Operations Mgmt Exam 2 Qualitative Questions

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Give an example of how you might use a factor rating model to make a regional location decision
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Give an example of how you might use a factor rating model to make a regional location decision
For a regional location decision, relevant factors for locating a new manufacturing plant might include: (i) access to raw materials, (ii) access to skilled labor, (iii) wage rates, (iv) taxes, and (v) cost of living. I would establish a weight for each factor from 0 to 1 such that the weights sum to one. I would then score each candidate site on each factor on a scale of 1 to 10. I would compute a composite score for each site as the sum of the products of the weights and scores. The site with the highest composite score is the best choice.
What is the precise mathematical goal/objective of the center of gravity method for facility location?
To locate a single (supply) facility in the plane, such that the sum of the demand-weighted squared Euclidean distances from that located facility to the demand points is minimized.
What are the key differences between product and process layout with respect to (1) the nature of the output that they produce, and (2) the goals/objectives associated with the layout problem?
Nature of output: product layouts are designed to produce highly standardized outputs, whereas process layouts should have the flexibility to produce non-standardized outputs.
Goals/objectives: The goals of the product layout problem are to maximize efficiency by minimizing the cycle time given a fixed number of stations, or minimizing the number of stations given a cycle time. The goals of the process layout problem are to minimize material movement distance, minimize employee travel distance, or possibly maximize customer travel distance.
What, precisely, is positional weight in the context of assembly line balancing?
The positional weight for a task is the time for that task, plus the sum of the task times for all of its successors
Identify two similarities and two differences between aggregate planning in manufacturing versus aggregate planning in services.
Similarities: planning horizon length, similar cost objective functions, some of the same sources of flexibility such as overtime, demand forecast as input.Differences: inability to inventory services, harder to predict demand in services
Comment: Obviously, this question or one like it will not be on the exam.