Reflective Report and Essay

Exam has a case study – issued by email one week before exam done.

Revision Areas

1. Discuss process innovation and why should a company implement it?

2. Discuss why process innovation technology useful to an organisation?

3. Discuss why and how a company uses disruptive technologies in its business today?

4. What is Industrie 4.0 and why is it important to today’s operational businesses?

5. Discuss why information technology is important in an automotive industry supply chain?

6. Discuss the considerations a company must undertake to justify the implementation of technology.

7. Describe a supply chain for a bakery.

8. Discuss global logistics for a car manufacturer in the U.S. who outsources the manufacture of car seats to a company located in India; production of the car’s electronic chip to a manufacturer in China; rims from a manufacturer in Australia; and airbags to a manufacturer in Malaysia. What are the positives and what problems
may occur?

9. Several years ago companies were considered sustainable if they used “environmentally friendly” practices. Discuss what it means for a company to be sustainable in 2016.

10. Discuss how can an organisation ensure sustainability throughout its supply chain?

11. Using a business example discuss the importance of forecasting to a company and what can occur when the forecasting is inaccurate.

12. Select a large business, and assess where the different forecasting methods can be used.

13. What is resource capacity and why is it important?

14. Discuss, with examples, methods for adjusting capacity in company that manufactures water skis and snow skis.

15. Discuss, with examples, methods for managing demand in white-good retailing.

16. What is aggregate planning?

17. When would a company use “pure strategies”?

18. What is the difference between a “level production strategy” and a “chase demand strategy”?

19. Discuss, with examples, yield management (overbooking), and how a company can calculate the cost of overbooking.

20. Discuss what inventory is and how to manage it?

21. What is the “bullwhip effect”?

22. Describe a basic economic order quantity model and any assumptions that apply here?

23. What is an EOQ cost model?

24. What is overbooking, and how is it used?

25. What is meant by “optimal order size”, “annual inventory cost”, and “order cycle time”?

26. How is the House of Quality used?

27. A brewery uses liquid malt in the brewing process, the carrying cost is $0.50 per litre, the ordering cost is $175, and the annual demand is 25,000 litres; calculate the following:

28. The optimal order size; the total annual inventory cost; the number of orders per year; and the order cycle time.

29. Discuss the role of inventory and quality management along the supply chain.

30. What is the difference between a business supply chain and a business value chain – discuss using an example?