MS 05 Management of Machines and Materials Exam Paper

MBA - Master of Business Administration

Note : (i) Attempt any three questions from Section A.
(ii) Section B is compulsory

SECTION A

1 a). What are some of the factors that cause organizations to residing their products and services? describe some of the ways a product designer can use CAD

b) What do you mean by the term "Product life cycle"? State the different stages of a product life cycle and also the factors affecting the product life cycle.

2. a) A ball bearing company is planning to install an additional plant which will require leasing new equipment for a monthly payment of Rs. 60000. varibel cost would be Rs. 20 per item and each item would retail for Rs. 70.

i) How many ball bearings must be sold in order to break even?

ii) What would be the profit or loss if 1000 items are sold in a mont?

iii) How many items must be sold to realize a profit of Rs. 40000?

b) Some Japanese forms have a policy of rotating their managers among different managerial jobs. In contrast, Americal companies are more likely to specialize in a certain area (e.g., finance or operations). Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each of these approaches. hich do you prefer? Why?

3. a) Determine the optimum batch size for an item produced on a manufacturing facility with the following data:

Consumption rate: 500 items/ month
Production rate: 1500 items/ month
Storage cost: Rs. 100 per unit / year
Setup charges per batch: Rs. 2000
Interest charges: Rs. 50 per unit per year
What is the break-up of annual item cost, and holding cost at the optimum?

b) Five jobs are to be run on two processes, all in th sequence of the first process 1, then process 2. The duration of the operations is indicated in the table below:

Sequence the jobs according to the Johnson's rule.

4. a) Why is purchasing such an important part of materials management? Also explain the reasons for involving the purchasing department in value analysis.

b) Explain why quality should be better by following the "TQM" concept than in a system that depends on final inspection. Give an example of how improving quality can also increase productivity.

5 a) What are some changes a company may make in the way it operates so that it will require less inventory?

b) Differentiate between wastivity and productivity. Explain whether reducing wastivity and increasing productivity imply one and the same thing.

SECTION B

6. The R & D department is planning to bid on a large project for the development of a new communication system for commercial planes. The accompanying tale shows the activities, times and sequence required.

i) Draw the network diagram

ii) Find the critical path?

iii) Suppose you want to shorten the completion time as much as possible, and have the option of shortening any of all of B, C, D, and G each by two weeks. Which would you shorten?

iv) What is the new critical path and earliest completion time?

7. Write short notes on any four of the following:
a) Operating characterists curve
b) Zero defects
c) Standardisation and codification
d) Delphi technique
e) Job enrichment
f) Assembly line balancing