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ASSIGNMENT ON OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

SUBMITTED BY: - Sandesh Suradev Prajwal Amreen Kavitha

SUBMITTED TO: - Prof. Divya Prabhu SCEM

SUBMITTED ON: - 24/10/13

2). Differentiate LEVEL STRATEGY from CHASE STRATEGY with


appropriate examples?
LEVEL STRATEGY:In the Level Strategy, the emphasis is on not disturbing the existing production system at all. This implies that the system would employ a constant workforce and/or maintain constant working hours. In this strategy, inventory plays the vital role of linking one period with the other. Therefore, firms often employ inventory-related alternatives to address the supply-demand mismatch. During periods of lean demand, anticipation inventory is built natives such as backordering/shortage are made use of to match supply with demand. Clearly, inventory-related alternatives are useful only when the risks of carrying inventory are low. Therefore, several sectors of industry operating in made-to-stock environment and products with low technological obsolescence are suitable candidates for using this strategy. In a constant workforce strategy, an organisation having a certain number of workers may not hire new workers or lay off excess workers in response to changes in demand. They will utilize the other means of addressing the supply-demand mismatch. This is especially true of highly skilled employees. In such cases, the high costs of hiring, training, and laying off may be responsible for several organisations resorting to a constant workforce strategy. A case in point is the recent experiences of the firms operating in the information technology (IT) sector in India. As the global recession continues to affect several economies there could be a drop in the demand for IT services in the country. Firms such as Infosys and Wipro will resort to undertime strategy rather than laying off software engineers. At most, they may temporarily halt fresh recruitment of employees. The other possibility is to maintain constant working hours. A constant production rate is often achieved by maintaining constant working hours. For instance, a firm operating on a single-shift basis will continue to work in the same fashion. A constant production rate is an appropriate method for achieving a level production strate4gy in a highly automated and mechanized set- up. In such an organisation, the production rate is a function of the number of working working hours. Process industries and highly mechanised batch-processing units fall under this category of such industries- they include two-wheeler and passenger car manufacturing and petrochemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing. In several organisations, level strategy is obtained only by maintaining constant working hours and a constant number of workers. These firms may employ a variety of automated and semi-automated set-ups for offering products and services. (Suradev)

CHASE STRATEGY
At the other hand Chase strategy is end of the spectrum. In this method of APP, very little or no inventory is carried from one period to another. Rather, the supply-demand mismatch is addressed during each period by employing a variety of capacity-related alternatives. For example, during periods of high demand, additional workers are hired. The number of working hours is increased, workers are permitted to do overtime, and more capacity is obtained by outsourcing the unmet demand. Similarly, during periods of low demand, some workers are laid off, others are permitted to go on undertime, and the number of working hours is reduced by reducing the number of shifts, and, in extreme situations, even the duration of the shift. Several service systems and made to order project type of organisations fall under this category. As we can see from our discussion of APP alternatives, capacity augmentation and capacity adjustment alternatives are suitable for a chase strategy. However, for reasons already described (and due to the cost of these alternatives), organisations may prefer to exploit capacity adjustment alternatives before employing capacity augmentation alternatives. Strategy Level strategy APP alternatives Inventory-based alternatives (a) Build inventory (b) Backlog/backorder/shortage Capacity adjustment alternatives (a) Overtime/undertime (b) Variable number of shifts (c) Hire/lay-off workers Capacity augmentation alternatives (a) Subcontract/outsource (b) De-bottleneck Key features Inventory as the critical link between the periods; made-tostock environments; products with low risks of obsolescence No inventory carried from one period to another; made-toorder and project environments; several service systems

Chase strategy

Source: - 1. Operations Management Theory and Practice- Mahadevan. 2. Production and Operations Management by K. Aswathappa, K Shridhara Bhat.

5).Define

Productivity, Explain the factors affecting Productivity.(Kavitha.N)

Productivity is the total output relative to the inputs we get with respect to the production. It is also defined as the amount of goods and services produced by the use of the resources Productivity is an index which measures the output i.e. goods and services relatively to the inputs i.e. labour, materials, energy and other resources Productivity can be put in the form of a simple equation Productivity= Output/ Input It is managers primary responsibility to achieve the productivity which helps a single operation, a department, an organization, or an entire country. These productivity ratios are used in organizations for the purpose of planning work force requirements, scheduling equipments, financial analysis etc. Production and Productivity are often used interchangeably, but there is a difference between the two. Production refers to the total output. Productivity refers to the amount of goods and services produced by the use of the resources. Factors affecting Productivity: Every organizations focuses on productivity. Several factors that influences productivity they are 1. Human element: A company own better machines, but if the people or the human resources do not work with dedication, productivity cannot increase employees job performance depends upon the motivation and their ability. Ability depends on quality of the people in the company. 2. Work environment: It has an influence on productivity it covers many facilities such as lighting, plant layout, temperature, materials etc. 3. Technology: Technology alone wont increase the productivity it must be used wisely and thoughtfully. If not used carefully it may lead to inflexibility, mismatched operations, high costs etc. For example: playing games, checking stock prices, watching sports scores on the internet. 4. Layoffs: It affects productivity in both negative and positive, Initially productivity may increase after layoff, because the workload remains the same but only few workers work 5. Design of the workspace: it has a better impact on productivity For example: having tools and other work items within easy reach can positively impact on productivity 6. Incentives: when the employees get incentives on their work done it boosts the productivity. 7. Standardization: Standardizing the process and procedure whenever and wherever possible to reduce variability can have a significant benefit for both productivity and quality.

Source: 1. Operations Management-William J. Stevenson 2. Production and Operations Management- K Aswathappa, K Shridhara Bhat

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