Tag: Supply Chain Management / Operations Management

Pete’s Market is a small local grocery store with only one checkout counter.
Assume that shoppers arrive at the checkout lane according to a Poisson probability distribution, with an arrival rate of 16 customers per hour. The checkout service times follow an exponential probability distribution, with a service rate of 20 customers per hour.It is the manager’s service goal to limit the waiting time prior to beginning the checkout process to no more than five minutes. After reviewing the waiting line analysis of his store, the manager of Pete’s Market wants to consider one of the following alternatives for improving service.Option 1: Hire a second person to bag the groceries while the cash register operator is entering the cost data and collecting money from the customer. With this improved single-server operation, the service rate could be increased to 30 customers per hour. (Note: Although we hire one more person, it is still an M/M/1 queueing system, Because we do not operate a second counter but only hire a person to help with the first cashier counter, the service rate of the cashier improves.)
What are the arrival and service rates in Option 1?
Group of answer choices
𝜆 = 16; 𝜇 = 30 per hour
𝜆 = 16; 𝜇 = 1/30 per hour
𝜆 = 1/16; 𝜇 = 1/30 per hour
𝜆 = 1/16; 𝜇 = 30 per hour
𝜆 = 16; 𝜇 = 20 per hour
𝜆 = 16; 𝜇 = 50 per hour

The size of any price-based competitive disadvantage a footwear-maker might have in selling branded footwear to footwear retailers in a particular geographic region depends onthe amount by which its average wholesale price is above the region’s average wholesale price; the further a company’s average wholesale price is above a region’s average wholesale price, the greater is its price-based competitive disadvantage.the degree to which its average wholesale price is more than 2055 above than the reglon’s average Wholesale price–any company’s average wholesale price that is less than 20% above the regionalaverage wholesale price has a modest price-based competitive disadvantage that results in less than a 4% negative impact on the number of pairs it is able to sat to the region’s footwear retailers.how unfavorably the company’s average wholesale price compares against the wholesale price being charged by whatever tival compary captures the bigsest market share of branded footwear sales to the region’s footwear retailers.how far (in percentage terms) its average wholesale price is belor the grice of the company charging the highest average wholesale price in the region.how unfavorably the company’s average wholesale price compares to the lowst average wholesale price being charged by a rival company in that same geogreshic region.

Tamolsky: We must become mone flexible if we are to meet our personnel needs and maximize efficiency. In the past, we simply hired as many full-time employees as we thought we needed. But this focus has caused us to lose many valuable employees. We should offer flextime and job sharing options to help us keep and attract lalented employees.
Robin: Alternatives to traditional job design approaches can lead to significart cost savings. Next year we are expected to have 500 more employees than our current facility allows, but my analysis reveals that 600 of our amployees could telecommule. Therefore, we ean avoid eostly actions such as moving our offices or building exfensions if these workers became telecommulers. Job sharing can also reduce facility costs as well as paymoll costs.
Tamolsiky and Robin would be most likely to disagree about which of the following questions?
A. Would telecommating lifely lead to cost savings?
B. Does the organization have a moral obligation to offer flextine and job sharing estions?
C. If offering a job sharing eption mould not reduce costs, shoul fle orpuration sitil effer i?
D. Would the organisation be better able to keep viluatile employes Fr offered flestime and job sinaring options?
E. Ave any otber erganisational structure decisions irreonart for the liture of the erganizabon?

(Q1) In August of the current year, a car dealer is trying to determine how many cars of the next model year to order. Each car ordered in August costs $20,000. The demand for the dealer’s next year models has the probability distribution shown in the first tab of the Excel Template. Each car sells for $25,000. If demand for next year’s cars exceeds the number of cars ordered in August, the dealer must reorder at a cost of $22,000 per car. Excess cars can be disposed of at $17,000 per car. Considering potential delays in restocking and the effects on planning and customer relationships, the car dealer excludes the sales of cars that are reordered from the sales value calculation.
(a)
Use simulation to determine how many cars to order in August, if the goal is to maximize mean profit. Narrow your search from 20 to 40 at increments of 5 cars, i.e., choose from 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40.
(b)
For your optimal order quantity, find a 95% confidence interval for the expected profit. Hint: In order to check whether you develop the right simulation model, the final distribution of the mean profit for different order quantities (20,25,30, 35, 40) should have a similar distribution/pattern as below (Note: you will not get the exact numbers shown in the following plot due to the random number generation):

Sports of All Sorts produces, distributes, and sells high-quality skateboards. Its supply chain consists of three factories (located in Detroit, Los Angeles, and Austin) that produce skateboards. The Detroit and Los Angeles facilities can produce 350 skateboards per week, but the Austin plant is larger and can produce up to 700 skateboards per week. Skateboards must be shipped from the factories to one of four distribution centers, or DCs (located in Iowa, Maryland, Idaho, and Arkansas). Each distribution center can process (repackage, mark for sale, and ship) at most 500 skateboards per week. Skateboards are then shipped from the distribution centers to retailers. Sports of All Sorts supplies three major U.S. retailers: Just Sports, Sports ‘N Stuff, and The Sports Dude. The weekly demands are 200 skateboards at Just Sports, 500 skateboards at Sports ‘N Stuff, and 650 skateboards at The Sports Dude. The following tables display the per-unit costs for shipping skateboards between the factories and DCs and for shipping between the DCs and the retailers.

Example/Description
At Land Rover, voluntary discussion groups of 4 to 12 employees met regularly to identify cost savings, improve product quality, and discuss work-related problems. Although the teams were later phased out, their work was, in part, responsible for almost doubling production at Land Rover from 1993 to 1996.
At the Franklin Steel Products Plant in Franklin, Kentucky, employees from the Dana Corporation’s Perfect Circle Products unit manufacture as many as 3,500 different part numbers, primarily for automakers Ford, General Motors, and DaimlerChrysler, as well as thousands of after-market products. Despite the high-volume, high-mix environment, Dana Franklin has maintained a 99% on-time delivery rate to customers since 2001. The philosophy here is that with each unit produced, with each hour, with each day and each week, the plant gets just a little bit better.
Xerox studied the order fulfillment techniques of L. L. Bean, the Freeport, Maine, mail-order firm, and learned ways to reduce warehouse costs by 10%.
Which of the following factors is likely to have a positive impact on the success of a TQM program? Check all that apply:
Employees work at tasks that require high skills.
Employees are dissatisfied with working conditions.
TQM motivates employees and enriches jobs.
Quality circle discussions do not include union leaders.

RANGES ON OBJECTIVE FUNCTION COEFFICIENTS
Variable
Lower Limit
Present Value
Upper Limit
x
1
−∞
4.0
7.0
x
2
0
2.0
10.0
x
3
3.0
5.0
∞
Using the above information answer the following questions:
Because of an increase in the cost of raw material used for product C, its unit profit drops to $4. Determine the new optimal solution and the maximum profit.
Suppose it is possible to increase the capacity of one of the machines. Which one would you recommend for expansion and why?
Due to an improvement in product design, the unit profit on product A can be increased to $6. Is it worthwhile producing product A now? Explain.
Suppose that the capacity of machine 2 can be increased by another 200 minutes at a cost of $250. Is it economical to do so? Explain.
Because of an increase in the cost of energy for operating the machines, the unit profits of A, B, and C decrease by $2.0, $0.5, and $1.0, respectively. How will it affect the optimal solution and maximum profit?

The International Red Cross often finds itself providing aid and medical services to victims of disasters such as an earthquake, flood, or hurricane. It has two mobile communication systems, one using low earth orbit satellites, and the other, short antennas mounted on trucks. These two alternative communication networks are community lifelines that enable all rescue agencies and government services to communicate. The low earth orbit system is a series system with four components. Three identical satellites (components A) orbit close enough that they are assumed to operate in parallel with a reliability of 0.971 based on simulations of their digital twins. Components B, C, and D of the system have reliabilities 0.93,0.98, and 0.92 , respectively. The mobile truck and antenna-based system is also a fourcomponent series system. Component A has a reliability of 0.99 based on simulations of their digital twins. Components B, C, and D have the same reliabilities as the low earth orbit system.a. What is the reliability of the satellite-based system? Round your answer to four decimal places.b. What is the reliability of the mobile truck-based system? Round your answer to four decimal places.c. What are your final recommendations, assuming the costs of either system are roughly the same?The ◻ system has a slight advantage.

Quantitative Research Proposal
Students are required to produce a Quantitative Research Proposal by extending their research from Assignment 1: Quantitative Conceptual Paper. The main research tasks include:
Main research tasks
Define a business- or management-related dilemma faced by the business organizations.
Explain why the research is worth the effort.
Write a statement of the research objectives/ research questions.
Engaging with relevant academic literature.
Explain the research gaps.
Justify the research framework based on the research gaps.
Develop research framework and hypothesis.
Explain where/ how to carry out the research (Research Methodology).
Explain the primary data collection methods used.
Determine the design and content of the instrument.
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Problem Statement
Research Objectives
Research Questions
Significance of the Study
LITERATURE REVIEW
Identification and Justification of Research Gaps
Underpinning Theory
Explanation of Dependent Variable and Independent Variables
Hypotheses Development
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Research Design
Data Collection Methods
Operationalization of the Constructs
Questionnaire Design
Sampling Design
Data Analysis Techniques
Also referencing required.

Activity:
Theories can be approached in a variety of ways, depending on what is being studied. Write a detailed response to the following prompt. Your objective here is to gain a hands-on understanding of theory building by applying this week’s concepts to brainstorming a workplace* communication problem with your classmates that you can investigate for your final project. (*Remember, if you are not employed or cannot discuss your workplace, brainstorm communication problems that you have experienced in another organizational setting, such as in school or as part of a church or community group.)
First, think about the communication phenomena that scholars study. Which aspects of communication intrigued you the most in this week’s readings—verbal or nonverbal behaviors? Oral or written messages? Interpersonal, small group, or organizational dynamics? Face-to-face or mediated contexts?
Then, reflect on the informal and formal communication channels in your workplace. What types of breakdowns have you experienced or observed in the flow of that communication which affected your work?
Finally, to begin learning about how communication competence can help you or your co-workers to effectively and appropriately handle challenging workplace communication situations, post a response that answers the following: