Operations & Project Management Flashcards
7 cards from real CPM practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.
Read the first 7 Operations & Project Management flashcards as text
Which project scheduling technique uses three time estimates (optimistic, most likely, pessimistic) to account for uncertainty in activity durations?
Answer: Program Evaluation and Review Technique (PERT)
PERT uses three-point estimation to calculate expected durations and assess schedule risk under uncertainty.
A lean operations manager identifies a step in the production process that produces more output than the next step can handle. This is an example of which type of waste?
Answer: Overproduction
Overproduction—producing more than what is needed or before it is needed—is considered the most serious waste in lean thinking because it generates other wastes.
What is the primary purpose of a project charter in project initiation?
Answer: To formally authorize the project and grant the PM authority to apply resources
The project charter formally authorizes the project's existence and gives the project manager authority to assign resources to project activities.
In supply chain management, which strategy involves a supplier delivering materials directly to the production line exactly when needed, eliminating warehouse storage?
Answer: Just-in-Time (JIT) delivery
JIT delivery synchronizes supplier deliveries with production schedules to eliminate inventory holding costs and storage needs.
A project manager calculates a Schedule Performance Index (SPI) of 0.75. What does this mean?
Answer: The project is completing only 75 cents of scheduled work for every dollar of time elapsed
SPI = EV/PV; an SPI of 0.75 means the project is earning only $0.75 of planned value for every $1 of planned time, indicating it is behind schedule.
Which operations concept describes the maximum output rate a process or system can achieve under normal operating conditions?
Answer: Capacity
Capacity is the maximum sustainable output rate of a process, facility, or system under normal conditions.
During project closeout, which activity is MOST important for organizational learning?
Answer: Conducting a lessons-learned review and documenting findings
Lessons-learned documentation captures successes and failures to improve future project performance and builds organizational knowledge.