Question No.

-1
Write short notes on:

Outsourcing strategies for capital productivity

Implementation of operations
Basic competitive priorities
Market survey method of forecasting

Answer
Outsourcing strategies for capital productivity:
Capital Productivity is Capital deployed in plant, machinery,
buildings, and the distribution systems as well as working capital are
the components of the cost of manufacturing. Outsourcing
strategies when capacity requirements are determined, it is easy to
figure out whether some goods or services can be outsourced.
Outsourcing can reduce the capital and manpower requirements.
Also, the available capacities can be used to augment the core
competencies thus reducing the cost of the product or service to the
customer. Further, outsourcing also helps in improved product
design and even enables better networking and collaborations.
However, lack of expertise, quality considerations, nature of
demand, and cost factors may restrict outsourcing.
Lack of expertise The outsourced firm may not have the
requisite expertise to do the job required.
Quality considerations Loss of control over operations may
result in lower quality.
Nature of demand This affects the business, especially if no
production facilities are built in the organization.
Cost It may not be worthwhile when the fixed costs that go along
with making the product does not get reduced considerably.
Implementation of operations:
Implementation of operations Implementation is the process of
executing the planned operations. When planning and controlling
functions are put together, we call it as Implementation of
Operations.

Estimating Estimating gives the quantities to be made at each

workstation depending on the sales forecast, provision for buffer
stock, quantities bought out, services outsourced, likely shortfalls,
and others. It is made on the basis of capacity.
Routing Routing determines the sequence of operations and the
machines that do them, so that work flow, as determined by the
processes, is smooth resulting in minimum inventory.
Scheduling Scheduling is mainly concerned with allocating time
slots for different jobs
Dispatching Dispatching is concerned with moving of the
materials with tools, jigs, and fixtures to specific machines along
with the drawings and ensuring inspections at specific nodes, so that
the materials move in the supply chain.
Expediting Expediting ensures that all the above are being done
properly. Reports are generated and any bottleneck that gets
created is removed.
Basic competitive priorities The basic competitive priorities are:
1. Cost
2. Quality
3. Time
4. Flexibility
Cost: Cost is one of the primary considerations while marketing
a product or a service
Quality: Quality is defined by the customer. The operations
manager looks into two important aspects namely high performance
design and consistent quality.
Time: Faster delivery time, on-time delivery, and speedy
development cycle are the time factors that operations strategy
looks into.

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.
Market survey method of forecasting:
Market surveys Conducting surveys among the prospective buyers
or users are a very old method of forecasting. Here, a questionnaire
is prepared and circulated among the people and their responses are
obtained. The responses are collated and analysed to reveal possible
clues towards acceptance or otherwise about a new product or
service. Based on the overall decision, the forecasting is done. This
method is typically done for new products or at new places where a
product is to be launched. In this method, the number of
respondents and how responses are gathered like through oral
interviews, personal talks, internet based, postal ballots, etc., have
to be established before survey. The common limitations are the
sample size and the way of drawing the sample like random,
convenient, or judgmental. Sample bias is not completely ruled out.

Question No.-2
1. List of general factors that favour Gujarat as a destination for
manufacturing automobiles.
2. List of Special factors that favour Gujarat as a destination for
automobile manufacturing.
3. Explain why of these Factors favour Gujarat as automobile
manufacturing hub
4. Compare Gujarat with other states like Tamilnadu or Haryana in
terms of locating a automobile manufacturing plant.

Answer
General factors that favour Gujarat as a destination for
manufacturing automobilesGujarat has leveraged its locational advantages, with relatively low transaction costs
for accessing markets in the western and northern India. Good rail connectivity is
slated to improve significantly with the opening of the dedicated freight corridors to
Dahej and Nhava Sheva passing through large parts of Gujarat.
Special factors that favour Gujarat as a destination for
automobile manufacturingGujarats port development also could permit economical
transportation to other off, thus diversifying transport modes.
Developing domestic and international financial services, improving

road and air connectivity and focusing on affordable housing and

other amenities could further add to Gujarats locational advantage.
Factors favour Gujarat as automobile manufacturing hubThere are several reasons why Gujarats emergence as an auto hub
is a positive for Indias economy. First, the auto sector is a mother
industry and for every direct job in the OE, minimum 5-7 indirect
jobs are created in tier I, II and III, not including jobs for drivers,
service station attendants and mechanics that form a well-paying
proposition for many relatively less skilled, but aspirational Indians.
Secondly, importance of transport equipment, which includes all
types of motorised vehicles, in Indias trade has been increasing.
Thirdly, healthy competition among auto hubs in Tamil Nadu,
Maharashtra and Gujarat will be a positive for the manufacturing
productivity.
Finally, it would assist India in progressing towards the goal of
increasing the share of manufacturing in GDP from 16% in 2010 to
25% by 2022.
Comparison
From our point of view, we dont see it as Tamil Nadu versus Gujarat
but Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, says Joginder Singh, President and
Managing Director of Ford India. We have excellent relationships
with both governments. In Gujarat, since it is a new plant, we have
the advantage of bringing in new technology.
Gujarat is a better location for manufacturing automobiles
Gujarat is the larger share of non-fertile agricultural land. Gujarats
land bank could thus be an attractive factor. Gujarat Industrial
Development Corporation (GIDC) deserves credit for turning the
above potential into actual accomplishments.

Question No.-3
Write short notes on:

5Ss system of waste elimination

Scheduling in services
Vendor managed inventory
Subcontracting capacity (production) option

Answer

a) 5 Ss system of waste elimination 5S is the name of a workplace organization method that uses a list
of five Japanese words: seiri, seiton, seiso, seiketsu, and shitsuke.
Transliterated or translated into English, they all start with the letter
"S. Concept of 5S Historically, production managers have used
housekeeping for a neat, orderly, and efficient workplace and as a
means of reducing waste. Operations managers have improvised
housekeeping to include a checklist commonly known as the 5Ss.
The Japanese developed the initial 5Ss where each S stands for a
Japanese word. The 5Ss are as follows:
Sort/segregate Keep what is needed and remove everything else
from the work area; when in doubt, throw it out.
Simplify/straighten Arrange and use analysis tools to improve
the work flow and reduce wasted motion. Consider long-run and
short-run ergonomic issues
Shine/sweep Clean daily; eliminate all
contamination, and clutter from the work area.

forms

of

dirt,

Standardize Remove variations from the process by developing

standard operating procedures and checklists; develop good
standards.
Sustain/self-discipline Review periodically to recognize the
efforts and motivate the workforce to sustain progress. Use visuals
wherever possible for easy communication and implementation.
b) Scheduling in Services:
Service operations cannot create inventories to provide buffer for
demand uncertainties Demand in service operations cannot be
predicted accurately Demand for service are initiated mostly as
unplanned event and hence, there may be certain distortions in
scheduling Providing the required manpower and skills for the
sudden demand in scheduling a service activity is challenging and
sometimes becomes crucial Scheduling customer demand Normally
the service centre capacity is fixed, but the demand will be varying.
Forecasting the demand in advance for service activities is difficult
and scheduling such variable demand poses certain problems. In
order to provide timely service and utilize the capacity to the
maximum extent, the scheduler has to adopt certain
systems/methodologies. There are three methods normally used by
the scheduler in services.

They are:
Backlogs
Reservations
Appointments
c) Vendor managed inventory:
The very purpose of JIT is to reduce inventory at all places in the
supply chain. Inventory is considered a waste because inventory is
created by using materials, machines, and efforts of persons. All of
these are resources which have already been used up and that
portion of it which is not consumed and sent up the value chain
causes a drag in the system. However, inventories are inevitable
because uncertainties exist at every stage, making it necessary to
provide a buffer so that demands do not go unfilled. The challenge is
to keep it to the minimum. To make this happen, the calculations
involving the following are necessary:
Forecasts of the market demand
Capacities of the equipment
Worker absenteeism
Suppliers lead times
Quality of the produced components
d) Subcontracting capacity (production) option:
Subtracting enables planners to acquire temporary capacity with
great flexibility. Factors to consider include availability capacity,
relative expertise, quality considerations, cost, and the amount and
stability of demand. As an alternative to subcontracting, an
organization might consider outsourcing: contracting with another
organization to supply some portion of the goods or services on a
regular basis.
Question No.-4
Describe the post implementation review. Explain the tools that may
be considered for post implementation review.
Answer
Post implementation reviewThe Post Implementation Review (PIR) is conducted after a project
has been completed. The purpose of the PIR is to evaluate how
successfully the project objectives have been met and how effective
the project management practices were in keeping the project on

track. The outcomes of the PIR should be documented in a Post

Implementation Review Report
Post implementation review of a projectTo make the most of the benefits that the project can deliver,
however, you also need to check to see if further improvements will
deliver still greater benefit.
You also need to ensure that the lessons learned during the project
are not forgotten. You can more effectively design and execute
future projects when you take advantage of lessons learned through
experience of previous projects.
So how can you properly measure a project's success, and work
toward continuous improvement? This is where the process of PostImplementation Review (PIR) is helpful. It helps you answer the
following key questions:
Did the project fully solve the problem that it was designed to
address?
Can we take things further, and deliver even bigger benefits?
What lessons did we learn that we can apply to future projects?
Four parts of the post implementation review of a project1. Final product evaluation: Final product evaluation may be
done through regularly organised meetings and quality
reviews.
2. Outstanding project work evaluation: All outstanding
works of a project can be reviewed to check its output quality
and performance.
3. Project review questionnaire: Project review questionnaire
may become important if the reviews are to be structured.
Group discussion may be initiated depending upon the points
to be discussed.
4. Process evaluation: Evaluation of any process is one of the
key issues of project.
How do it do well Get input from the entire project team, the customers, and
other major stakeholders.
Conduct the PIR after the project's deliverables have been in
service for an adequate period of time to evaluate the product
or service's successful integration into the business.
Review the Project Charter to evaluate how closely the project
results match the original goals, objectives, and deliverables.
This review should also include a gap analysis between the

planned requirements, schedule, and budget and what was

actually delivered, when and for how much.
Conduct a lessons learned exercise to capture the most salient
points for inclusion in the PIR.
Conduct a customer survey.
Consider utilizing an objective third party to conduct the PIR.
Evaluate the effectiveness of the project management
practices and other processes as well as the success of the
project deliverables.
Document practices and procedures that led to project
successes and make recommendations for applying them to
similar future projects.
Provide only the level of detail necessary to show meaningful
analysis of events and conclusions.
Key in on the "unknowns" which may have increased
implementation risks and which offer useful "hindsight" value.
Attach appropriate documentation which may be useful
information to the PIR such as a final Quality Assurance Report,
customer survey results, etc.
Question No.-5

Explain the steps to set data in logical order so that the business
process may be defined.
List the ingredients of a business process.

Answer
Steps to set data in a logical order
The following steps should be considered for setting the data in a
logical order.
1. Check whether the participants in the process that is, people,
teams, and electronic applications are sufficient or, any changes and
additions need to be made.
2. Ensure that all the data expected is included or not. Generally, we
start with an initial set of data which we have. When we check them
with the requirements of the process for the desired outcomes, we
find gaps.
3. Check whether the data is sufficient for the implementation of the
process.

4. State the rules used to define the various parts of the process. At
this stage, the naming conventions are also included. This is
important to be included at the process definition stage.
5. Determine the disposition of data at the end of the process and
decide the following:
a. Do we plan to keep the data or delete them?
b. If they are to be stored, where and in what form will be used?
c. What are the measures of security for access?
6. Determine the other elements depending upon the business
process and the need. The elements added must be questioned to
collect a detail data.
Ingredients of a business processThe ingredients that might be used in a business process can be
briefly outlined as follows:
The data which accomplishes the desired business objective
Acquisition, storage, distribution, and control of data which
undertakes the process across tasks
Persons, teams, and organisational units which helps to
perform and
achieve the tasks
Decisions which enhance the value of data during the process,
we also have some behavioural aspects of the business
process, mainly the decision making process where humans
are involved. Decision failures are common and research has
shown that, the failure of decisions is due to:1. biases in perception and fallacies in reasoning.
Question No.-6
Describe the dimensions of quality.
Answer
Four dimensions of qualityQuality is inherent in the product or service that is rendered to the
customer. Since we are attempting to measure the same, we will
look into those aspects of quality, called dimensions of quality.

1. Quality of design A product is designed keeping in view the

customers requirement. For designing a product, the
manufacturer or service provider should be aware of the
specifications of different features required to incorporate in
the product.
2. Conformance to design Conformance to design is the
degree to which the manufactured product or delivered service
meets the parameters that have been incorporated in the
design.
3. Utilisation conditions Utilisation conditions refer to the
necessity of the customer being informed or trained so that,
the purpose for which the product was made is realised by the
customer in total, thus enhancing the customers satisfaction.
Instructions, manuals, help-lines, and on-site training by the
manufacturers personnel improve the perception of quality.
4. After sales service There are so many reasons why

products do not function to the expected levels. It may be

improper use, unexpected or additional demands, improper
assembly or even manufacturing defects.