Reference no: EM13232303

1. A distribution center uses a two-step process to fill orders. Develop a schedule that minimizes the time to fill the following orders and illustrate the schedule in Gantt chart format.

Order	A	B	C	D	E	F	G
Step 1 time	1.20	0.90	2.00	1.70	1.60	2.20	1.30
Step 2 time	1.40	1.30	0.80	1.50	1.80	1.70	1.40

2. You are working at Dud&Suds. You are standing in front of a washing machine at 10:00a.m.looking at five loads of laundry.

Load	A	B	C	D	E
Wash time(minutes)	45	60	70	55	60
Due at	11:30	11:00	12:30	14:00	13:00
weight	3	1	2	1	2

a. Sequence the jobs according to SPT, EDD, and WSPT methods. Provide figures for average completion time, average lateness, number of late jobs, and weighted average completion tim for each method. Which schedule would you choose?

b. Now you also must dry all the loads. Forgetting about the due time, sequence the jobs so as to minimize the time it takes to wash and dry all jobs.

Load	A	B	C	D	E
Dry time (minutes)	60	30	45	50	60

3. Fisher (1997) observes that a sure sign that a firm should move a product line to the right in the supply chain-process matrix is when the product line has great variety, lots of new product introductions, and low margins. Why is this?

4. The following quote is from SCC's Website: "The SCOR-model has been developed to describe the business activities associated with all phases of satisfying a customer's demand. By describing supply chains using process building blocks, the model can be used to describe supply chains that are very simple or very complex using a common set of definitions. As a result, disparate industries can be linked to describe the depth and breadth of virtually any supply chain." Assess how the building blocks of SCOR can be used to describe supply chains by answering two basic questions: what exactly are the process building blocks and what information is provided in a SCOR description of a building block?

5. Sport Obermeyer makes skiwear. Most of the product lines of jackets and ski pants are redesigned each year, market demand during the selling season is highly unpredictable, and supply chain lead times are long, Fisher et al. (1994) describe a number of discoveries and changes made at Sport Obermeyer, including that Sport Obermeyer

a. Observed that the distribution of demand for a product during the selling season followed a normal distribution - a result that was used in analysis underlying new and more effective approaches to decision making.

b. Started a program that encouraged large dealers to place orders several months in advance, thus improving the firm's ability to predict which products were likely to be hot and cold in the upcoming season.

c. Analyzed forecast accuracy across the product line, observed significant differences in accuracy, and found a way to predict accuracy prior to the selling season. On the basis of this information, managers postponed production decisions on the most unpredictable items until early season sales results were available.

d. Redesigned its product line to reduce the number of different zippers by a factor of five (e.g., black in place of multiple colors).

e. Began booking aggregate production capacity during peak periods in advance but did not specify the specific styles to be produced until a later date.

f. Hedged against the storage and excess demand cost due to demand uncertainty by using the optimal probability of not stocking out as a guide when determining production quantities.

All told, Sport Obermeyer estimates profits increased by between 50 and 100 percent as a result of the improvement efforts. Observation (a) is closely related to a principle of nature. Which one and why? Each of the remaining items [(b) through (f)] is closely related to at least one managerial insight. In some cases, the managerial insight is based on a principle of nature. For each of (b) through (f), identify a closely related managerial insight (and principle of nature if applicable), and explain your reasoning.