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Operations Management ch. 4
Key terms for the chapter
32
Business
Undergraduate 4
06/29/2010

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Term
Process strategy
Definition
the pattern of decisions made in managing processes so that they will achieve their competitive priorities.determines how processes are designed relative to the kinds of resources needed, how resources are partitioned between them, and their key characteristics.
Term
Customer Involvement
Definition
refers to the ways in which customers become part of the process and the extent of their participation.
Term
Resource flexibility
Definition
is the ease with which employees and equipment can handle a wide variety of products, output levels, duties, and functions.
Term
Capital intensity
Definition
is the mix of equipment and human skills in a process
Term
Active Contact
Definition
The customer is very much part of the creation of the service and affects the service process itself.
Term
Passive Contact
Definition
The customer is not involved in tailoring the process to meet special needs or in how the process is performed.
Term
Process Complexity
Definition
The number and intricacy of the steps required to perform the process
Term
Process Divergence
Definition
The extent to which the process is highly customized with considerable latitude as to how it is performed.
Term
Flexible flow
Definition
The customers, materials, or information move in diverse ways, with the path of one customer or job often crisscrossing the path that the next one will take.
Term
Line Flow
Definition
The customers, materials or information move linearly from one operation to the next, according to a fixed sequence.
Term
Front office
Definition
A process with high customer contact where the service provider interacts directly with the internal or external customer.
Term
Hybrid office
Definition
A process with moderate levels of customer contact and standard services with some options available
Term
Back office
Definition
A process with low customer contact and little service customization
Term
Process choice
Definition
A way of structuring the process by organizing resources around the process or organizing them around the products.
Term
Job Process
Definition
A process with the flexibility needed to produce a wide variety of products in significant quantities, with considerable complexity and divergence in the steps performed.
Term
Batch process
Definition
process that differs from the job process with respect to volume, variety and quantity
Term
Line process
Definition
A process that lies between the batch and continuous processes on the continuum; volumes are high and products are standardized, which allows resources to be organized around particular products.
Term
Continuous flow
Definition
The extreme end of high-volume, standardized production and rigid line flows, with production not starting and stopping for long time intervals.
Term
Make-to-order strategy
Definition
A strategy used by manufactures that make products to customer specifications in low volume.
Term
Assemble-to-order strategy
Definition
A strategy for producing a wide variety of products from relatively few assemblies and components after the customer orders are received.
Term
Make-to-stock strategy
Definition
A strategy that involves holding items in stock for immediate delivery, thereby minimizing customer delivery times
Term
Mass production
Definition
A term sometimes used in the popular press for a line process that uses the make-to-stock strategy.
Term
Flexible workforce
Definition
A workforce whose members are capable of doing many tasks, either at their own workstations or as they move from one workstation to another.
Term
Flexible equipment
Definition
Low volumes mean that process designers should select flexible, general-purpose equipment.
Term
Automation
Definition
is a system, process, or piece of equipment that is self-acting and self-regulating
Term
Fixed automation
Definition
is a manufacturing process that produces one type of part or product in a fixed sequence of simple operations.
Term
Flexible (or programmable) automation
Definition
is a manufacturing process that can be changed easily to handle various products.
Term
Economies of scope
Definition
are economies that reflect the ability to produce multiple products more cheaply in combination than separately.
Term
Plants within plants (PWPs)
Definition
are different operations within a facility with individualized competitive priorities, processes, and workforces under the same roof.
Term
Focused factories
Definition
are the result of a firm’s splitting large plants that produce all the company’s products into several specialized smaller plants.
Term
Process Reengineering
Definition
is a fundamental rethinking and radical redesign of processes to improve performance dramatically in terms of cost, quality, service, and speed.
Term
Process improvement
Definition
is the systematic study of the activities and flows of each process to improve it.
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