Master of Business Administration – MBA Semester 2

MB0044 – Production & operations Management - 4 Credits

(Book ID: B1133)
Assignment Set- 1
60 Marks
Note: Each question carries 10 Marks. Answer all the questions.

1. What are the components of systems productivity? Explain how CAD

and CIM help in improving productivity.

2. What do you understand by ‘industry best practice’? Briefly explain

different types of Benchmarking.

3. List out the various automated systems for transfer of materials in the
production plant. What do you understand by Line Balancing? Explain with
an example.

Line Balancing :-Production lines have a number of work centers in a

particular sequence so that the
ma t e r i a l t h a t g e t s p r o c e e d h a s t o m o v e f u r t h e r w i t h o u t e n c o u n
t e r i n g a n y b o t t l e n e c k s . T h e quantities produced the rate of
production at each center, the number of operations and the total
production required are factors taken into account.

The purpose of taking place between work centers and minimum inventory gets
created. We use the principles of JIT and lean Manufacturing to achieve
these. Linear programming, Dynamic programming and other mathematical
models are used to study these problems.

In order picking important pants are:

Order picking is a process by which items of products for

supply is to be made haves to be retrieved from specific
storage location. It is found to take 60% of labour activities in
t h e warehouse. Since it is critical to the business to meet customer’s
demand expeditiously and accurately, lot of attention is being given to this
aspect of operations. In the manufacturing arena, we desire to move towards
small lot sizes and cycle time reductions.

Efficient order picking is necessary for being competitive. In the supply chain
Storage, retrievaland delivery do not add value to the product, but are
necessary.
4. Explain the different types of Quality Control Tools with examples? How
do Crosby’s absolutes of quality differ from Deming’s principles?

5. Define project cycle, project management, and scope of project. List the
various project management knowledge areas? What are the reasons for
failure of a project?

Answer: The word project comes from the Latin word projectum which means
"something that comes before anything else happens". A project is “a unique
endeavour to produce a set of deliverables within clearly specified time, cost and
quality constraints”.

Project Cycle:- The term project lifecycle models how a project is planned,
controlled, and monitored from its inception to its completion. The sequence of
phases through which the project will evolve is a project life cycle. A project life
cycle is basically defined by it’s phases, according to which a project swims
through & finally reaches to handover stage.

project management :-In project management a project consists of a temporary

endeavour undertaken to create a unique product, service or result. It is a
management environment that is created for the purpose of delivering one or
more business products according to a specified business case. Project
management comprises: •A set of skills. •A suite of tools. •A series of processes.

Project Scope :-"The work that needs to be accomplished to deliver a product,

service, or result with the specified features and functions."

Project management Knowledge Areas:-

1. Integration Management – Project selection methods, project management
methodologies, stakeholder analyses, project charters, project management
plans, project management software, change requests, change control boards,
project review meetings, and lessons-learned reports.
2. Scope Management – Scope statements, work breakdown structures, mind
maps, statements of work, requirements analyses, scope management plans,
scope verification techniques, and scope change controls.
3. Time Management – Gantt charts, project network diagrams, critical-path
analyses, crashing, fast-tracking, schedule performance measurements.
4. Cost Management – Net present value, return on investment, payback
analyses, earned value management, project portfolio management, cost
estimates, cost management plans, and cost baselines.
5. Quality Management – Quality metrics, checklists, quality control charts,
Pareto diagrams, fishbone diagrams, maturity models, and statistical models.
6. Human Resource Management – Motivation techniques, empathic listening,
responsibility assignment matrices, project organizational charts, resource
histograms, and team building exercises.
7. Communications Management – Communications management plans,
kickoff meetings, conflict management, communications media selection, status
and progress reports, virtual communications, templates, and project web sites.
8. Risk Management – Risk management plans, risk registers,
probability/impact matrices, and risk rankings.
9. Procurement Management – Make-or-buy analyses, contracts, request for
proposals or quotes, source selections, supplier evaluation matrices.*

Now, the reasons are project failure:

Incidence of Project failure
Projects being initiated of random at all levels
Project objective not in line with business objective
Project management not observed
Project manager with no prior experience in the related project
Non- dedicated team
Lack of complete support from clients

Factors contributing to project success not emphasized:

Project objective in alignment with business objective
Working within the framework of project management methodology
Effective scoping planning, estimation, execution, controls and reviews, project
bottlenecks
Communication and managing expectations effectively with cli
e n t s , t e a m m e r i t s a n d s t a k e holders
Prior expectance of PM in a similar project

Overview of information and communication Technologies (ICT) project:

Involve information and communication technologies such as the word wide web,
e-mail, fiber-optics satellites
Enable societies to produce, access, adapt and apply information in greater
amount, more rapidly and at reduce casts
Offer enormous opportunities for enhancing business and economic viability
Common problems encountered during projects
No prioritization of project activity from an organizational position
One or more of the stages in the project mishandled
Less qualified non-dedicated manpower Absence of smooth flow of
communication between the involved parties

These basic reasons lead a project to failures. In the project failures

business management and project management is directly involved. From
the management point of view it is basic things to care above topics to
success of a project. Project is the core business of a company

6. Explain the various phases in project management life cycle. Explain the
necessity and objectives of SCM.

Answer:-

Project Management Life Cycle comprises four phases...

Initiation involves starting up the project, by documenting a business
case, feasibility study, terms of reference, appointing the team and
setting up a Project Office.

Planning involves setting out the roadmap for the project by creating
the following plans: project plan, resource plan, financial plan, quality
plan, acceptance plan and communications plan.

Execution involves building the deliverables and controlling the project

delivery, scope, costs, quality, risks and issues.

Closure involves winding-down the project by releasing staff, handing

over deliverables to the customer and completing a post
implementation review.

A more detailed description of the MPMM Project Management

Methodology and Life Cycle follows:

Project Initiation

Project Initiation is the first phase in the Project Life Cycle and
essentially involves starting up the project. You initiate a project by
defining its purpose and scope, the justification for initiating it and the
solution to be implemented. You will also need to recruit a suitably
skilled project team, set up a Project Office and perform an end of
Phase Review. The Project Initiation phase involves the following six
key steps:
Project Planning

After defining the project and appointing the project team, you're
ready to enter the detailed Project Planning phase. This involves
creating a suite of planning documents to help guide the team
throughout the project delivery. The Planning Phase involves
completing the following 10 key steps:

Project Execution

With a clear definition of the project and a suite of detailed project

plans, you are now ready to enter the Execution phase of the project.

This is the phase in which the deliverables are physically built and
presented to the customer for acceptance.

While each deliverable is being constructed, a suite of

managementprocesses are undertaken to monitor and control the
deliverables being output by the project.

These processes include managing time, cost, quality, change, risks,

issues, suppliers, customers and communication.

Once all the deliverables have been produced and the customer has
accepted the final solution, the project is ready for closure.
Project Closure

Project Closure involves releasing the final deliverables to the

customer, handing over project documentation to the business,
terminating supplier contracts, releasing project resources and
communicating project closure to all stakeholders. The last remaining
step is to undertake a Post Implementation Review to identify the level
of project success and note any lessons learned for future projects.

the necessity and objectives of SCM.:-

Answer.
SCM is the abbreviation of supply chain Management. It is considered by many
express worldwide as the ultimate solution towards efficient enterprise
management.

Now, we explain the necessity and objectives of SCM-

SCM is required by and enterprise as a tow to enhance

m a n a g e m e n t e f f e c t i v e n e s s w i t h a following organizational objective:

Reduction of inventory
Enactment in functional effectiveness of existing systems like ERP,
Accounting. Software and Documentation like financial reports statements
ISO 9000 Documents etc.

Enhancement of participation level and empowerment level

Effective integration of multiple systems like ERP,

communication systems, documentation system and secure, Design R&D
systems etc.

Better utilization of resources- men, material, equipment and money.

Optimization of money flow cycle within the organization as

w e l l a s t o a n d f r o m e x t e r n a l agencies.
Enhancement of value of products, operations and services and
consequently, enhancements of profitability.

Enhancement of satisfaction level of customer and clients, supporting

institutions, statutory
control agencies, supporting institutions, statutory control age
n c i e s , s u p p l i e r s a n d v e n d o r s , employees and executives.

Enhancement
of flexibility in the organization to help in easy implementation
o f s c h e m e s involving modernization, expansion and divestment, merges and
acquisitions.

Enhancement of coverage and accuracy of management information systems.

With the objectives of SCM its implementation are required.
Implementation is in the form of various functional blocks of an organization
interpenetrated through which a smooth flow of the product development is
possible.
A relatively new SCM option involves web based software with a
browser interface. Several electronic marketplaces for buying and selling
goods and materials
Master of Business Administration – MBA Semester 2
MB0044 – Production & operations Management - 4 Credits
(Book ID: B1133)
Assignment Set- 1
60 Marks
Note: Each question carries 10 Marks. Answer all the questions.
1. Take an example of any product or service industry and
explain the factors considered while taking the decision on
plant location.

2. What is Business Process? Explain with an example as to why a

business process is to be modelled.

3. What is Value Engineering? Explain briefly its origins and

objectives.

4. Discuss the difference between work study and motion

study. Explain with an example.

5. Time taken by three machines on five jobs in a factory is

tabulated below in table below. Find out the optimal sequence
to be followed to minimise the idle time taken by the jobs on
the machines.
Job Machin Machin Machin
e 1 (M1) e 2 (M2) e 3 (M3)
A 6 8 7
B 4 5 3
C 5 5 7
D 3 4 6
E 4 3 4