1.

Ans: The four basic varieties of layouts for manufacturing facilities are:
1)
2)
3)
4)

Process layout
Product layout
Group technology layout
Fixed position layout

1.Process layout: This type of layout is concerned with the grouping of machines, process, or services
according to their function. This grouping of machines by function is characteristic of job shops and batch type
production facilities. Hence this type of layout is also called as functional layout. Process layout typically uses
general purpose machines that can be changed over rapidly to new operations for different product designs.
2.Product layout: Product layout commonly referred to as 'line layout', focuses on the sequence of production
or assembly operations required for manufacturing or assembling a part or a product. These are used in mass or
continuous production. Examples are automobile assembly, cement manufacturing, oil refining. In contrast to
process layouts, they are not flexible as they are specifically designed for making or assembling one product.
These layouts typically use specialized machines that are set up once to perform a specific operation for
a long period of time on one product.
3.Group technology layout: In group technology, machines are grouped into a cell. The cell acts like a product
layout which is land within a larger process layout environment. It requires that each cell process is a family of
parts that have many common characteristics, such as machining operations, similar machine set - ups and
common raw materials. Due to these common characteristics, the parts can be produced in a different path
through a cell much like a product layout.
4.Fixed position layout: In this type of layout, the product is located in a fixed position and all the resources
like workers, materials, machines and equipment's are transported to that location. Missile assembly, large
aircraft assembly, ship construction and bridge construction are examples of fixed-position
layouts. These layouts are used when a product is bulky, large, heavy or fragile. These minimize the amount of
product movement required.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2.Ans:The decisions for supply chain management is divided into two broad categories: Strategic and
Operational Decisions as depicted below figure:

Strategic decisions are made typically over a longer time horizon. These are closely linked to the
corporate strategy and guide supply chain policies from a design perspective.

Operational decisions are short term and focus on activities over a day-to day basis. The effort in these
types of decisions is to effectively and efficiently manage the product flow in the strategically planned
supply chain.

There are four major decision areas in supply chain management: location, production, inventory, and
transportation. There are both strategic and operational elements in each of these decision areas as in below
figure:

1. Location decision: The geographic placement of production facilities, stocking points, and sourcing points is
the natural first step in creating a supply chain. The location of facilities involves a commitment of resources to
a long term plan. Once the size, number, and location of the production are determined, the possible paths of
product supply to the final customer can be determined. These decisions are of great significance to a firm since
they represent the basic strategy for accessing customer markets. They will have a considerable impact on
revenue, cost, and level of service. These decisions should be determined by an optimization routine that
considers production costs, taxes, duties and duty drawback, tariffs, local content, distribution costs, and
production limitations. Although location decision is primarily strategic, they also have implications on an
operational level.
2. Production decision: The strategic decisions include what products to produce and which plants to produce,
in allocation of suppliers to plants, plants to distribution control system (DCS), and then DCS to customer
markets. As mentioned earlier, these decisions have a big impact on the revenues, costs, and customer service
levels of the firm. These decisions assume the existence of the facilities, but determine the exact path through
which a product flows to and from these facilities. Another critical issue is the capacity of the manufacturing
facilities and this largely depends on the degree of vertical integration within the firm. Operational decisions
focus on detailed production scheduling. These decisions include the construction of the master production
schedules, scheduling production on machines, and equipment maintenance. Other considerations include
workload balancing and quality control measures at a production facility.
3. Inventory decisions: Inventory decisions refer to means by which inventories are managed. Inventories exist
at every stage of the supply chain as either raw material, semi-finished or finished goods. They can
also be in process between locations. Their primary purpose is to buffer against any uncertainty that might exist
in the supply chain. Since holding of inventories can cost anywhere between 20 to 40 percent of
their value, their efficient management is critical in supply chain operations. It is strategic in the sense that top
management sets goals.
4. Transportation decisions: Transportation decisions are closely linked to the inventory decisions, since the
best choice of the mode is often found by trading-off the cost of using the particular mode of transport
with the indirect cost of inventory associated with that mode. While air shipments may be fast, reliable, and
warrant lesser safety stocks, they are expensive. Meanwhile, shipping by sea or rail may be much
cheaper, but they necessitate holding relatively large amounts of inventory to buffer against the inherent
uncertainty associated with them. Therefore, customer service levels and geographic location play vital

roles in such decisions. Since transportation is more than 30 percent of the logistics costs, operating efficiently
makes good economic sense. Shipment sizes, routing and scheduling of goods are the keys in
effective management of the firms transport strategy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3.Ans: Business process modeling can be categorized into two parts Logical processing modeling and
physical process modeling. Below figure depicts the types of modeling.

Logical process modeling is the representation of putting together all the activities of business process in detail
and making a representation of them. The initial data collected has to be arranged in a logical manner so that,
links are made between nodes for making the workflow smooth.The steps to be followed to make the work
smoother are given as follows:
1. Capture relevant data in detail to be acted upon
2. Establish controls and limit access to the data during process execution
3. Determine which task in the process is to be done and also the subsequent tasks in that process
4. Make sure that all relevant data is available for all the tasks
5. Make the relevant and appropriate data available for that task
6.Establish a mechanism to indicate acceptance of the results after every task or process. This is to have an
assurance that flow is going ahead with accomplishments in the desired path.Some of these activities may occur
in a sequential order. Whereas; some of them may run parallel. There may even be circular paths, like re-work
loops. Complexities arise when the process activities are not connected together.
Logical process model consists of only the business activities and shows the connectivity among them. The
process model is a representation of the business activities and is different from the technology dependent ones.
Below depicts the ways of representing logical process modeling:

Physical process modeling: Physical process modeling is concerned with the actual design of database meeting
the requirements of the business. Physical modeling deals with the conversion of the logical model into a
relational model. Objects get defined at the schema level. The objects here are tables created on the basis of

entities and attributes. A database is defined for the business. All the information is put together to make the
database software specific. This means that the objects during physical modeling vary on the database software
being used. The outcomes are server model diagrams showing tables and relationships with a database.
4 A)Ans: Dimensions of quality :Quality is inherent in the product or service that is rendered to the customer.
Since we are attempting to measure the same, we will look into those aspects of quality, called
dimensions of quality.

Quality of design A product is designed keeping in view the customers requirement. For designing a
product, the manufacturer or service provider should be aware of the specifications of different features
required to incorporate in the product. Some of the features to be known for designing a product include
material, dimensions, and characteristics. The quality of the product is introduced by the design of
these features. Inspection of the manufacturing processes is of utmost importance in ensuring quality of
performance.
Conformance to design Conformance to design is the degree to which the manufactured product or
delivered service meets the parameters that have been incorporated in the design. It verifies that the
variability in the process is within acceptable limits so as not to compromise the functionalities that the
designer wanted.
Utilization conditions Utilization conditions refer to the necessity of the customer being informed or
trained so that, the purpose for which the product was made is realized by the customer in total, thus
enhancing the customers satisfaction. Instructions, manuals, help-lines, and on-site training by the
manufacturers personnel improve the perception of quality.
After sales service There are so many reasons why products do not function to the expected levels. It
may be improper use, unexpected or additional demands, improper assembly or even manufacturing
defects. There is a need to rectify these and make products or services perform up to the expected
standard. The firm should put in place a system by which these possibilities are anticipated and attended
to give customer satisfaction. This is an important, but often neglected dimension of quality.

B) Project management is all about the mindset. Below Figure depicts all the major characteristics of a project
mindset.

a) Time: It is an important parameter in framing the right mindset. It is possible to improve the pace of the
project by reducing the time frame of the process. The mindset is normally to work out a comfort mode by
stretching the time limits.
b) Responsiveness: Responsiveness refers to quickness of response of an individual. The vibrancy and
liveliness of an individual or an organization are proportional to its capabilities to respond to evolving processes
and structure.
c) Information sharing: Information is power. Information is the master key to todays business. Information
sharing is an important characteristic of the project mindset today. A seamless flow of information is the key to
build a healthy mindset among various stakeholders in a project.

d) Processes: Project mindset lays emphasis on flexible processes. The major difference in a process and a
system is in its capabilities of providing flexibility to different situational encounters. Flexible processes greater
capabilities of adaptability.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------5. Ans: Progress control: The progress control of a project can be achieved by considering the following
aspects. Figure below depicts the phases of progress control.

Monitor performance: The first step for any project control mechanism is to monitor the progress. There are
numerous ways to monitor and measure various project parameters. For example, the team members log in
details of actual start date, actual finish date, actual hours worked per task, estimated hours to complete the task,
elapsed time in hours to complete the task, any miscellaneous costs incurred during a stage. These inputs
become the base to monitor the performance of the project and its stages.
Update schedule: Update the schedule for:
Actual start date for tasks started
Actual finish date for tasks finished
Actual hours worked per task
Latest estimated work in hours to complete the task
Update costs: Update the stage cost summary worksheet with actual costs incurred during the period and
estimated remaining costs. Miscellaneous costs automatically get updated from the scheduler, since they
are calculated from actual work.
Re-plan stage schedule: Review the tracking Gantt and cost workbook and identify any deviation from the
baseline. Analyze the cause of the deviation. Refer back to the project control factors to help determine the
appropriate corrective action and adjust the schedule accordingly. Determine if the stage has exceeded the
progress, cost and quality tolerance levels agreed with the project management team. Review status of open
issues and determine any further action required on these issues. Review the status of any outstanding quality
reviews. Review any new change requests.
Conduct team status review: Conduct a status meeting with the project team. This is important to bring
everyone on the same page of the project progress. Typically, items for discussion are:
Achievements of the completed activities
Planned activities that are incomplete or overdue
Activities for the next period
New issues identified in the current period
Issues closed in the current period

Summary of results of quality reviews

Summary of schedule and cost status
Suggested revisions to the plan

Create status report: The status report provides a record of current achievement and immediate expectations
of the project. The status has to be effectively communicated to all concerned parties.
Create flash report: Summarise the accomplishments for the month, schedule status, upcoming tasks for the
month and any major issues. Distribute the same to all project team members and
stakeholders.
Project status reports: As discussed earlier, the status report provides a record of current achievements and
immediate expectations of the project. This is generated on a regular basis depending upon the type,
requirements and phase of the project.
Typically it is generated for a week. A weekly status report may include:
Accomplishments during the period
Items not completed during the period
Proposed activities for the next period
Any predicted slippage to the stage schedule, along with cause and corrective action
Any predicted cost overrun along with cause and corrective action
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------6.Ans A)Pure strategies:
Three focused or pure strategies are:
Vary production to match demand by changes in employment(Chase demand strategy): This strategy
permits hiring and layoff of workers as required. When the output is to be increased more workers are
added and when the output is to be decreased, workers are removed.
Produce at a constant rate and use inventories (Level production strategy): This strategy retains a stable
work force producing at a constant output rate. Inventory can be accumulated to satisfy peak demands.
Promotional programs may also be used to shift demand. However, by producing at a constant rate, it is
possible that the entire demand is not met leading to sales loss in some periods while excess production
results in inventory build-up in some cases.
Produce with stable workforce but vary the utilization rate (Stable work-force strategy): This strategy
retains a stable work force but permits overtime, part-time, and idle time. Some versions of this strategy
leads to a combination of back orders, subcontracting, and use of inventories. This strategy avoids the
detrimental effects of layoff and hence is seen as a stable strategy. Typically, information technology
companies follow this strategy.
B)There are two types of approaches to scheduling. They are forward scheduling and backward scheduling.
These are used to ensure that the lead time for manufacture is kept to a minimum and the products are supplied
to the customers as quickly as possible.
1. Forward scheduling: Forward scheduling is an approach where the customer orders are immediately
processed as soon as they come in even if their due dates are far away. With forward scheduling, the scheduler
selects a planned order release date and schedules all the activities from this point forward and ready within
time.
2. Backward scheduling: With backward scheduling, the scheduler begins with a planned receipt date or due
date and moves backward in time according to the required processing times. It is an approach where the
customer orders are processed as late as possible so that they are finished and delivered exactly on their due
dates. Here the starting time of the processing job is determined by setting back the number of days required
for its processing, from finish date.