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| What is operations management? | the process of managing productive systems that transform resources into finished products. |
| What is productivity? | The efficiency with which input are transformed into outputs. |
| What is the productivity formula? | Productivity = Output/Input |
| According to the microsoft study, how many hours are in the average work week and how many hours are people unproductive? | 47 average hours, 17 average unproductive |
| According to the microsoft study, what percentage of people said time meetings were unproductive? | 69% |
| What is competitive advantage? | the ability to outperform competitors due to a core competency that is difficult to imitate |
| Who is the leader in innovation when it comes to competitive advantage? | Apple - Big Dick Playa |
| Who is the leader in customer service when it comes to competitive advantage? | FedEx |
| Who is the leader in speed to market when it comes to competitive advantage? | Toyota (Hybrid Autos) |
| Who is the leader in manufacturing flexibility when it comes to competitive advantage? | Dana (Corvette/Explorer axles) |
| Who is the leader in product or service quality when it comes to competitive advantage? | lexus |
| What is Manufacturing technology? | The combination of knowledge, skills, equipment, and work methods used to transform inputs into outputs |
| What is an example of mass production? | Schwinn bicycles: large number of uniform products built using an assembly-line system |
| what is an example of small-batch manufacturing? | Lance Armstrong's bicycle: variety of custom-fit products |
| What does Honda do so well in the auto industry? | They revolutionized the custom car business giving Americans more options and features than they had ever seen |
| What are some examples of continuous process production? | Continuously feeding raw materials through a highly-automated (robotic) system with computer controls: liquids, solids, gases, electricity, oil. |
| What is flexible manufacturing ("mass customization") | The ability to produce in an assembly line fashion, but to still customize products quickly and easily by pulling them off the generic line |
| What are the purpose of cellular layouts in factories? | These layouts place machines doing different work together for better teamwork while minimizing movement of materials |
| What is LEAN manufacturing? | JIT - Just in Time Manufacturing to have inventory on hand ONLY when you need it |
| Companies like Apple, TomTom and Best Buy practice remanufacturing: how much can they save on costs by doing this? | Up to 30% on costs |
| What is a value chain? | A specific sequence of activities that creates products & services with value for the customer |
| Design in the Automotive Industry (High Value Added) | After researching consumer wants and needs, automakers begin designing models which are tailored to the public demand. In the past, this design process has taken up to five years. Today, however, through the extensive use of computers, it is possible to develop prototypes, or "concept cars," from sketches in less than a year. |
| Raw Materials in the Automotive Industry | These include rubber, glass, steel, plastic, and aluminum. Over the past few years, the cost of raw materials has increased significantly, mostly due to the price increase of oil and natural rubber. Also, companies are now using aluminum and plastic in place of steel whenever possible in order to lessen the weight of the automobiles, which in turn improves fuel efficiency. |
| Parts in the Automotive Industry (Medium Value Added) | Tires, windshields, and air bags are examples of parts. While the automobile industry as a whole has become more consolidated, the U.S. auto parts sector remains highly fragmented. It includes four primary sub-categories: original equipment manufacturers (Delphi and General Electric), replacement parts manufacturing (Cooper Tire and Rubber and Federal-Mogul), replacement parts distribution (NAPA), and rubber fabricating (Goodyear and Cooper). |
| What is the knock against Camry & Toyota? | not very creative or interesting orginally, they have made great leaps to make their cars more attractive |
| How was Nissan able to compete with other Asian car companies? | They couldn't compete on quality standards but were able to succeed with unique and edgy car styles |
| Assembly in the Automotive Industry (Medium Value Added) | Due to the combination of rising raw materials' costs and consumers' eternal search for the lowest price, companies are looking for ways to cut costs out of the manufacturing process. Recent trends to reduce costs include using fewer parts in each vehicle component, minimizing industrial waste and pollution, and having parts delivered to assembly plants on a just-in-time basis. |
| Marketing in the Automotive Industry (High Value Added) | Marketing is an integral part of the value chain, since it is the primary basis for consumers' perceived values. Automakers and individual dealers work together to create national, regional, and local marketing strategies. These may include television and radio advertising or special incentives offered to customers. In addition, firms have started advertising more online. GM, for example, spent 67% more on online advertising in 2005 than it did in the previous year.
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| Distribution and Sales in the Automotive Industry (High Value Added | After production is complete, automobiles are shipped to dealerships around the world to be sold. As mentioned previously, dealers may offer incentives to increase sales: the auto industry is all about selling a LIFESTYLE |
| How is the value chain different for entrepreneurs? | Many entrepreneurs who hit a home run go into angel investing or venture capital because its unlikely that lightning will strike twice for you. |
| What is supply chain management and what does it entail? | Strategic management of all operations linking an organization to its suppliers. Purchasing, manufacturing, transportation, distribution |
| Who were the top five innovators in 2007? | Apple, Google, Toyota, GE, and Microsoft |
| Who had the top five supply chains in 2007? | Nokia, Apple, P&G, IBM, Toyota |
| From a logistics standpoint, how many associates, drivers, and distribution centers does Walmart have? | 8,500 associates, 7,950 drivers, 147 distribution centers |
| Walmart's Information Systems | Walmart has forecasting centers around the world that can ship based on weather conditions. EX: Routing lumber and bottled water to NOLA before Katrina |
| What are some recent trends in supply chains? | Many companies are using centralized purchasing for buying power as well as maintaining a very trim supply chain. Some companies maintain their own warehouses on customers' premises. |
| Inventory Management: Economic Order Quantity | Truck arrives right when product has just run out with the goal of keeping customers happy while minimizing costs |
| What is the goal of CRM? | Customer Relationship Management's goal is to Build lasting relationships with and add value to customers |
| Who said "Your most unhappy customers are your greatest source of leaning?" | Bill Gates |
| Who is Mona Shaw and what did that crazy bitch do? | 75 year old woman who took a hammer into the Comcast office and started swinging and breaking electronics. |
| Who are Joseph M. Juran and W. Edwards Deming? | Two auto industry consultants that were rejected by US automakers post WWII. They instead went to Japan to completely rebuild their auto industry (very successfully) |
| What is the Malcolm Baldridge Award | Named after a former Secretary of Commerce, this prestigious award is given to firms that achieve major quality improvements. They designed defect testing based on statistical process control and inspected upstream, not after the fact to save costs |
| What is an ISO 9000 or 2000? | International Standards Organization that certifies that your company understands its own processes. Involves product testing, employee training, record keeping, supplier relations, and repair policies: Many firms will require that their suppliers be ISO certified |
| What is LEED certification? | A more recent certification that ensures your processes are environmentally friendly |
| What is Total Quality Management (TQM)? | Organization-wide commitment to continuous improvement, product quality, & customer needs. Can be frustrating because the process is never actually completed. |
| What is the variability of a process? | Sigma or standard deviation in Statistics |
| What is Statistical Quality Control (SQC)? | A way to manage quality through statistics and sampling |
| What is acceptance sampling? | Samples a % of finished goods to insure that defects are less than an “acceptable standard” |
| What is an example of destructive sampling? | Batteries, wine, collapsible steering wheel, ping pong balls |
| What is an example of in-process sampling? | you must take a sample of the product while it's still in production. E.g. chemicals and paint |
| What is a statistical quality control (SQC) control chart? | Essentially a sideways overlaid line over a histogram of the standard normal distribution that graphs 6 sigmas of +- 68%, 95%, and 99.7% |
| What is the outlier "Bus" Rule? | If you get hit by a bus, don't just get up and go about your business... find out why it happened; if you get an outlier, figure out why it happened. |
| When do you have an error? | When you get a process defect outside of 3 sigma but you are still in control. |
| What is overcontrol? | Human nature of tinkering with variables, but it is better to leave everything static to collect accurate data. "Treating a "statistic" as a parameter |
| What is a parameter? | It is unknown and unknowable. You can do is guess based on X bar. |
| Who said "Perfection is not attainable. But if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence"? | Vince Lombardi |
| What is the biggest source of frustration when managers try to implement TQM? | The irritating fact that the process is never done |
| What is Six Sigma? | if there are six standard deviations between the mean of a process and the nearest specification limit, there will be practically no items that fail to meet the specifications. The goal is to reduce errors, i.e., variability |
| What is the z-score? | The number of standard deviations a point is from the mean |
| What are the steps in Process Value Analysis? | ID core processes, map the workflow of the process, evaluate all core process tasks, eliminate unnecessary tasks, eliminate delays, errors, and misunderstandings, find efficiencies in how work is shared and transferred. |
