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Question (1):- Write short notes on:

Answer: Outsourcing strategies for capital productivity
When capacity requirements are determined, it is easy to figure out whether some goods or
services can be outsourced. Outsourcing can reduce the capital and manpower requirements.
Also, the available capacities can be used to augment the core competencies thus reducing the
cost of the product or service to the customer. Further, outsourcing also helps in improved
product design and even enables better networking and collaborations. However, lack of
expertise, quality considerations, nature of demand, and cost factors may restrict outsourcing.

Lack of expertise: The outsourced firm may not have the requisite expertise to do the
job required.
Quality considerations: Loss of control over operations may result in lower quality.
Nature of demand: When the load is uniform and steady, it may not be worthwhile to
outsource. Absence of supervision and control may be a hindrance to meet any urgent
requirements of the customer. This affects the business, especially if no production
facilities are built in the organisation.
Cost: It may not be worthwhile when the fixed costs that go along with making the
product does not get reduced considerably.

Implementation of operations
Implementation is the process of executing the planned operations. When planning and
controlling functions are put together, we call it as Implementation of Operations. The planning
is the process of estimating, routing, and scheduling. The controlling functions are conducted
while the manufacturing is going on, like dispatching and expediting.

Estimating: Estimating gives the quantities to be made at each workstation depending

on the sales forecast, provision for buffer stock, quantities bought out, services
outsourced, likely shortfalls, and others. It is made on the basis of capacity.
Routing: Routing determines the sequence of operations and the machines that do them,
so that work flow, as determined by the processes, is smooth resulting in minimum
inventory.
Scheduling: Scheduling is mainly concerned with allocating time slots for different jobs.
It specifies as to when the jobs start and end at particular workstations. The purpose is to
prevent the imbalances among work centers and to utilize the labor hours in such a way
that established lead times are maintained.

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Dispatching: Dispatching is concerned with moving of the materials with tools, jigs, and
fixtures to specific machines along with the drawings and ensuring inspections at specific
nodes, so that the materials move in the supply chain.

Basic competitive priorities

Operations strategy reflects the long-term goals of an organisation in its corporate strategy. To
achieve good results, a clear understanding of the operating advantages and a good cross
functional coordination between functional areas of marketing, production, finance, and human
resources departments are required. Operating advantages depend on its processes and
competitive priorities considered while establishing the capabilities. The basic competitive
priorities are:

Cost:- A firm competing on a price/cost basis is able to provide consumers with an indemand product at a price that is competitively lower than that offered by firms
producing the same or similar good/service. In order to compete on a price basis, the firm
must be able to produce the product at a lesser cost or be willing to accept a smaller profit
margin.
Quality:- Quality can have eight dimensions as performance, conformance, features,
durability, reliability, serviceability, aesthetics and perceived quality. Firms competing on
this basis offer products or services that are superior to the competition on one or more of
the eight dimensions. Obviously, it would be undesirable if not impossible for firms to
compete on all eight dimensions of quality at once.

Service:- Service can be defined in a number of ways. Superior service can be

characterized by the term customer service or it could mean rapid delivery, on-time
delivery, or convenient location.

Flexibility:- Firms may compete on their ability to provide either flexibility of the
product or volume. Firms that can easily accept engineering changes (changes in the
product) offer a strategic advantage to their customers. This can also apply to services. A
number of years ago, a well-known fast food restaurant advertised hold the pickles, hold
the lettuce, special orders dont upset us, which meant that ordering a non-standardized
version of the product would not slow down the delivery process.

Market survey method of forecasting

Conducting surveys among the prospective buyers or users is a very old method of forecasting.
Here, a questionnaire is prepared and circulated among the people and their responses are
obtained. The responses are collated and analyses to reveal possible clues towards acceptance or
otherwise about a new product or service. Based on the overall decision, the forecasting is done.

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This method is typically done for new products or at new places where a product is to be
launched. In this method, the number of respondents and how responses are gathered like
through oral interviews, personal talks, internet based, postal ballots, etc., have to be established
before survey. The common limitations are the sample size and the way of drawing the sample
like random, convenient, or judgmental. Sample bias is not completely ruled out.

Question (2):- Evaluate the factors that favour Gujarat as a location for
manufacturing automobiles?
Answer: General factors that favour Gujarat as a destination for automobile
manufacturing
Gujarat has leveraged its locational advantages, with relatively low transaction costs for
accessing markets in the western and northern India. Good rail connectivity is slated to improve
significantly with the opening of the dedicated freight corridors to Dahej and NhavaSheva
passing through large parts of Gujarat. Sanand is also a part of the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial
Corridor (DMIC), a multi-billion dollar India-Japan initiative. The Delhi-Mumbai freight
corridor project will provide excellent rail connectivity for the auto sector in Sanand and for
other industries. Gujarats emergence as an auto hub is not an accident, but an outcome of
leveraging its strengths through sound economic policies and competent management by the
state government.

Special factors that favour Gujarat as a destination for automobile

manufacturing
The Gujarat government recognizes the importance of overall conducive investment environment
in attracting investments rather than merely relying on tax incentives. This policy lesson is
applicable to the investment and manufacturing zones (NIMZs) under the national manufacturing
policy (NMP) which is being finalized. It envisages around five Greenfield integrated industrial
townships.
Another noteworthy policy initiative is establishment of an automotive skills development
institute at Sanand on a public private partnership basis by Gujarat government and Peugeot
Citroen. This approach to human capital development will serve, India, Gujarat and the new
entrants well as they will have access to a younger work force, well trained in modern
manufacturing techniques with skills honed around the productivity needs of the future.

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Gujarat as automobile manufacturing hub

Auto ancillary hubs, which are critical for a thriving auto hub, are located in Rajkot, Ahmedabad
and Vadodara, and more to come in Kutch and Sanand districts. A precision engineering park is
planned to come up in Dahej.
Domestic companies that are considering to enter Gujarat, with the exception of Maruti Suzuki,
include Hero MotoCorp (formerly Hero Honda), Bajaj Auto and Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd
(HAL), a public sector company specializing in production of aircraft and helicopters. Recently
Gujarat also bagged title of Maruti Manufacturing Unit.

Compare Gujarat with other states like Tamil Nadu or Haryana in

terms of locating a automobile manufacturing plant
One of the advantages of Gujarat is the larger share of non-fertile agricultural land. This
potentially makes managing the requirements of industry for land easier. Gujarat Industrial
Development Corporation (GIDC) deserves credit for turning the above potential into actual
accomplishments.
As many of the established tier I, II and III manufacturers in Tamil Nadu and Delhi are faced
with space and environmental constraints in expanding their operations in their historic sites,
they are exploring alternate avenues. Gujarats land bank could thus be an attractive factor.

Summary why Gujarat is better location

Several domestic and foreign auto manufacturers have either announced plans to establish
manufacturing plants in Gujarat or are considering it as a possible location.
Gujarats auto hub thus goes beyond the production of cars. The mix of domestic and foreign
auto companies also provides opportunities for skills transfer and learning.
One of the advantages of Gujarat is the larger share of non-fertile agricultural land. This
potentially makes managing the requirements of industry for land easier. Gujarat Industrial
Development Corporation (GIDC) deserves credit for turning the above potential into actual
accomplishments.

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Question (3):- Write short note on the following: 5 S system of waste elimination
5S is a philosophy, a way of thinking which focuses on organizing and managing the workspace
by eliminating 7 Wastes while improving quality and safety. The 5S list describes how to
organize a work space for efficiency and effectiveness by identifying and storing the items used,
maintaining the area and items, and sustaining the new order. There are five primary 5S phases
which are known as:
Sort

Identify all items in the work area

Distinguish between essential and non-essential items
Place any non-essential item in a appropriate place, not in the work area
Regularly check that only essential items are in the work area

Straighten

Identify the best location for each essential item

Place each essential item in its assigned location
After use immediately return each essential item to its assigned location
Regularly check that each essential item is in its assigned location

Shine

Keep the work area clean and tidy at all times

Conduct regular housekeeping activities during shift
Ensure the work area is neat, clean and tidy at both beginning and end of shift

Standardize

Follow procedures
Follow checklists for activities where available
Keep the work area to specified standard

Sustain

Clean up after completion of job and before commencing next job or end of shift
Identify situations where compliance to standards is unlikely and take actions specified in
procedures
Inspect work area regularly for compliance to specified standard
Recommend improvements to lift the level of compliance in the workplace

Scheduling in Services
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In the operations management or the production management, this technique of operations

scheduling forms a very important part and acts as the back bone for the performance of the
manufacturing or the service organizations. With the help of the operations scheduling, two very
important factors or the aspects of the resources within an organization that can be pertained are
as follows

Allocating the resources within an organization.

Setting up the time table.

In todays competitive world, the orders that are placed either from the side of the customer or
from the side of the assembly benches are to be completed on or before the contracted or the
promised date. For fulfilling this, operations scheduling plays a very critical and an essential role
and completely ensures that these dates are met.
Operations scheduling helps in the confirmation or the revision of the tentative delivery date that
has been promised in the original quotation. Sometimes during the operations scheduling of the
work order, it may be discovered that the delivery date originally and tentatively promised
cannot be met. All this may be due to the several problems like the materials that are required
may not be available at that particular time or may not be available immediately. This problem
can also occur due to the increased plant loading while the customer is deciding whether or not
to award the quoted job to this company.

Vendor managed inventory

As the name implies, vendor-managed inventory ( VMI ) is inventory that is managed by the
vendor (supplier). And while there can be more to it than this, at a minimum this means the
vendor determines when to replenish and how much to replenish.
Vendor-managed inventory is nothing new; in fact it's been around a long time and is far more
common than you may think. If you ever worked in a restaurant, you would have seen the "bread
guy" show up every day or so, check your inventory (physically look at your breads, buns, etc.),
then go out to his truck and stock you up. In a barbershop, many of the hair products your barber
(yeah I'm old school, I go to a barber) sells or uses are also managed by the supplier. In this case,
its probably the sales rep for that product that actually "manages" the inventory, and he may
restock the barbershop from the trunk of his car. At the old independent hardware store, items
like nuts, bolts, washers, o-rings, etc. were often managed by the vendor. In larger businesses,
you may have your shipping cartons, office supplies, or cleaning/maintenance supplies managed
by the vendor. The goal of Vendor Managed Inventory is to provide a mutually beneficial
relationship where both sides will be able to more smoothly and accurately control the
availability and flow of goods.
In VMI a manufacturer or distributor assumes the role of inventory planning for the customer.
Extensive information sharing is required so that the manufacturer/distributor can maintain a
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high degree of visibility of its goods at the customers location. Instead of the customer
reordering when its supply has been exhausted, the supplier is responsible for replenishing and
stocking the customer at appropriate levels

Subcontracting Capacity
A firm can acquire temporary capacity by subcontracting work during peak demand periods.
Subcontracting, however, has several pitfalls. First, it may be expensive; second, it risks opening
the clients door to a competitor. Third, it is often hard to find the perfect subcontract supplier,
one who always delivers the quality product on time. However, of late outsourcing has become a
complete business policy and cost of operations may be cited as the main reason. Thus, it is
possible to partly produce the items outside or completely procure from outside. Depending on
who is stronger and controlling the whole process the subcontracting costs will vary and could be
even low.

Question (4):- Describe the post implementation review of a project. Explain

the tools that may be considered for post implementation review. Description
of the four parts of the post implementation review of a project?
Answer:Completing a project is not the same thing as ending the project management process. Simply
finishing doesnt ensure that the organization benefits from the projects outcome.
For example, after completing a yearlong project to establish a new quality management process
for your organization, you want to make sure that what you set out to do was actually achieved.
Your objective wasnt to simply deliver a process but rather, to deliver the process that
addresses the specific business need you intended to meet. This is the real measure of success.
So how can you properly measure a projects success, and work toward continuous
improvement? This is where the process of Post-Implementation Review (PIR) is helpful. It
helps you answer the following key questions:

Did the project fully solve the problem that it was designed to address?

Can we take things further, and deliver even bigger benefits?

What lessons did we learn that we can apply to future projects?

The key to a successful PIR is recognizing that the time spent on the project is just a small part of
an ongoing time-line. After every stage of a project is implemented, it may so happen that there
could be a minor change or modification which has to be reviewed. This is known as post
implementation review. The review is performed in four parts as depicted in the below figure:Rajiv Kalia

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Final Product
Review
Outstanding
Project Work
Project Review

Process Review

Final product review

The product obtained after every stage must meet the requirements of that stage. If it completely
meets the stated objectives, then focus on the issues of maintenance of the processes and product
performance. If the final product does not completely meet the objectives then identify the
variations in the product and analyses the variation. Study the factors responsible for the change
and evaluate each one separately.
Outstanding project work review
Many times it is found that there may be some item of the project which is still not in its
finished form. It may be insignificant as it may be a by-product of that stage which may not be
required immediately for the next stage. Then the items that are open should be resolved and
necessary steps be taken to close such open items.
Project review
Every aspect of a project from start to end has to be reviewed. The objectives, performance
criteria, financial criteria, resource utilization, slips and gains of time, adherence to the project
definition, and plans have to be reviewed. All such review details and reports have to be well
documented for future use.
Process review
Every process is important in any project. One may review the process to see, if any changes can
be made to improve its performance.

Tools for post implementation review

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There are various tools for post project implementation review that may be considered for
improving and developing processes of the project. Reports are prepared on the same which
becomes the basis for all future discussion. Some of the tools that may be considered for post
implementation review are the final product evaluation, outstanding project work evaluation,
project review questionnaire, and project evaluation as depicted in the following figure:-

Final
Product
Evaluation

Project
Evaluation

Outstanding
Project Work
Evaluation

Project
Review

Final
product
evaluation: Final product evaluation may be done through regularly organised meetings
and quality reviews.
Outstanding project work evaluation: All outstanding works of a project can be
reviewed to check its output quality and performance.
Project review questionnaire: Project review questionnaire may become important if
the reviews are to be structured. Group discussion may be initiated depending upon the
points to be discussed.
Process evaluation: Evaluation of any process is one of the key issues of project.

Question (5):- Explain the steps to set data in logical order so that the business
process may be defined.
Answer:Explanation of the steps to set data in a logical order:
The following steps should be considered for setting the data in a logical order.
1. Check whether the participants in the process that is, people, teams, and electronic
applications are sufficient or, any changes and additions need to be made.
2. Ensure that all the data expected is included or not. Generally, we start with an initial set of
data which we have. When we check them with the requirements of the process for the desired
outcomes, we find gaps. These gaps help us in determining which subset of the data is
appropriate at each task in the process.
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3. Check whether the data is sufficient for the implementation of the process. This can be
achieved by answering the following questions:

What is the path the process should take?

What decisions are to be made at any point in the process?
Are data available at those points?

4. State the rules used to define the various parts of the process. At this stage, the naming
conventions are also included. This is important to be included at the process definition stage.
5. Determine the disposition of data at the end of the process and decide the following:

Do we plan to keep the data or delete them?

If they are to be stored, where and in what form will be used?
What are the measures of security for access?

6. Determine the other elements depending upon the business process and the need. The elements
added must be questioned to collect a detail data. It is better to go deeper into the details and
collect data, and make them available at this initial stage, so that a better model can be prepared.
Then, the processes will be more successful in delivering the desired output. Process definition
enables us to go into details at every stage of the process and verify the adequacy of data, the
sequential steps in the process and fill the gaps before attempting implementation.
The purpose of setting the data in a logical order is to, locate deficiencies and remove them.
Therefore, the decisions about process and sequence can be taken and a model can be designed
which is useful in all perspectives.
Listing of the ingredients of a business process
The ingredients that might be used in a business process can be briefly outlined as follows:
The data which accomplishes the desired business objective
Acquisition, storage, distribution, and control of data which undertakes
The process across tasks Persons, teams, and organisational units which helps to perform and
Achieve the tasks Decisions which enhance the value of data during the process
We also have some behavioral aspects of the business process, mainly the decision making
process where humans are involved. Decision failures are common and research has shown that,
the failure of decisions is due to:
Biases in perception and fallacies in reasoning

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Tendency to act on assumptions, even when data are available easily for verification and/or
confirmation
Tendency to bring out of memory the facts that reinforce our assumptions and biased
evaluation
Tendency to accept evidence or fact as absolute which support our hypothesis
These listed factors result in faulty decision making. Being aware and avoiding them consciously
improves the processes of the business.

Question (6):- Describe the dimensions of quality?

David A. Garvin, a specialist in the area of quality control, argues that quality can be used in a
strategic way to compete effectively and an appropriate quality strategy would take into
consideration various important dimensions of quality.
There are eight such dimensions of quality. These are:
1. Performance:
It involves the various operating characteristics of the product. For a television set, for example,
these characteristics will be the quality of the picture, sound and longevity of the picture tube.
2. Features:
These are characteristics that are supplemental to the basic operating characteristics. In an
automobile, for example, a stereo CD player would be an additional feature.
3. Reliability:
Reliability of a product is the degree of dependability and trustworthiness of the benefit of the
product for a long period of time.
It addresses the probability that the product will work without interruption or breaking down.
4. Conformance:
It is the degree to which the product conforms to pre- established specifications. All quality
products are expected to precisely meet the set standards.
5. Durability:
It measures the length of time that a product performs before a replacement becomes necessary.
The durability of home appliances such as a washing machine can range from 10 to 15 years.
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6. Serviceability:
Serviceability refers to the promptness, courtesy, proficiency and ease in repair when the product
breaks down and is sent for repairs.
7. Aesthetics:
Aesthetic aspect of a product is comparatively subjective in nature and refers to its impact on the
human senses such as how it looks, feels, sounds, tastes and so on, depending upon the type of
product. Automobile companies make sure that in addition to functional quality, the automobiles
are also artistically attractive.
8. Perceived quality:
An equally important dimension of quality is the perception of the quality of the product in the
mind of the consumer. Honda cars, Sony Walkman and Rolex watches are perceived to be high
quality items by the consumers.

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