Production & Operation Management

1. CHAPTER 1: Production and Operations Management Function
Response to Questions:
1. Production and operations management function distinguishes itself from
other functions by its primary concern for ‘conversion (of inputs into
outputs) by using physical resources’.
2. Future lifestyles may be entirely different from what they are today. In the
recent past, we have seen the emphasis shift from products to services. In
the future, the emphasis may shift from hardcore services to softer service
issues – perhaps the psychological issues. Production and operations will
still remain; but, it will deal with a different set of ‘inputs’ and ‘outputs.’
3.
Situation Input Output Processes Utilities
Banking Cheques Cleared
cheques
Information
processing
Possession
Advertising Data from
clients
Short film Film
production
State
Agriculture Seeds, water More seeds
or fruits or
flowers
Plough, sow,
de-weed,
irrigate
Form
Hotel Tired travelers Happy and
rejuvenated
people
Services State
4. Continuous flow : Petrochemical plants or petroleum refineries
Mass production: Manufacture of fasteners, auto components
Batch production: Garments, dyes & colours
Job-shop production: Specially engineered items, special castings
5. OR and quantitative methods are just that viz. ‘methods’ to optimize.
Such optimization methods could be used not only in production
management but also in other functional decision-making situations such
as in marketing and finance. In fact, Marketing Research makes much use
of quantitative analysis; so does the field of Economics.
6. Computer has been useful in keeping track of thousands of materials in
the inventory, on the shop floor, in transit, in the dealers’ place, etc.
Managing complex information would not have been possible without the
computers. Computers have been useful in all types of machine tools,
particularly in the control of precision operations. They have been useful in
quickly changing over setups, quickly changing over designs and other
rapid adjustment areas. Computers have provided much flexibility to the

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production operations and have removed tedious and boring operations
from the human operator domain.
Computing will advance further and could be a boon in providing futuristic
‘services’ to the people. They will continue to be an invaluable help in
managerial decision-making.
7. Production refers to mainly ‘manufacturing’. Operations refer to any
physical operation in any endeavour. Service providing involves several
operations, which need to be managed.
8. The more appropriate phrase would be ‘elementalization of tasks’.
Frederick Taylor broke a task down into small elements for which he could
set time standards. A particular elemental task performed by using a
particular method will have a certain standard time. This ‘Taylorism’
helped in balancing a production assembly line so as to arrange work in
such a way that the flow through the assembly line is uniform.
Elementalisation also helped in ‘specialization’ or skills improvement by
repeating the same task several times in a day. Efficiencies zoomed.
However, ‘Taylorism’ is criticized for its ‘dehumanization’ of work and
looking at workers as ‘automatons’.
9. Many service functions can be broken down into ‘elements’.
The work of a receptionist at a hospital can also be seen as a number of
small tasks. These tasks could be ‘timed’ and the patient reception could
be controlled in terms of the method, the output and the time required.
An air hostess’ job of serving food can also be seen in its components and
timed. In fact, without such ‘timing’ it is not possible to complete the
service during the given flight time. Time study is being used with great
importance in many such ‘service’ functions.
10. Long-term decisions such as plant location, once taken, cannot be
retracted/reversed easily. Intermediate term decisions such as deployment
of manpower, quality-checking procedures etc can be reversed. But, these
are allowed to run for a certain length of time to monitor/check the results.
Short-term decisions are seen in day-to-day production scheduling.
The basic difference in all these is the ‘reversability’ or ‘flexibility to
change’. The ‘cost of flexibility’ is extremely high in long-term decisions.
This ‘cost’ – which could be monetary and emotional (or non-monetary) –
is the basic ‘characteristic’.
With the world demanding more and more flexibility, overlaps have
developed. As far as the customers are concerned, nothing should be

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‘inflexible’. However, the flexibility is possible on the basis of rock solid
firm relationships (dependable relationships) between business associates
and/or between the employees and the management of any company.
The situation is, indeed, paradoxical.
11. As mentioned in the previous response, relationships are very important
for different reasons.
12. Timely service will always remain an important area. However, the
concept of ‘time’ as perceived by the people/society may vary. Today, we
have an ‘industrial’ concept of time – down to the minute/second or even
shorter. However, if services of different kinds dominate the future, then
the concept of ‘time’ may also shift. Whatever the concept of time, that
‘time’ has to be catered to.
13. True, for the past century or more. Time study, method study, quality
control, production planning are all attempts at reducing the ‘variability’.
14. The 20th
century industry grew around ‘efficiencies’. The core of efficiency
is ‘time’ – the time that a resource is locked up. It is no wonder that
nations emphasizing a ‘linear’ concept of time – time that could be broken
down into small elements – industrialized rapidly. Other societies that had
a different concept of time, lagged in industrial activity.
15. Please refer to response # 2.
16. It is lagging behind at the present. Its ways of looking at life have been
different. However, it is taking rapid strides on the trajectory. It could
imbibe the best elements of the currently ‘developed’ world’s practices and
use them judiciously for future requirements, which are likely to be very
different. It could develop its own distinctive response to the future
scenarios.

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Chapter 1: Production and Operations Management Function
Objective Questions:
1. The common thread running through the history of POM during the past
century has been :
a. continuous upgradation in production technology.
√ b. efforts at reducing variability.
c. customer service orientation.
d. none of the above.
2. As we move from Job-shop to Continuous Flow production:
a. the operations flexibility increases while the capacity decreases.
b. the operations flexibility decreases while the capacity also decreases.
√ c. the operations flexibility decreases while the capacity increases.
d. the operations flexibility increases while the capacity also increases.
3. Individual efficiency was addressed, in the early days, by :
a. Frederick Taylor
b. Frank Gilbreth
c. Lilian Gilbreth
√ d. all of the above
4. The following is long-term decision in POM:
a. Effluent and waste disposal systems
b. Outsourcing
√ c. a & b
d. None of the above
5. Production ‘Capacity’ consists of :
a. Men/labour
b. Machinery and plant
c. Inventory
√ d. All of the above
6. George Dantzig is known for:
a. Quality control charts
√ b. Operations Research
c. Computing technology
d. Industrial Psychology
7. Production assembly line was pioneered by :
√ a. Henry Ford
b. Walter Shewart
c. Edward Deming
d. Toyota Motor Company

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8. The basis for Assembly line has been the theory of :
√ a. task elementalization by Frederick Taylor.
b. control charts by Walter Shewart
c. PDCA cycle by Edward Deming.
d. Collective efficiency by Gantt.
9. Petroleum Refinery is an example of :
a. Mass production system
√ b. Continuous flow production system
c. Batch production system
d. Job-shop production