Dr. Burns
Operations Management
PRACTICE EXAM 3 (with answers at the end)

This exam consists of 40 multiple choice and 3 discussion questions/problems. The multiple choice questions are worth 40% of the exam grade. The problems are worth 60% of the exam grade. The exam is to be taken closed-book, closed-notes. Formulas are provided on the last page.

1. Aggregate Production Planning (APP) involves all of the following except _________.
a. hiring and laying off workers
b. subcontracting work out
c. building up inventories
d. explosion of end-item requirements

2. Which of the following is not an input to the aggregate planning system?
a. demand forecasts
b. capacity constraints
c. strategic objectives
d. company policies
e. master production schedule

3. Capacity planning is…
a. long range planning
b. short range planning
c. involves facility size, expansion and location decisions
d. all of the above
e. a and c only

4. In terms of production planning, aggregate production planning produces outputs that are used in the creation of
a. a facility expansion plan
b. a master production schedule
c. an enterprise architecture plan
d. all of the above
e. a and b only

5. Kaizen is another term for
a. continuous improvement.
b. JIT.
c. visual control.
d. defect prevention.

6. Which of the following is an element of lean production?
a. flexible resources
b. total quality management
c. push system
d. business process engineering

7. In lean production, waste, or muda, is defined as
a. anything other than that which adds value to the product or service
b. high levels of inventory only
c. unnecessary movement only
d. waiting time only

8. The pace at which production should take place to match the rate of customer demand is known as
a. product flow time
b. jidoka time
c. kanban time
d. takt time

9. Manufacturing cells
a. group similar machines together to process a family of parts with similar shapes or processing requirements
b. group dissimilar machines together to process a family of parts with similar shapes or processing requirements
c. group dissimilar machines together to process a family of parts with dissimilar shapes and varied processing requirements
d. group similar machines together to process a family of parts with similar shapes but different processing requirements

10. Which statement concerning push and pull production systems is true?
a. push systems rely on a predetermined schedule while pull systems rely on down-stream requests
b. push systems rely on downstream requests while pull systems rely on a predetermined schedule
c. both push and pull systems rely on a predetermined schedule
d. both push and pull systems rely on downstream requests

11. Stan Weakly can sort a bin of 300 letters in 20 minutes. He typically receives 800 letters an hour. A truck arrives with more bins every hour. The office uses a safety factor of 12.5%. How many kanbans are needed for the letter-sorting process? {See the last page for the formula.}
a. 1
b. 2
c. 3
d. 4
e. none of the above

12. While they are similar, one difference between the reorder point system and the kanban system is
a. the reorder point system attempts to reduce inventory, whereas the kanban system encourages a permanent ordering policy
b. the reorder point system attempts to reduce inventory, whereas the kanban system encourages large lot production
c. the reorder point system attempts to create a permanent ordering policy, whereas the kanban system encourages large lot production
d. the reorder point system attempts to create a permanent ordering policy, whereas the kanban system encourages the continual reduction of inventory

13. In a pull system reducing the number of kanbans
a. increases inventory making problems more visible
b. reduces inventory making problems less visible
c. reduces inventory making problems more visible
d. increases inventory making problems less visible

14. Which of the files listed below contains information on the amounts of product currently on-hand as well as on-order?
a) Item master file
b) product structure file
c) master production schedule
d) open orders file
e) routing file

15. All of the following are major inputs to the MRP process except
a) work orders
b) master production schedule
c) item master file
d) product structure file

16. The master production schedule (MPS) specifies
a) which subcomponents a firm is to produce
b) how many subcomponents are needed
c) when the finished products (end-items) are needed
d) when the subcomponents are needed

17. Which of the following is the one input that is said to "drive" the MRP system?
a) item master file
b) capacity requirements plan
c) master production schedule
d) product structure file

18. An item master file answers which of the following questions?
a) on-order quantities
b) lot sizes
c) safety stock
d) ordering policy
e) all of the above

19. Which of the following statements concerning MRP is true?
a) A work order is issued to the shop floor when items are no longer needed as soon as planned.
b) The process of moving some jobs backward in the MRP schedule is called "expediting."
c) The MRP system outputs include purchase orders, planned order releases, and the master production schedule.
d) None of the statements above are true.

20. Which of the following is not a major input to the capacity requirements plan?
a) planned order releases from MRP
b) routing file
c) rescheduling notice file
d) open orders file

21. Forecast methods based on judgment, opinion, past experiences, or best guesses are known as
a. quantitative methods
b. qualitative methods
c. time series methods
d. regression methods

22. The type of forecasting method to use depends on
a. the time frame of the forecast
b. the behavior of demand and demand patterns
c. the causes of demand behavior
d. all of the above

23. A long-range forecast would normally not be used to
a. design the supply chain
b. implement strategic programs
c. determine production schedules
d. plan new products for changing markets

24. Which of the following is not a type of predictable demand behavior?
a. trend
b. random variation
c. cycle
d. seasonal pattern

25. An up-and-down movement in demand that repeats itself over a lengthy time period of more than a year is known as a
a. trend
b. seasonal pattern
c. random variation
d. cycle

26. A seasonal pattern is
a. an up-and-down repetitive movement in demand occurring periodically
b. an up-and-down repetitive movement in demand occurring over a long time span
c. a movement in demand that is not predicable
d. a gradual, long-term up-or-down movement of demand

27. A procedure for acquiring informed judgments and opinions from knowledgeable individuals using a series of questionnaires to develop a consensus forecast is known as
a. exponential smoothing
b. regression methods
c. the Delphi technique
d. naïve forecasting

28. Which of the following statements concerning moving average forecasts is true?
a. longer-period moving averages react more slowly to recent demand changes than shorter-period moving averages
b. longer-period moving averages react faster to recent demand changes than shorter-period moving averages
c. shorter-period moving averages are less susceptible to simple random variations
d. moving averages react quickly to seasonal patterns

29. The sum of the weights in a weighted moving average forecast
a. must equal the number of periods being averaged
b. must equal 1.00
c. must be less than 1.00
d. must be greater than 1.00

30. An exponential smoothing forecasting technique requires all of the following except
a. the forecast for the current period
b. the actual demand for the current period
c. a smoothing constant
d. large amounts of historical demand data

31. The smoothing constant, α, in the exponential smoothing forecast
a. must always be a value greater than 1.0
b. must always be a value less than 0.10
c. must be a value between 0.0 and 1.0
d. should be equal to the time frame for the forecast

32. The closer the smoothing constant, α, is to 1