MEM Operations Management 5 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A service firm measures productivity as output per labor hour. If 5 employees each work 8 hours and produce 200 service completions, what is labor productivity?
- 5 completions/hour (Correct answer)
- 4 completions/hour
- 40 completions/hour
- 25 completions/hour
Correct answer: 5 completions/hour
Total labor hours = 5 × 8 = 40; productivity = 200 / 40 = 5 completions per labor hour.
Question 2: Which inventory model assumes demand is probabilistic and places a new order when on-hand inventory falls to a predetermined reorder point?
- Continuous review (Q) system (Correct answer)
- Periodic review (P) system
- Economic production quantity model
- Newsvendor model
Correct answer: Continuous review (Q) system
The continuous review (Q) system monitors inventory levels constantly and triggers an order of fixed size Q when stock reaches the reorder point.
Question 3: In total productive maintenance (TPM), overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) is calculated as the product of which three factors?
- Availability × Performance × Quality (Correct answer)
- Utilization × Throughput × Yield
- Uptime × Speed × Accuracy
- Reliability × Maintainability × Supportability
Correct answer: Availability × Performance × Quality
OEE = Availability (planned vs. actual uptime) × Performance (actual vs. ideal speed) × Quality (good units vs. total units produced).
Question 4: A company applies learning curve theory and observes that cumulative average time decreases by 20% each time output doubles. What type of learning curve is this?
- 80% learning curve
- 20% learning curve
- Cumulative average model at 80%
- Both A and C (Correct answer)
Correct answer: Both A and C
An 80% learning curve means cumulative average time is 80% of the previous level each time output doubles, which is equivalent to a 20% improvement.
Question 5: Which aggregate planning strategy maintains a constant workforce and uses inventory buildup and backorders to absorb demand variation?
- Level strategy (Correct answer)
- Chase strategy
- Mixed strategy
- Subcontracting strategy
Correct answer: Level strategy
The level strategy keeps the workforce and production rate constant, using inventory accumulation and backorders to buffer demand swings.
Question 6: In process design, 'poka-yoke' refers to which concept?
- Error-proofing mechanisms that prevent defects from occurring (Correct answer)
- Statistical process control charts for monitoring variation
- 5S workplace organization methodology
- Kanban-based pull scheduling system
Correct answer: Error-proofing mechanisms that prevent defects from occurring
Poka-yoke (Japanese for 'mistake-proofing') designs physical or procedural safeguards that make errors impossible or immediately detectable.
Question 7: A company evaluating two plant locations uses the center-of-gravity method. If demand-weighted coordinates yield x̄ = 40 and ȳ = 60, what do these coordinates represent?
- The optimal facility location minimizing total transportation cost (Correct answer)
- The geometric midpoint of all customer locations
- The location with lowest land and labor costs
- The centroid of the company's existing warehouse network
Correct answer: The optimal facility location minimizing total transportation cost
The center-of-gravity method finds coordinates that minimize total weighted distance (a proxy for transportation cost) between the facility and its markets.
MEM Operations Management 5
A service firm measures productivity as output per labor hour.
If 5 employees each work 8 hours and produce 200 service completions, what is labor productivity?