Apics - Section A Quiz

Data errors (EDI is the electronic exchange of trading documents, such as purchase orders, shipment authorizations, advanced shipment notices, and invoices, replacing manual entries, which in turn minimizes data errors.)

A benefit of electronic data interchange (EDI) being implemented with a supplier is a reduction in:

Focuses on the long range financial objectives of a company (A business plan is a statement of long-range strategy and revenue, cost, and profit objectives usually accompanied by budgets, a projected balance sheet, and a cash flow.)

A business plan differs from a strategic plan in that it:

Monetary units and grouped by product family (A business plan is a statement of long-range strategy and revenue, cost, and profit objectives usually accompanied by budgets, a projected balance sheet, and a cash flow.)

A business plan is usually stated in terms of:

Make to order (Make to order is a production environment where a good or service can be made after receipt of a customer's order.)

A chemical company waits to manufacture batches of products until customers place orders due to shelf life is an example of which of the following production environment strategies?

Make-or-Buy Decision (A make-or buy decision is the act of deciding whether to produce an item internally or buy it from an outside supplier. Factors to consider in the decision include costs, capacity availability, proprietary and/or specialized knowledge, quality considerations, skill requirements, volume, and timing.)

A company is debating whether to add additional production capacity or outsource the additional volume. The process they must go through is called a:

Simultaneous engineering (A concept that refers to the simultaneous participation of all the functional areas of the firm in the product design activity. Suppliers and customers are often also included.)

A company is seeking to design a new product as a low-cost manufacturer. Which of the following design methods brings product and process design groups together to achieve this objective?

Value Chain Analysis (Value chain analysis is an examination of all links a company uses to produce and deliver its products and services starting from the origination point and continuing through delivery to the final customer.)

A company losing market share due to price competition should incorporate which of the following techniques?

Incoterms (When goods are moved between two entities, it is imperative that clarity exists as to who is responsible for what. Incoterms, developed by the International Chamber of Commerce, is specifically designed to address this need.)

A dispute over damage to goods shipped between two entities in different international countries arises. Which international standards, if applied at the time of the shipment, would clearly resolve the dispute?

Feature (A feature is a distinctive characteristic of a good or service, where the characteristic is provided by an option, accessory, or attachment.)

A distinctive characteristic of a good or service, where the characteristic may be provided by an option, accessory, or attachment, is called a:

Enterprise resources planning (Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is defined as the ability to deliver an integrated suite of business applications.)

A framework for organizing, defining, and standardizing the business processes necessary to effectively plan and control an organization is known as:

Operator and Process Flexibility (Lean production focuses on increasing flexibility within manufacturing.)

A fundamental principle of lean production is to focus on:

Product Family (A product family is a group of products with similar characteristics, often used in production planning or sales and operations planning.)

A group of products with similar characteristics, often used in production planning is known as a:

Sustainability (Sustainability includes activities that provide present benefit without compromising the needs of future generations.)

A key design factor for today's manufacturers has to do with disposal of production by-products and:

A Flow Shop (In a flow shop the machines and operators process a standard, uninterrupted material flow. The same operations are performed for each production run. The layout is designed to facilitate a product flow.)

A mass production shop with a continuous layout where products follow the same process is also known as:

Price and delivery (In the mature phase of a products life, pricing and delivery are often the order winners.)

A piece of electronics equipment is several years old and new models with new functionality are common on store shelves. Which of the following factors are likely more important to consumers when choosing this product?

Postponement (Postponement enables specific identification of a product as close to the market as possible.)

A product design strategy that shifts product differentiation closer to the consumer by delaying identity changes, such as assembly or packaging, to the last possible supply chain location is called:

Business plan (A business plan is a statement of long-range strategy and revenue, cost, and profit objectives usually accompanied by budgets, a projected balance sheet, and a cash flow.)

A statement of long-range strategy and revenue, cost, and profit objectives usually accompanied by budgets, a projected balance sheet, and a cash flow is called a:

Contains the company's Vision, Mission Statement, Goals, and Objectives (A business plan is a statement of long-range strategy and revenue, cost, and profit objectives usually accompanied by budgets, a projected balance sheet, and a cash flow.)

A strategic plan differs from a business plan in that it:

Product differentiation (Product differentiation entails a strategy of making a product distinct from the competition on a nonprice basis such as availability, durability, quality, or reliability.)

A strategy of making a product distinct from the competition on a non-price basis such as availability, durability, quality, or reliability is known as:

Engineer to order (Large, often unique, items or structures that require a custom design capability are generally manufactured using an engineer-to-order process.)

A type of manufacturing process used for large, often unique, items or structures that require a custom design capability is:

Repetitive (Repetitive manufacture is a process dedicated to a single or small range of products, where products are passed through the same sequence of operations.)

A vehicle assembly plant would be classified as which type of manufacturing process?

Simultaneously plans and schedules production based on available materials, labor and plant capacity (APS simultaneously plans and schedules production based on available materials, labor and plant capacity.)

Advanced planning and scheduling software differs from other planning systems in that it:

The product design is worked on at the same time the process design takes place (Product design and process design work hand in hand to achieve the design objectives and be able to produce for the lowest possible cost.)

An advantage to simultaneous engineering is that:

Each customer order results in a unique set of part numbers, bills of material, and routings (Products whose customer specifications require unique engineering design, significant customization, or new purchased materials. Each customer order results in a unique set of part numbers, bills of material, and routings.)

An engineer-to-order product differs in order entry from other production strategies in that:

A kanban (In general, a pull system replenishes inventory only when it is needed. A kanban is a pull system in which work centers signal with a card that they wish to withdraw necessary parts from feeding operations or suppliers.)

An example of a pull system for replenishing inventory is:

Centralized Distribution Planning (In general, a push system creates inventory in anticipation of demand.)

An example of a push system for replenishing inventory is:

The bullwhip effect (When a small change in demand downstream in the supply chain generates an extreme change in the supply position upstream in a supply chain, this is known as the bullwhip effect.)

An extreme change in the supply position upstream in a supply chain, generated by a small change in demand downstream in the supply chain, is known as:

Enterprise Resources Planning (As the needs of organizations have grown in the direction of a truly integrated approach towards materials management, the need for integrated systems has arisen. As these systems have grown both in size and in integration of functionality, they have come to be referred to by the term enterprise resources planning aka "ERP")

As supply chain management evolves, the need for integration of knowledge and decision making has resulted in which of the following computer systems?

Order winners (Order winners are characteristics that cause customers to choose that firm's goods and services over those of its competitors.)

Characteristics that encourage customers to choose one product or service over another are called:

Quality and Delivery (In the growth phase of a product, rapid expansion and increased production often lead to degradation in quality and delivery.)

Company X has developed a new innovative product that is taking over the market. Early sales consume everything that the company could produce, but things have started to slow down. Both production and sales continue to grow. What are the typical challenges that would be expected in this growth phase of the product life?

The overall management of the accessibility, usability, reliability, and security of data used to ensure data record accuracy (Data governance is a set of processes that ensures that important data assets are formally managed throughout the enterprise.)

Data governance is defined as:

Design, purchase, manufacture, assemble, ship (Delivery lead time is the time from the receipt of a customer order to the delivery of the product; since this is engineer-to-order, the receipt of the order would initiate the design phase.)

Delivery lead time in an engineer-to-order environment includes which of the following elements?

It does not dwell on manufacturing alone (Enterprise Resources Planning differs from Manufacturing Resources Planning in that it does not focus on manufacturing alone.)

Enterprise Resources Planning differs from Manufacturing Resources Planning in that:

Make to stock (In a make-to-stock environment, the delivery lead time would be from the time the order is received to the time the product reaches the customer; no design, manufacturing or assembly would be required.)

If the design, purchase, inventory, manufacturing, assembly and ship time are the same, the delivery lead time is least in which of the following environments?

Before the product is produced, placed in inventory and made available for sale (In a make-to-order environment, orders are the signal to manufacturing to produce a product and therefore must be received before the product can be produced, placed in inventory and made available for sale.)

In a make-to-order strategy, orders for products are typically received:

Finished Goods (Customers purchase finished goods in a make-to-stock environment. Raw materials and component inventories are used to make finished goods and are not normally sold. Work-in-process inventory refers to items in the process of being converted into finished goods.)

In a make-to-stock environment, when customer orders are received, they consume:

After the product is in inventory and available for sale (In a make-to-stock environment, orders are expected to be filled from existing inventory and immediately available for shipment.)

In a make-to-stock strategy, orders for products are typically received:

Before the product can be assembled and made available for sale (In an assemble-to-order environment, orders specify the variations of the assembly to be produced and therefore must be received before the product can be assembled and made available for sale.)

In an assemble-to-order strategy, orders for products are received:

The contribution made by an operation or a plant to the final usefulness and worth of a product, as seen by the customer. (Value added is the contribution made by an operation or a plant to the final usefulness and value of a product, as seen by the customer.)

In current lean manufacturing terms, adding value means:

Service industry (A company in a service industry is an organization that provides an intangible product, such as medical or legal services)

In its narrowest sense, an organization that provides an intangible product is in the:

Muda (Muda, or waste, refers to the reduction of costs in lean manufacturing by reducing waste within a system.)

In lean manufacturing, costs are reduced by reducing:

Pull System (A pull system is the production of items only as demanded for use or to replace those taken for use.)

Lean production utilizes kanban cards to generate a reorder point signal, which is an example of a:

Total time required to manufacture an item, exclusive of lower level purchasing lead time (Manufacturing lead time represents the total time required to manufacture an item, exclusive of lower level purchasing lead time.)

Manufacturing lead time represents the:

Make-to-order, assemble-to-order, and engineer-to order (The master scheduler must know what to produce, how much, and when to deliver in order to align production schedules.)

Master schedulers require the details of a customer for which of the following production strategies?

Concurrent Engineering (A concept that refers to the simultaneous participation of all the functional areas of the firm in the product design activity. Suppliers and customers are often also included.)

Multiple functional groups work on a new product design at the same time versus in sequence, which reduces cycle time. This is referred to as:

A manufacturing system that allows quick changeovers to respond to near-term changes in product volume and mix. (Process flexibility is the design of a manufacturing system, including operators and machinery, that allows quick changeovers to respond to near-term changes in product volume and mix.)

Process flexibility refers to:

Making a product distinct from the competition on a non-price basis such as availability, durability, quality, or reliability. (Product differentiation as a strategy seeks to create unique product characteristics or selling points that differ from competitors.)

Product differentiation is a strategy based around:

Differentiation (Product differentiation is a strategy of making a product distinct from the competition on something other than price, such as availability, durability, quality, or reliability.)

Providing a product or service that is unique is an example of:

Sustainability (Sustainability is activities that provide present benefit without compromising the needs of future generations.)

Recycling wastes, such as plastic, paper, metals, etc., for reuse in today's products and thus minimizing land fills is an example of:

Continuous process improvement (Continuous process improvement is a never-ending effort to expose and eliminate the root causes of problems, focusing on small-step improvement as opposed to big-step improvement.)

Reducing setup time to enable quick changeovers of products on a manufacturing line is an example of:

Demand lead time (Demand lead time is the amount of time potential customers are willing to wait for the delivery of a good or a service.)

The amount of time potential customers are willing to wait for the delivery of a good or a service is known as the:

Order qualifiers (Order qualifiers are competitive characteristics that are required for a firm to be a viable competitor in the marketplace.)

The competitive characteristics that a firm must exhibit to be a viable competitor in the marketplace are known as:

A global network used to deliver products and services from raw materials to end customers through an engineered flow of information, physical distribution and cash (Supply chains comprise the various entities from the consumer back to the source of raw materials consumed in the end product.)

The definition of a supply chain is:

Jidoka (Jidoka means that when a problem occurs on a production line, a worker is able to stop the process and prevent defective goods from being produced.)

The practice of stopping a production line when a defect is found is known as:

Takt time (Takt time sets the pace of production to match the rate of customer demand and becomes the heartbeat of any lean production system.)

What sets the pace of production to match the rate of customer demand and becomes the heartbeat of any lean production system?

Qualifier (Order qualifiers are those competitive characteristics that a firm must exhibit to be a viable competitor in the marketplace.)

The price for a certain product must fall within a certain range for a supplier to be considered by potential customers. This condition is known as an Order:

Waste (Lean production aims to eliminate all non-value-added activities (waste) from product design and production, and management of the supply chain and customers. Although the reduction of inventories, costs and lead times may be goals within a lean production program, they are not by themselves the primary objective of lean production.)

The primary objective of lean production is to reduce:

Vision (An organization's vision describes the organization as it would appear in a future successful state.)

The shared perception of the organization's future or what the organization will achieve is known as its:

The activities associated with the movement of material, usually finished goods or service parts, from the manufacturer to the customer (Distribution is the action or process of supplying goods to stores and other businesses that sell to consumers.)

The term Distribution refers to:

Project (Project production is a manufacturing process in which each unit or small group of units is managed by a project team created especially for that purpose.)

The term for a production environment in which each unit or small group of units is managed by a team created especially for that purpose is:

Halting the production process when a defect occurs (Jidoka is the Japanese term for the practice of stopping the production line when a defect occurs. The other terms do not fit the definition of jidoka.)

The term jidoka refers to the process of:

Continuing efforts to adapt, modify, and refine equipment to increase flexibility, reduce material handling, and promote continuous flows. (Total productive maintenance (TPM) is a system of maintaining and improving the integrity of production and quality systems through the machines, equipment, processes, and employees that add business value to the organization.)

Total productive maintenance focuses on preventative maintenance plus:

The need to break into a production run to make product needed for a customer (Breaking into a production run typically requires an additional set up, which translates to lost production time, thereby increasing expenses.)

Trying to achieve the lowest production cost possible would likely conflict with which of the following scenarios?

Winner (After-sales service often separates competitors when customers know one company stands behind its products, while the other is only interested in the initial sale.)

Two companies offer comparable products with relatively similar quality and pricing, but one company dramatically leads the market due to their after-sales support. This is an example of an order:

A complete supply chain dedicated to the reverse flow of products and materials for the purpose of returns, repair, remanufacture, and/or recycling (Reverse logistics is a complete supply chain dedicated to the reverse flow of products and materials for the purpose of returns, repair, remanufacture, and/or recycling.)

What best defines reverse logistics?

Competition (In today's market, manufacturers find foreign competitors selling in their markets, transportation of goods around the globe easy and affordable, and communications availing customers of goods and services from around the globe.)

What entity or condition impacts customer demand by improved communication, global transportation, and worldwide sourcing?

Economy (General economic conditions influence the demand by consumers and companies. In times of economic expansion, demand increases, while in times of recession, demand decreases.)

What entity or condition impacts customer demand due to decisions consumers and companies must make regarding financial resources?

Customers (Both consumers and industrial customers have become much more demanding, and suppliers have responded by improving the range of characteristics they offer. Some of the characteristics and selection customers expect in the products and services they buy are: a fair price, higher quality products and services, delivery lead time, better pre-sale and after-sale service, and product and volume flexibility.)

What entity or condition impacts demand by providing expectations that products will be sold at a fair price, that higher quality is required, that delivery lead time is negligible, that before and after-sales service is available and that products and their volumes are flexible?

Process (A process is a planned series of actions or operations (e.g., mechanical, electrical, chemical, inspection, test) that advances a material or procedure from one stage of completion to another.)

What is a planned series of actions or operations that advances a material or procedure from one stage of completion to another?

Intermittent (Intermittent production is a form of manufacturing in which the jobs pass through the functional departments in lots, and each lot may have a different routing.)

What refers to a form of manufacturing in which the jobs pass through the functional departments in lots, and each lot may have a different routing?

Lean (Lean involves identifying and eliminating non-value-adding activities in design, production, supply chain management, and dealing with customers.)

What refers to a philosophy of production that emphasizes the minimization of the amount of all the resources (including time) used in the various activities of the enterprise?

Kanban (Kanban is a method that uses standard containers or lot sizes with a single card attached to each. It is a pull system in which work centers signal with a card that they wish to withdraw parts from feeding operations or suppliers.)

What refers to a pull system in which work centers signal that they wish to withdraw parts from feeding operations or suppliers?

Risk management (Risk management is a systematic approach to identifying, analyzing, and addressing an organization's exposure to uncertainty within the supply chain.)

What refers to a systematic approach to identifying, analyzing, and addressing an organization's exposure to uncertainty within the supply chain?

Large data requirements tend to make the these systems expensive and difficult to operate (Enterprise resource planning (ERP) depends heavily on accurate and "clean" data. Data governance is critical to ensure that ERP processes deliver reliable results.)

What statement is true with respect to Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP)?

Kanban (A kanban is a method of lean production that uses standard containers or lot sizes with a single card attached to each. It is a pull system in which work centers signal with a card that they wish to withdraw parts from feeding operations or suppliers.)

What term describes a replenishment system where signals from a manufacturer to a supplier are used to pull inventory replenishment through the system?

Supply Chain Management (Supply chain management is the management process that oversees all of the stated activities related to the supply chain.)

What term pertains to the design, planning, execution, control, and monitoring of supply chain activities with the objective of creating net value, building a competitive infrastructure, leveraging worldwide logistics, synchronizing supply with demand, and measuring performance globally?

Level of service (A level of service is a measure (usually expressed as a percentage) of satisfying demand through inventory or by the current production schedule in time to satisfy the customers' requested delivery dates and quantities.)

What term refers to a measure of satisfying demand through inventory or by the current production schedule in time to satisfy the customers' requested delivery dates and quantities?

Assemble to order (In an assemble to order environment, products are assembled from common components based on the specifications on a customer order.)

What term refers to a production environment where a product or service can be assembled from common components after receipt of a customer's order?

Quality (In today's market, quality is an order qualifier and a requirement to do business. Expectations are that products and services meet or exceed customer expectations.)

Which of the following entities or conditions impacts customer demand as a standard that consumers and companies require of any product?

Government (Governments establish regulations that can greatly impact market demand for products due to a number of resulting factors.)

Which of the following entities or conditions impacts customer demand by effecting regulations to areas such as safety, liability, taxes, or the environment?

Work centers are dedicated to producing similar products (Flow manufacturing produces high-volume standard products, so work centers are dedicated to producing similar products.)

Which of the following is a characteristic of flow manufacturing?

Engineer-to-order (Engineer-to-order applies to products whose customer specifications require unique engineering design and significant customization. The customer is usually very involved in the product design. Assemble-to-order is a production environment where the product can be assembled after receipt of a customer's order. Make-to-order is a production environment where the product is manufactured using a combination of standard items and custom modified items after receipt of a customer's order.Make-to-stock is a production environment where products are usually finished based on forecasts before receipt of a customer order.)

Which of the following manufacturing strategies is most appropriate when the customer is heavily involved in the product design?

It defines how to marshal and determine actions to support the mission, goals, and objectives of an organization (A strategic plan defines how to marshal and determine actions to support the mission, goals, and objectives of an organization.)

Which of the following statements describes the strategic plan?

Each unit or small group of units is managed by a project team created especially for that purpose. (Project production is where each unit or small group of units is managed by a project team created especially for that purpose.)

Which of the following statements refers to project production?

Pull (In distribution, a pull system is a system for replenishing field warehouse inventories where replenishment decisions are made at the field warehouse itself, not at the central warehouse or plant.)

Which of the following terms in distribution refers to a system for replenishing field warehouse inventories where replenishment decisions are made at the field warehouse itself, not at the central warehouse or plant?