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The formula for the moving average is:Efficiency and Utilization, Evaluating Alternatives

<< The formula for the moving average is:Learning Objectives, Capacity Planning
The formula for the moving average is:Evaluating Alternatives, Financial Analysis >>
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Production and Operations Management ­MGT613
VU
Lesson 16
It is important to realize that managers make capacity decisions at the organizational level and not at
the operational level. Often, debottlenecking a process can increase departmental efficiency without
increasing or improving the organizational performance. This does not mean that capacity decisions
are not taken at the operational level rather managers end up making capacity decisions at the
individual process level in accounting, finance, human resources, information technologies,
marketing and operations departments.
Operations Mangers must understand capacity measures, economies and diseconomies of scale,
capacity cushions and trade off between customer service and capacity utilization.
Efficiency and Utilization
Operations Manager should know what is Capacity? They should be able to identify the terms Design
Capacity and Effective capacity before they can understand another important concept of Utilization.
Design capacity is the maximum output rate or service capacity an operation, process, or
facility.
Organizations facility or operation is designed for Effective capacity which refers to Design
capacity minus allowances such as personal time, maintenance, and scrap
Actual output is the rate of output actually achieved--cannot exceed effective capacity.
Efficiency/Utilization Example
Use the following data to determine the Efficiency and Utilization
Design capacity = 50 trucks/day
Effective capacity = 40 trucks/day
Actual output = 36 units/day
Determinants of Effective Capacity
Operations Manager often focus on determinants of effective capacity by taking into account both
macro and micro levels. At the macro levels the managers look for Supply chain and External factors,
while at the micro level they look for operational factors including facilities and man and machine
resources. There are 7 determinants of effective capacity namely:-
1. Facilities. The design of facilities includes the size as well as the provision of expansion. Other
important factors that are necessary include transportation costs, distance to market, labor
supply, energy supply sources and the ease and smoothness with which work can be performed.
We should also include environmental factors such as heating, lighting and ventilation which
not only increase the performance of the workforce but also act as source of motivation and
worker loyalty. A failure to comply with this would indicate poor design which in reality
translates to lack of managerial acumen.
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Production and Operations Management ­MGT613
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2. Product and service factors can have a tremendous influence on capacity. E.g. when items are
similar, the ability of the system to produce those items is generally much greater than when
successive items are different and unique. The idea is more uniformity in the final product
service output the greater capacity. I am making a reference to a PC manufacturer in USA
which decided that it would standardize its products and split its assembly lines only at the point
where the a small differential product feature was required.
3. Process factors refer to the quantity and quality requirements of a process. Quantity always
refers to capacity. Another added feature is quality of output. If quality of output does not match
the standard requirements it would generate inspection and possible reworks.
4. Human factors include skill, craftsmanship, training and qualification to handle any job it also
includes the motivational factors.
5. Operational factors with respect to effective capacity always refer to scheduling, late deliveries,
acceptability of purchased materials, parts, quality inspection, control procedures and inventory
problems. Scheduling issues arise when an organization has a difference in equipment
capabilities for development of alternative capacities. Inventory problems have a negative
impact on capacity
6. Supply chain factors relate to any short coming to suppliers, warehouse processing, operational
hick up or distribution issues.
7. External factors include product standards, safety regulations, unions and pollution control
standards. At times organizations have experienced shutting down of their facility if they could
not provide support to government regulations of pollution control.
Strategy Formulation With respect to Capacity Planning
1. Capacity strategy for long-term demand which focus on demand patterns and takes into account
growth rate and variability
2. Facilities that focus on cost of building and operating
3. Technological changes relate to rate and direction of technology changes
4. Behavior of competitors
5. Availability of capital and other inputs
Key Decisions of Capacity Planning
It is important to identify the key decisions in order to carryout a correct capacity planning decision.
Some of the common key decisions are
1. Amount of capacity needed
2. Timing of changes
3. Need to maintain balance
4. Extent of flexibility of facilities
Steps for Capacity Planning Strategy
It is important to understand how to formulate a capacity planning strategy
1. Estimate future capacity requirements
2. Evaluate existing capacity
3. Identify alternatives
4. Conduct financial analysis
5. Assess key qualitative issues
6. Select one alternative
7. Implement alternative chosen
8. Monitor results
Developing Capacity Alternatives
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Production and Operations Management ­MGT613
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1. Design flexibility into systems refers to long term nature of expansion, if at the time of original
design, flexibility alternative is provided, and it would save cost in remodeling and
modifications when expansion is carried out later.
2. Take stage of life cycle into account. It is important that operations manager observe and check
whether the capacity increase alternative is for a new product/service or mature product or
service. The predictability for a new service is riskier as compared to an established mature
product or service.
3. Take a "big picture" approach to capacity changes while developing the capacity of the system,
it is necessary to understand the interrelationship of the components of the system. The big
picture approach relates to setting up of parking space, house keeping and landscaping if an
expansion is to be accommodated in a multi purpose shopping plus apartment complex.
4. By developing capacity alternatives, organizations prepare to deal with capacity "chunks"
Capacity increases are normally obtained in big chunks instead of incremental increase. A steel
mills furnace may not be able to provide exact required increase in capacity and thus would
provide excessive capacity which may lead to increase in inventory. E.g. the demand for steel
say is 2000 tone per annum in the city of sukkhur, from a local steel mill the capacity is 1800
tones per annum. The steel mill can increase its production from 1800 tones to 2200 tones per
annum and not to exactly 2000 tones per annum.
Organizations attempt to smooth out capacity requirements. This topic is discussed in more detail when
we will cover the topic of aggregate planning for the time being we can see that simply adding capacity
by increasing the size of workforce, machines, facility does not help. Operations manager should be able
to identify the optimal operating level. All Production units have an ideal or optimal level of operation
in terms of unit cost of output. At the ideal level, cost per unit is the lowest for that production unit.
Economies of Scale and Diseconomies of scale
An operations manager should know what economies and diseconomies of scale are
Economies of scale reflects a concept that states the average unit cost of a good or service can be
reduced by increasing its output rate while diseconomies of scale reflects the case when the average cost
per unit increases as the facility's size increases.
If the output rate is less than the optimal level, increasing output rate results in decreasing average unit
costs then it reflects Economies of Scale. On the other hand if the output rate is more than the optimal
level, increasing the output rate results in increasing average unit costs
Evaluating Alternatives
Minimum Average Cost per Unit
Average cost
per unit
Minimum Cost
0
Rate of output
Explanation of the Cost Curve
The explanation for the shape of the cost curve is that low levels of output (Production), the costs of
facilities and equipment must be absorbed (paid for) by few units. Hence the cost per unit is very high.
As the output is increased, there are more units to absorb the fixed cost of utilities, facilities and
equipment, so unit cost is decreased.
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Minimum Cost would be recorded at the optimal rate, beyond that the unit cost will
start to increase. Other factors now become more important which include worker fatigue, equipment
breakdown, the loss of flexibility, which leaves less margin for error and increases difficulty in
coordinating activities.
Evaluating Alternatives
Minimum cost & optimal operating rate are functions of size of
production unit.
Average cost per unit
Small
Medium
plant
plant
Large
plant
0
Output rate
Evaluating Alternatives
As the general capacity of the plant increases, the optimal output rate increases and the
minimum cost for the optimal rate decreases.
This is the prime reason why larger plants tend to have higher optimal output rates and lower
minimum costs than smaller plants.
The senior management normally takes in to account the same considerations in addition to
availability of financial, capital resources and forecasted demand.
The important step is to determine enough points for each size facility to be able to make a
comparison among different sizes.
In some industries or types of services, facility sizes are given, where as in other facility size are
continuous variable.
Occasionally the management decides for a size which does not have the desired rate of output.
E.g. Pharmaceutical Company, oil field, gas fields.
An organization needs to examine the alternatives for future capacity from a number of different
perspectives.
Economic Conditions set the external conditions which influence the following
1. Will Alternative be feasible?
2. How much will it cost?
3. How soon can we have it?
4. What will be the operating and maintenance costs?
Possible Negative Opinion due to the following decisions.
1. Decision to build a new power plant, nuclear, coal, geothermal
2. Displacement of people if a new hydro plant is to be built.
3. Environmental issues related to company's new project.
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Table of Contents:
  1. INTRODUCTION TO PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
  2. INTRODUCTION TO PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT:Decision Making
  3. INTRODUCTION TO PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT:Strategy
  4. INTRODUCTION TO PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT:Service Delivery System
  5. INTRODUCTION TO PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT:Productivity
  6. INTRODUCTION TO PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT:The Decision Process
  7. INTRODUCTION TO PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT:Demand Management
  8. Roadmap to the Lecture:Fundamental Types of Forecasts, Finer Classification of Forecasts
  9. Time Series Forecasts:Techniques for Averaging, Simple Moving Average Solution
  10. The formula for the moving average is:Exponential Smoothing Model, Common Nonlinear Trends
  11. The formula for the moving average is:Major factors in design strategy
  12. The formula for the moving average is:Standardization, Mass Customization
  13. The formula for the moving average is:DESIGN STRATEGIES
  14. The formula for the moving average is:Measuring Reliability, AVAILABILITY
  15. The formula for the moving average is:Learning Objectives, Capacity Planning
  16. The formula for the moving average is:Efficiency and Utilization, Evaluating Alternatives
  17. The formula for the moving average is:Evaluating Alternatives, Financial Analysis
  18. PROCESS SELECTION:Types of Operation, Intermittent Processing
  19. PROCESS SELECTION:Basic Layout Types, Advantages of Product Layout
  20. PROCESS SELECTION:Cellular Layouts, Facilities Layouts, Importance of Layout Decisions
  21. DESIGN OF WORK SYSTEMS:Job Design, Specialization, Methods Analysis
  22. LOCATION PLANNING AND ANALYSIS:MANAGING GLOBAL OPERATIONS, Regional Factors
  23. MANAGEMENT OF QUALITY:Dimensions of Quality, Examples of Service Quality
  24. SERVICE QUALITY:Moments of Truth, Perceived Service Quality, Service Gap Analysis
  25. TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT:Determinants of Quality, Responsibility for Quality
  26. TQM QUALITY:Six Sigma Team, PROCESS IMPROVEMENT
  27. QUALITY CONTROL & QUALITY ASSURANCE:INSPECTION, Control Chart
  28. ACCEPTANCE SAMPLING:CHOOSING A PLAN, CONSUMER’S AND PRODUCER’S RISK
  29. AGGREGATE PLANNING:Demand and Capacity Options
  30. AGGREGATE PLANNING:Aggregate Planning Relationships, Master Scheduling
  31. INVENTORY MANAGEMENT:Objective of Inventory Control, Inventory Counting Systems
  32. INVENTORY MANAGEMENT:ABC Classification System, Cycle Counting
  33. INVENTORY MANAGEMENT:Economic Production Quantity Assumptions
  34. INVENTORY MANAGEMENT:Independent and Dependent Demand
  35. INVENTORY MANAGEMENT:Capacity Planning, Manufacturing Resource Planning
  36. JUST IN TIME PRODUCTION SYSTEMS:Organizational and Operational Strategies
  37. JUST IN TIME PRODUCTION SYSTEMS:Operational Benefits, Kanban Formula
  38. JUST IN TIME PRODUCTION SYSTEMS:Secondary Goals, Tiered Supplier Network
  39. SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT:Logistics, Distribution Requirements Planning
  40. SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT:Supply Chain Benefits and Drawbacks
  41. SCHEDULING:High-Volume Systems, Load Chart, Hungarian Method
  42. SEQUENCING:Assumptions to Priority Rules, Scheduling Service Operations
  43. PROJECT MANAGEMENT:Project Life Cycle, Work Breakdown Structure
  44. PROJECT MANAGEMENT:Computing Algorithm, Project Crashing, Risk Management
  45. Waiting Lines:Queuing Analysis, System Characteristics, Priority Model