The initial post is worth 20 points and is due by Day 4, 11:59 pm CT; replies to peers are valued at 5 points each and are due by Day 7, 11:59 pm CT.
Instructions
In 150 words (minimum), answer the following:
Which of the 5 steps in the product control process do you feel is the MOST important? (Figure 10.5 at the top of this page.) Why?
When a company is elevating and selecting a facility layout design, there are several factors to consider. Name and explain two of those factors. (See your textbook readings for more guidance.)
What is benchmarking, and how does it impact a firm’s approach to quality control?
Respond to two of your peers’ initial posts in 100 words (minimum) for each. You may reply to more than two classmates, but the point limit for replies remains 10 points.
Citation Expectations: Please be sure to provide information on any source you use to develop your ideas. You will list your citation information at the bottom of your post. For now, you do not need to produce full citations; instead, simply provide as much information as you can, such as authors’ names, dates, and titles.
Growing Business by Managing and Leading Change
Week 6: Production and Operations Management
By producing and marketing the goods and services that buyers desire, businesses satisfy their responsibility to the general public as a whole. This measure of satisfaction is called utility, an economics term used to describe the overall satisfaction consumers receive from that good or service. To meet the wants and needs of their consumers, businesses can develop or strengthen four basic kinds of utility: time, ownership, place, and form. A company’s marketing operation facilitates time, place, and ownership utility by presenting market offerings to customers at a time and place that clears the way for buying.
Yet, it takes the production wing of a company, after consulting with the customer and the marketing department, to create form utility by converting raw materials and other inputs into finished products. The next time you look at your smartphone, contemplate what it took for your provider to get it into your hands.
Finally, “quality” is a popular term, often associated with productions and operations management. The daily challenge for a business to meet and exceed the customers’ expectations of “quality” in a competitive and dynamic marketplace can be quite exhilarating, and stakeholders should remember that what satisfies a customer today may not tomorrow.
Assignment Citation Expectations – APA: Now that we have reached the halfway point in the course, we ask that you begin to practice APA-style citations to cite the sources you use to support your ideas. Until we reach Week 12, we will expect you to cite at least one source (when requested) in APA style. There are plenty of resources to help you with this in the APA Help Center in the left-hand navigation menu.
Week 6 Readings, Materials, and LessonsWeek 6 Readings, Materials, and Lessons
Please read the following chapters in your course textbook, view the PowerPoint presentations (PPTs), and any other listed resources:
Chapter 10 and Chapter 10 PPT Chapter 10 PPT – Alternative Formats
What Toilet Paper Can Teach Us About Supply Chains | Willy Shih | TEDxBeaconStreet. (7:41). TEDx Talks. (2020, Jul 28). YouTube.com.
Youtube Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihd7XJMzdG4
Week 6 Vocabulary Terms
Review the following terms to help you find success in this course and program, as well as in your future career in business:
Quality Control
This is achieved by measuring output against established quality standards.
Production
Use of resources, such as workers and machinery, to convert materials into finished goods and services.
LEED: (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)
Voluntary certification program administered by the U.S. Green Building Council, aimed at promoting the most sustainable construction processes available.
Flexible Manufacturing System
A production facility that can be quickly modified to manufacture different products.
Make, Buy, or Lease Decision
The choice of whether to manufacture a product or component in-house, purchase it from an outside supplier, or lease it.
Inventory Control
Function requiring production and operations managers to balance the need to keep stock on hand to meet demand against the costs of carrying inventory.
Production Control
Function requiring a well-defined set of procedures for coordinating people, materials, and machinery to provide maximum production efficiency.
Benchmarking
Process of determining how well other companies (outside your own) perform business functions or tasks.
Supply Chain
The sequence of processes involved in the production and distribution of a commodity.