OIDD 101 Midterm Flashcards
Process scope
Can be defined at the micro level it’s multiple sub processes and also at an aggregate level which tracks the process as a whole
Process
Set of activities that accepts inputs and produces outputs.
Flow unit
The flow unit is what is tracked thru the process and generally defines the process output of interest
Little’s Law
I = R * T
I in Little’s law
Inventory
The average flow units in the process (units)
R in Little’s law
Flow rate
Average rate at which flow units enter or leave the process
(Units / time)
T in Little’s law
Flow time.
Average time a flow unit is in the process. (Time)
Make sure to do a Little’s Law sample calculation
For example, incoming calls —> call center —> completed calls
What is I, R, and T?
I will be the average number of callers on the phone with the call center
R is the average number of incoming or completed calls per min (what goes in must go out)
T is the average time a caller spends with the call center
Why do we need inventory?
Flow time
Seasonality
Batching
Buffers —> a buffer is inventory between processes. Allows one process to work while another doesn’t, possibly preventing a reduction in the overall flow rate
Uncertain demand —> produce in advance to reduce chance of running out of inventory
Pricing —> buy when cheap and sell later at higher price
4 diff ways to count inventory
In terms of: 1. Flow units 2 dollars 3. Days of supply 4. Turns
Counting inventory in terms of flow units
The I in I=RT
Number of wetsuits, patients, etc.
Useful when the focus is on one particular flow unit
Just measuring in terms of the flow unit
Counting inventory in terms of dollars
The I in I=RT
The dollar value of inventory
Intuitive measure of firms total inventory
Problem is this isn’t relative
Based on cost to purchase good, not sell it
Measuring inventory in terms of days of supply
The average number of days a unit spends in the system
Number of days the average amount of inventory would last at the average R if no replenishments
The T in I = RT
Can also be weeks, months, years of supply
T = I/R = inventory /flow rate
Measuring inventory in terms of turns
The number of times the average amount of inventory exits the system
= 1/T or R/I
For example, say T =2 months
Then annual turns = 6
So, average inventory lasts 2 months. Avg inventory will exit the system once every 2 months or 6 times per year. So annual turns = 6
Cost of goods sold
This is the flow rate
Flow rate isn’t sales, as inventory is measured in the cost to purchase goods, not in the sales revenue.
R =COGS
Problem with having too much inventory
Opportunity cost of capital —> money in inventory could be invested in some other asset
Storage, insurance, maintanance costs
Obsolescence costs—> inventory may be worth less tomorrow than it is worth today
Inflation provides benefit to hold inventory, as with inflation cheaper to buy today than tomorrow.
Two ways to measure inventory holding costs
- Dollars per flow unit per unit time.
For example, 25 cents per customer per minute
$114 per ton of milk powder per year - % of cost of goods
Measuring inventory holding costs as percent of cost of goods sold
For example, cost of holding inventory is 40%per year.
If a component cost $120, then it costs .4(120) =$48 to hold it for one year or $4 per month
This percent captures all inventory costs
We can also write the annual holding cost as a percentage of COGs as:
Annual inventory holding cost percent / yearly turns
Example of inventory holding cost
Suppose Walmart annual inventory holding cost is 25%
I = 44,469
R = COGS = 360,984
Annual inventory holding cost = .25(I) = 11,175
Annual inventory holding cost as percent of COGs = this divided by R
Skip a step and just do annual inventory holding cost percent /yearly turns = .25/8.12 = 3.1%
Gross margin percent
Example:
Sell drill for $50,purchase it for $30
(Price - cost) / price
(50-30)/50 = 40%
Capacity
The maximum flow rate through a resource.
Be sure to use same units (unit / time)
If 6 mixers, 22,000 hotdogs per batch, 20 min to mix, what is capacity?
22000 (6)/ 20 = 6600 dogs / min
Capacity of the entire process
The minimum capacity among the resources
Resource that constrains the entire process is called the bottleneck
While at any minute could produce more than the average, the average capacity is the bottleneck.
Processing time, activity time, service time
Duration that a flow unit has to spend at a resource, not including any waiting time.