudan market. Given their huge population, the prospects of their coming independence from the north, this is a market worth investing in. The country is also likely to join the COMESA trading block. The management of Kilomax (k) ltd does not want to take anything fore granted. They have sought your advice concerning this proposal.
Required:
Discuss the factors that they should put into consideration regarding
a) Infrastructure (10marks)
b) Factors that impact on cash flow (10 marks)
c) Proximity of resources (10 marks)
Question 2
Just - In-Time Manufacturing is both a philosophy and a set of methods for manufacturing. It involves lean production and waste reduction.
Required:
a) What are some of the elements that firms pursuing this lean production philosophy should address? (10 marks)
b) What are the kinds of waste that firms pursuing JIT should strive to eliminate? (10 marks)
Question 3
Quality should be the concerns of every firm right from the time the product /service is designed (because it is difficult to rectify a poorly designed product when it is at the production stage); up to the time that it reaches the customer. Firms refer to this as Total quality management (TQM).
Required:
a) Why is it important for firms to provide quality products or services? (10 marks)
b) With the aid of a diagram demonstrate and explain Deming’s wheel of (10 marks)
Question 4
For any firm facility layout design will in most cases contribute to the achievement of competitiveness. The firm can achieve a competitive edge on the basis of how the facility is laid out. This mainly involves that part of process design involving physical layout or arrangements of all machines, equipment and work stations used in the operating environment. Depending on the type of production operation, the size of the organization and the number of different product/service components handled, a firm will usually put into consideration several factors when designing the layout of their production processes.
Required:
a) What factors affect plant layout (10 marks)
b) With the aid of a diagram, explain how the assembly line facility layout works, citing its advantages and disadvantages. (10 marks)
Question 5
Process performance metrics help a production manager to check on how productively a process is operating currently and how productivity is changing over time or how it can be improved.
Required:
Explain the use and calculation of the following metrics
a) Efficiency (5 marks)
b) Operating time (5marks)
c) Throughput time with an explanation on how it can be reduced without necessarily purchasing new equipment (10 marks)
More Question Papers
Popular Exams
Return to Question Papers