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

Describe the terms entity and relationship, Explain the terms entity, relat...

Explain the terms entity, relationship, and attributes. Describe how they are used in a database.

What are the disadvantages of lean production, What are the disadvantages o...

What are the disadvantages of lean production? Disadvantages of lean production are as illustrated below: • Incessant cost of investment within retraining displaced or reass

Explain moving averages and exponential smoothing, 1. What is quality funct...

1. What is quality function deployment (QFD)? Provide an example of how it can be used. 2. List the five advantages of successful implementation of group technology. 3. Descr

Explain assignment of contract rights, What is the difference between assig...

What is the difference between assignment of contract rights and delegation of contract duties? Illustrate your answer with examples.

Find fair price for the insurance policy, A1 Inc. has $1 million in assets ...

A1 Inc. has $1 million in assets at a job site and, applying a risk transfer approach, wishes to address risk by taking out an insurance policy. The insurance carrier provided its

Define the functional department integration, Q. Define the functional depa...

Q. Define the functional department integration in information system. All functional departments are integrated within one holistic information system. Well integrating manufa

Explain improving productivity, Explain Improving Productivity. Improv...

Explain Improving Productivity. Improving Productivity: The production essence is creation of goods, may be by the transformation of raw materials or through assembling vario

Quality management systems - improving productivity, Quality Management Sys...

Quality Management Systems - Improving Productivity The introduction of approaches such as ISO 9000; Total quality management, business process reengineering, just-in-time ope

Explain objective is to maximize expected profit, (Teddy Bower Boots) To en...

(Teddy Bower Boots) To ensure a full line of outdoor clothing and accessories, the marketing department at Teddy Bower insists that they also sell waterproof hunting boots. Unfortu

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