Time lag effects - operations function, Operation Management

Assignment Help:

Time Lag Effects - Operations Function

Feedback control in complex systems can bring its own problems, due to time lag between measuring the output deviation and realising the effects of the corrective adjustments. A well-known illustration of this phenomenon was presented by Jay W Forrester in his book, Industrial Dynamics. He had been consulted by a white goods manufacturing concern which had been experiencing wildly fluctuating production levels over a period of years; despite the best efforts of the company's management they had been unable to keep production output in reasonable balance with customer demand. Forrester and his team studied the operations of the company's distribution chain (shown in simplified form in the figure) and formulated a computer simulation model of the factory - warehouse - distributor - retailers.

1355_Time Lag Effects – Operations Function.png

The figure below (adapted from Forrester, 1965) shows the results obtained when a 10 per cent step-increase in demand at the retail outlets was introduced. This chart is necessarily 'cluttered', to show how the various order, inventory and production levels changed in response to the initial increase in sales.

1964_Time Lag Effects – Operations Function 1.png

For our purposes it will be sufficient if you locate the two lines labeled 'Retail sales' and 'Factory production output'. It was found that, because of a series of time-lags in the chain, the feedback signal was greatly amplified by the time it reached the factory, resulting in over-reaction. Note that the production level climbs by 45 per cent, creating an excessive build up of inventories. In response the production level falls to 3 per cent less than the original level, and so on. It takes about 18 months for the fluctuations to be damped out.


Related Discussions:- Time lag effects - operations function

Explain secure an access database, 1. To delete the filter shown below clic...

1. To delete the filter shown below click Filter in the Sort & Filter group and select Clear Filter. Click Remove Filter in the Sort & Filter group. Right click on any number in th

Supply, Introduction about law of supply

Introduction about law of supply

Describe limitations of the relational model, Write a 200- to 350- word sho...

Write a 200- to 350- word short-answer response to the following: • Identify and describe three limitations of the relational model and recommend strategies to overcome these li

Describe the correlation between realization factor, Can anyone please expl...

Can anyone please explain the correlation between Realization Factor, Capacity, Utilization, and Rolled Throughput Yield, please? Equations would also be nice.

CPM, CPM problems

CPM problems

Customisation - customers needs for a product, Customisation - Customers Ne...

Customisation - Customers Needs For a Product The ability of the operations system to tailor its outputs to meet special requirements of customers. Vision Express has taken a

Explain how many machines should be purchased, Up, up, and away is a produc...

Up, up, and away is a producer of kites and wind socks. Relevant data on a bottleneck operation in the shop for the upcoming fiscal year are given in the following table: Item Kite

How much should the father deposit at the end of each year, On the day his ...

On the day his son was born, a father decided to establish a fund for his son's college education. The father wants the son to be able to withdraw $4000 from the fund on his 18th b

Explain multinational business and the role of corruption, I am brainstormi...

I am brainstorming ideas and topics for possible use to launch my dissertation for my PhD in management. My current topic under consideration is: Multinational business and the rol

Explain strategic marketing plan and tactical marketing plan, Differences a...

Differences and similarities between marketing plan, strategic marketing plan and tactical marketing plan

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd