Ch. 3 Process Analysis
In a machine-paced line, each step ______ the same rate.
works at
Process ___ determines the maximum flow rate a process can provide per unit of time.
capacity
What are appropriate units for throughput?
- Customers/minute - Burgers/second
True or false: A process that is demand-constrained can have utilization of 100%.
False
True or false: The utilization of a non-bottleneck resource can be greater than that of the bottleneck.
False
What shape is used to represent flow units waiting in a system (buffer inventory)?
Triangle
True or false: A process flow diagram outlines a directional flow in the process.
True
True or false: If the capacity of a resource consisting of a single employee increases, then the processing time must have decreased.
True
Inventory _blank_ accumulate between workers in a worker-paced line.
can
When the flow rate is less than the demand rate, the process is referred to as ___-constrained. (Enter only one word per blank.)
capacity
Resources help the flow units change from being a unit of ___ to turning into a unit of ___
input; output
Flow units waiting in the process without being worked on are often referred to as buffer___
inventory
___ is a mismatch between supply and demand.
inventory
True or false: In a worker-paced line, each worker always works at the same rate.
False
True or false: Process analysis is only applicable to manufacturing settings.
False
True or false: The bottleneck is the resource with the fewest number of employees.
False
True or false: The bottleneck is the resource with the longest processing time.
False
True or false: In a machine-paced process, all steps are connected through a conveyor belt and all of the steps must work at the same rate.
True
True or false: The flow rate for a process can be less than the demand rate.
True
True or false: The utilization of a process is defined as the ratio between the flow rate and the process capacity.
True
Process analysis _blank_ be used with both manufacturing and service businesses.
can
For a process that is ___ constrained, the bottleneck resource will have 100% utilization.
capacity
If process capacity is 60 units per hour and customers desire 80 units per hour, then the process is ___-constrained.
capacity
The bottleneck will have utilization that is less than 100% when the process is ___ constrained.
capacity
An appropriate unit for the capacity of a resource is _blank_.
customers/minute
An organization that wants to fulfill customer orders more quickly should _blank_ the cycle time of their fulfillment process.
decrease
From Little's Law we see that if cycle time increases while flow time stays the same, then inventory must _blank_.
decrease
If the cycle time for a process decreases, then the time to finish X units starting with empty inventory buffers will _blank_.
decrease
If the flow time for a process decreases, then the time to finish X units starting with empty inventory buffers will _blank_.
decrease
If process capacity is 100 units per hour and customers desire 80 units per hour, then the process is ___-constrained.
demand
If the utilization of the bottleneck is less than 100%, then the process is ___ constrained.
demand
Inventory is a mismatch between supply and ___
demand
The ___ rate is the number of flow units that customers want per unit of time.
demand
A process flow diagram is a graphical way to Blank______ the process.
describe
Processes that are demand-constrained _blank_ have bottlenecks.
do
In a process flow diagram, we refer to the beginning of the flow as the upstream of the process and the end of the process as the ___
downstream
If the cycle time is 2 minutes/customer then how many customers are served per hour?
30
What is the capacity of a bank per hour if there are 4 bank tellers and the processing time is 240 seconds per customer?
60 customers per hour
A coffee shop's capacity is ___ per hour if there are 2 baristas and the processing time is 90 seconds per customer.
80
What shape is used to represent resources in a process flow diagram?
Box
How is the time through an empty machined-paced process determined?
By multiplying the number of stations by the cycle time
Which could be an appropriate unit for a demand rate?
Cars per day
What should you do to increase the capacity of a process?
Increase the capacity of the bottleneck resource regardless of where it is located in the process.
Imagine a capacity constrained process with multiple employees working. If the number of employees increases, what will happen to the cycle time for the process?
It will decrease.
If cycle time stays constant, but inventory goes down, what will happen to lead time?
It will go down.
If inventory goes up, but flow time stays constant, what will happen to cycle time?
It will go down.
If cycle time goes up, what will happen to lead time?
It will go up.
___ are shown as rectangular boxes in the process flow diagram.
activities
To increase the capacity of a process, one must increase the capacity of the resource that is the ___
bottleneck
Understanding the location of the ___ is critical for improving a process
bottleneck
Flow units waiting in the process without being worked on are often referred to as ___ inventory.
buffer
In a process flow diagram, triangles are used to represent _blank_ waiting in a system.
flow units
From Little's Law we see that if flow time stays the same while cycle time decreases, then inventory must _blank_.
increase
From Little's Law we see that if inventory stays the same but flow time increases, then cycle time must _blank_.
increase
If the cycle time increases, but no new resources are added to the process, then the time needed to serve 100 customers will _blank_.
increase
As cycle time increases, the time to make Q units _blank_.
increases
A process flow diagram indicates the _blank_.
journey a flow unit takes through a process
The bottleneck in a process is the resource with the ______ capacity.
lowest
Process capacity determines the _blank_ supply of the process.
maximum
The more stations in a process, the _blank_ time the first flow unit needs to flow through the system when it is empty.
more
The processing time of a resource is how long that particular resource takes to complete ___ flow unit.
one
A rigorous framework for understanding the detailed operations of a business is known as _blank_.
process analysis
___ ___ identifies and analyzes all the activities involved in serving one unit of demand or, put differently, in providing one unit of supply.
process analysis
A ___ ___ ___ is a graphical way to describe a process.
process time diagram
The ___ time of a resource is how long that particular resource takes to complete one flow unit.
processing
The process capacity is found by looking for the ___ capacity in the process.
smallest
Flow rate and ___ are identical.
throughput
A(n) ___ resource is a supplier of the downstream portion of a process.
upstream
