Unit 4 Flashcards
(14 cards)
List operational objectives
/7
- Quality - possibly measured in a given number of claims processed accurately per day
- Speed of response - Faster provision of goods/services than competitors e.g. restaurant waiting times
- Dependability - The ability of a business to deliver reliably on time e.g. bus service
- Costs - Production at lower costs
- Flexibility - How well can it adapt operations to demand or trend changes
- Environmental - optimal ethics
- Lower defect rates
What is the formula for labour productivity?
Total output / number of employees = labour productivity as units per employee
What is the formula for unit costs?
total costs / total output
What is the formula for capacity utilisation?
Existing output / maximum possible output x 100
What is lean production?
A manufacturing approach focused on increasing efficiency and decreasing waste
What are capital and labour intensive businesses?
Capital - It has a production approach that relies heavily on machinery and equipment - offers high quality, lower defect rates and makes scaling the business up easier
Labour - It has a production approach that relies more on human labour - less expensive to set up so ideal for start-ups, contributes to the economy through employment, necessary for personalised services e.g. hairdressing
What is quality?
The degree to which products/services meet the expectations of the consumer
What is quality control?
Regularly checking and testing products throughout production to identify and correct defects
What is quality assurance?
Ensuring products/services meet specified standards - staff are incentivised to be more efficient, solve problems that affect performance, etc
What is kaizen with reference to lean production?
Kaizen is a business philosophy centred around continuous improvement - employees are encouraged to work in kaizen groups to come up with ways to improve efficiency in their area of work
What is outsourcing?
The practice of hiring external companies to perform tasks, services or produce goods - helps supply match demand
What is producing to order?
An organisational approach where products are only made when a customer order has been received
What is a supply chain?
The network of activities, people, organisations, resources, etc involved with creating a product and delivering it to its final customer
What is Just-in-time?
An organisational strategy where businesses receive good only when they are needed - e.g. raw materials arrive just in time to be used. This decreases storage costs, reduces chances of waste and can improve efficiency and cash flow
However it does mean businesses are more reliant on suppliers, and have no buffer stock, increasing risk
