Case

CHAPTER 4: PROCESS SELECTION

DEFINITIONS:

Continuous Process refers to the so-called process industries, such as, sugar, paper, oil, and electricity. Here the output is made in a continuous fashion and tends to be highly standardized with very high volumes of production.

Assembly line flow is characterized by a linear sequence of operations. Products are moving from one step to the next in a sequential manner from beginning to end. Make only one or a few products, such as, automobiles, refrigerators, computers, printers and a vast array of mass-produces consumer products.

Batch flow is characterized by production of the products in batches or lots. Each batch of the product travels together from one operation to another.

General-purpose equipment is often used by batch operations that are not limited to making just one particular product. Labour is more skilled and flexible in the ability to make different products.

The jumbled flow of a batch operation results in considerable production scheduling and inventory challenges.

A batch operation uses a Process Layout because the machines and labour are organized by process types into work centers

Assembly line operations us Product Layout because machines and labour are organized according to the product flow itself.

Job shops make products to customers order by using a process layout. We can consider job shops a special case of the batch process.

The project form of operations us used for unique or creative products.

Throughput ratio (TR): TR= Total processing time for the job x 100%

Total time in operations

Make-to-stock (MTS) process can provide faster service to customers by delivering orders from available stock and at lower costs than a MTO.

Make-to-order (MTO) process has high flexibility for product customization.

Lead-time the lengths of time it takes to design, make, and deliver the product. (Key performance measure of MTOs)

Back order is place when an item is not available or the order...