Operations Flashcards
(15 cards)
What factors do businesses have to take into consideration when choosing a supplier
Cost of raw materials, quality of raw materials, lead time, quantity of raw materials, location of supplier, reliability/reputation of supplier and storage space available
List stock levels
Maximum, minimum and re-order
List the problems of over stocking
High storage costs, high insurance costs, high security costs, lots of money tied up in stock, stock may go out of fashion becoming useless and stock may deteriorate
List the problems of under stocking
May run out of stock to sell, changes in demand are harder to deal with, if suppliers are late shelves are left empty, customers may go else where if don’t get products and costs a lot to re-order a lot
Identify and describe the production methods
Job- making one product from start to finish before another is started
Flow- different parts of a products are added to products as they move along a production line
Batch- a group of products are made from start to finish before another group is started
Describe labour and capital intensive
Labour- mostly employees are used in the production process
Capital- mostly machines are used in the production process
Identify the benefits of producing high quality products
Customers are more likely to want to buy the products, a higher price can be charged, product is less likely to break, easier to build a brand for the products and less customer complaints
How can businesses ensure high quality products
Using good quality raw materials, using skilled/trained employees, using up to date technology, testing products, doing quality inspections once the products are finished and comparing to competition
Identify and describe the quality control systems
Quality control- raw materials are checked at the start an the final product is checked at the end to ensure quality
Quality assurance- employees are responsible for ensuring what they do is of high quality and checking their work
Quality management- no errors are tolerated in every stage of production
How do businesses provide a high quality service
Deliver on time, train staff to deal with customers quickly and correctly, deal with complaints fairly an quickly, providing a customer helpline, long opening hours and providing facilities for disabled people and the elderly
How is ICT use in the operations department
Spreadsheet used to calculate how much orders will cost, maintain records of stock, database could be used for suppliers details, email could be used to order from suppliers and fax machines could be used to send orders to suppliers
Identify some measures taken by businesses to improve their environmental or ethical standings
Reduce the amount of packaging used, use recyclable packaging where possible, more environmentally friendly production methods, paying suppliers fair prices, not using child labour and paying employees a fair wage
Identify the benefits of introducing environmental or ethical measures
Gives business a positive public image, many customers only buy from businesses that use positive ethical and environmental approaches, many laws have been enforced to cut down on businesses carbon footprint and reduced packaging saves money
Identify the drawbacks of producing high quality products
High staff training costs, high raw material costs and higher inspection costs
Identify the drawbacks of introducing environmental or ethical measures
Buying more environmentally friendly machines can cost a lot, paying higher wages costs more and products might now look as high quality is recyclable packaging is used