CH15 Operations Scheduling

File: ch15, Chapter 15: Operations Scheduling
Multiple Choice
1. Which of the following is not a feature of flow operations?

a) a process layout
b) fixed routings
c) special-purpose equipment and tooling
d) high volume production
e) high levels of labor and equipment utilization
Ans: a
Section Ref: High-Volume Operations
Level: moderate
2. Flow operations can be _____ or _____ operations.

a) intermittent, continuous
b) intermittent, repetitive
c) repetitive, single shot
d) repetitive, continuous
e) single shot, continuous
Ans: d
Level: easy
3. Scheduling in the high-volume environment is typically done through what?

a) priority rules
b) line design and balancing
c) Thompsons rule
d) Simpsons rule
e) Johnsons rule
Ans: b
Level: moderate
4. Which of the following is not a feature of job-shop operations?

a) a process layout
b) highly skilled employees
c) special-purpose equipment and tooling
d) highly customized products
e) low volume production
Ans: c
Level: moderate
5. A well designed high-volume system will minimize ____ inventory and reduce __________
__________for the product or service.
a)work-in-process, throughput time
b) raw material, storage capacity
c) finished, throughput time
d) work-in-process, storage capacity
e) finished, transportation cost
Ans: a
Level: moderate
6. Which of the following techniques loads jobs up to a predetermined capacity level?

a) finite loading
b) infinite loading
c) forward scheduling
d) backward scheduling
e) input/output control
Ans: a
Section Ref: Low-Volume Operations
Level: easy
7. A progress chart shows the relationship between:

a) a Gantt chart and PERT chart
b) vacation schedule and work schedule
c) forecast and historical performance
d) planned and actual performance
e) planned and actual efficiency
Ans: d
Level: easy
8. Which of the following techniques loads jobs without regard to the capacity available to do the
work?
a) finite loading
b) infinite loading
Ans: b
Level: easy
9. The two different approaches to load work centers in job-shop scheduling are
_____________________.
a) load chart and process chart
b) finite loading and infinite loading
c) input control and output control
d) fixed routings and line balancing
e) makespan and linear programming
Ans: b
Level: moderate
10. Which of the following scheduling techniques tends to break down over the long term?
a) finite loading
b) infinite loading
Ans: a
Section Ref: Scheduling Work
Level: moderate
11. Which of the following scheduling techniques can be used to identify resource bottlenecks?
a) finite loading
b) infinite loading
Ans: b
Level: hard
12. Which of the following scheduling techniques determines the earliest possible completion
time for a job?
a) finite loading
b) infinite loading
Ans: c
Level: easy
13. Which of the following is most likely the reason you may have to wait at the doctors office?
a) infinite loading
b) finite loading
e) none of the above
Ans: b
Level: moderate
14. Slack can be calculated if ________________________________________________.

a) infinite loading and finite loading are used together
b) infinite loading and forward scheduling are used together
c) finite loading and backward scheduling are used together
d) finite loading and forward scheduling are used together
e) forward scheduling and backward scheduling are used together
Ans: e
Level: moderate
15. Which of the following techniques determines when the job must begin in order to be
completed by the due date?
a) infinite loading
b) finite loading
Ans: d
Level: easy
16. If the schedule shows a 5 day slack between the end of Task A and start of Task B.this means:
a) you must start Task B as soon as Task A ends.
b) Task B start is late.
c) Task A is taking longer to complete.
d) Task A and Task B should be performed concurrently.
e) Task B start can be delayed up to 5 days after Task As scheduled completion.
Ans: e
Level: easy
17. Which of the following techniques is used to monitor work flow at individual work centers?
a) infinite loading
b) finite loading
Ans: e
Level: easy
18. Which of the following scheduling rules is a global priority rule?

a) first come, first served
b) last come, first served
c) earliest due date
d) shortest processing time
e) slack per remaining operations
Ans: e
Section Ref: How to Sequence Jobs
Level: moderate
19. Slim-Quick Inc. produces a variety of nutritional diet products. Management wants to
evaluate the performance of Work Center 10, the bottleneck in the packaging line. They are
particularly worried about the backlogging problem in the work center. The following
input/output report is given.
Input Information
Period 1 2 3
Planned Input (hours) 110 80 130
Actual Input (hours) 80 120 100
Output Information
Period 1 2 3
Planned Output (hours) 100 100 100
Actual Output (hours) 80 70 110
The initial backlog was 100 hours. Based on the above information, calculate the backlog hours
of Work Center 10 at the end of period 3.
a) 100
b) 110
c) 140
d) 150
e) 200
Ans: c
Level: hard
20. Quick-Slim Inc. produces a variety of nutritional diet products. Management wants to
evaluate the performance of Work Center 10, the bottleneck in the packaging line. The following
input report is given.
Input Information
Period 1 2 3
Calculate the cumulative deviation of the input at the end of period 3.

a) -20
b) -30
c) 10
d) 20
e) 30
Ans: a
Level: hard
Level: moderate
21. A Dallas firm manufactures dishwashing liquid. The manager wants to evaluate the
performance of station 3, the bottleneck in the filling operation. The following output report is
given.
Output Information
Period 1 2 3
Calculate the cumulative deviation of the output at the end of period 3.

a) -20
b) -40
c) 10
d) 20
e) 40
Ans: b
Level: moderate
22. What is Period 3s standard hour deviation for Franks manufacturing firm, based on the
following input/output information?
Input Information
Period 1 2 3 4
Planned Input 48 68 54 62
Actual Input 47 72 56 48
Output
Information
Period 1 2 3 4
Planned Output 50 65 55 65
Actual Output 52 60 53 67
a) 4, -5
b) -3, 2
c) 3, -2
d) 2, -2
e) -14, 2
Ans d
Level: moderate
23. Which of the following is not an assumption of priority rules?
a) There is no variability in the setup time.

b) There is no variability in the run time of the job.
c) Multiple jobs are waiting to be processed.
d) Only a single job is waiting to be processed.
e) None of the above is correct.
Ans: d
Level: moderate
24. Operation sequencing creates a work center plan based on available _______ and ______.
a) capacity, priorities
b) demand, priorities
c) capacity, demand
d) capacity, rules
e) staff, management
Ans: a
Level: moderate
25. The following jobs are waiting to be scheduled. Today is day 9. Determine the sequence of
jobs by using SPT as a priority rule.
Job Number Arrival Date (day #) Processing Time (days) Due Date (day #)
A 4 2 12
B 5 12 30
C 1 6 21
D 2 1 14
E 3 10 28
a) D-A-C-E-B
b) B-E-C-A-D
c) C-D-E-A-B
d) B-A-E-D-C
e) A-D-C-E-B
Ans: a
Level: moderate
jobs by using LPT as a priority rule.
A 4 2 12
B 5 12 30
C 1 6 21
D 2 1 14
E 3 10 28
a) D-A-C-E-B
b) B-E-C-A-D
c) C-D-E-A-B
d) B-A-E-D-C
e) A-D-C-E-B
Ans: b
Level: moderate
jobs by using EDD as a priority rule.
A 4 2 12
B 5 12 30
C 1 6 21
D 2 1 14
E 3 10 28
a) D-A-C-E-B
b) B-E-C-A-D
c) C-D-E-A-B
d) B-A-E-D-C
e) A-D-C-E-B
Ans: e
Level: moderate
jobs by using FCFS as a priority rule.
A 4 2 12
B 5 12 30
C 1 6 21
D 2 1 14
E 3 10 28
a) D-A-C-E-B
b) B-E-C-A-D
c) C-D-E-A-B
d) B-A-E-D-C
e) A-D-C-E-B
Ans: c
Level: moderate
jobs by using LCFS as a priority rule.
A 6 2 12
B 1 12 30
C 10 6 21
D 12 1 14
E 3 10 28
a) D-C-A-E-B
b) A-B-C-D-E
c) B-E-A-C-D
d) B-E-C-A-D
e) B-E-C-D-A
Ans: a
Level: moderate
30. The jobs listed below have not yet been scheduled. Today is day 0. Using the critical-ratio
technique, in what sequence would you schedule these jobs?
Job Due Date Duration (days)

A 3 1
B 10 11
C 5 4
D 12 6
E 8 8
a) B-E-C-D-A
b) A-D-C-E-B
c) A-C-E-B-D
d) A-C-D-E-B
e) E-C-D-A-B
Ans: a
Level: moderate
31. The jobs listed below have not yet been scheduled. Using the S/RO technique, in what
sequence would you schedule these jobs?
Job Slack Remaining Operations

A 3 1
B 10 11
C 5 4
D 12 6
E 8 8
a) B-E-C-D-A
b) A-D-C-E-B
c) A-C-E-B-D
d) A-C-D-E-B
e) E-C-D-A-B
Ans: a
Level: moderate
32. Using the S/RPO rule, which of the following jobs will be scheduled first?
a) the first job that arrives at a work center
b) the job with the least slack per remaining operations
c) the job with the highest slack per remaining operations
d) the job with the smallest ratio of time remaining until due date to process time remaining
e) the job with the largest ratio of time remaining until due date to process time remaining
Ans: b
Level: moderate
33. If using CR as the priority rule, which of the following jobs will be scheduled first?
a) the first job arrives at a work center
b) the job with the least slack per remaining operations
c) the job with the highest slack per remaining operations
d) the job with the smallest ratio of time remaining until due date to process time remaining
e) the job with the largest ratio of time remaining until due date to process time remaining
Ans: d
Level: moderate
34. What does job flow time measure?

a) the time a job spends in the shop
b) due-date performance
c) the amount of time it takes to finish a batch of jobs
d) job tardiness
e) job lateness
Ans: a
Level: easy
35. If your company is concerned with customer response time you will measure scheduling
effectiveness in terms of:
a) job reject rates
b) job profit ratio
c) response time
d) input time
e) makespan
Ans: c
Section Ref: Measuring Performance
Level: easy
36. What does makespan measure?

a) WIP inventory
c) the amount of time it takes to finish a batch of jobs
d) job tardiness
e) job lateness
Ans: c
Level: easy
37. A measure of response time is:

a) makespan
b) job flow time
c) due date
d) job lateness
e) job schedule time
Ans: b
Level: easy
38. What does average number of jobs in the system measure?

a) WIP inventory
c) makespan
d) job tardiness
e) job lateness
Ans: a
Level: easy
39. Which of the following is a measure of whether the job is done ahead of, on, or behind
schedule?
a) average number of jobs in system
b) mean flow time
c) makespan
d) job tardiness
e) job lateness
Ans: e
Level: easy
40. Sweet-Dreams Inc. manufactures custom pillows. Five jobs are waiting to be processed. Job
A has a flow time of 8 days, job B has a flow time of 10 days, job C has a flow time of 15 days,
job D has a flow time of 20 days, and job E has a flow time of 27 days. What is the mean flow
time?
a) 8 days
b) 10 days
c) 7 days
d) 0 days
e) 16 days
Ans: e
Level: easy
41. Heavy Eyes Inc. manufactures custom pillows. Five jobs are waiting to be processed using
the SPT priority rule. Their processing times are shown in the following table. What is the mean
flow time?
Job Processing Time

A 6
B 2
C 10
D 8
E 1
a) 57 days
b) 11.4 days
c) 17 days
d) 5.4 days
e) 27 days
Ans: d
Level: moderate
42. The following jobs must be processed in the Super Clean motor shop. Assume that the
company operates seven days per week. Today is November 10. Using FCFS as the priority
rule, calculate average job tardiness.
Job Arrival Date Work Required (in Days) Due Date

A Nov. 1 8 Nov. 16
B Nov. 4 1 Nov. 11
C Nov. 2 20 Nov. 21
D Nov. 3 5 Nov. 13
E Nov. 6 3 Dec 2
F Nov. 5 4 Dec 10
a) 18.2 days
b) 8.3 days
c) 9.2 days
d) 19.3 days
e) 14.2 days
Ans: a
Level: hard
43. Sweet-Dreams Inc. manufactures custom pillows. Five jobs are waiting to be processed
using the SPT priority rule. Their processing times are shown in the following table. What is the
average number of jobs in the system?
Job Processing Time

A 8
B 2
C 4
D 6
E 7
a) 66
b) 13.2
c) 27
d) 5.4
e) 2.4
Ans: e
Level: moderate
44. Green Inc. manufactures a variety of wooden desks. Five jobs are waiting to be processed
using the LPT priority rule. Their processing times are shown in the following table. What is the
makespan?
Job Processing Time

A 8
B 2
C 4
D 6
E 7
a) 66
b) 13.2
c) 27
d) 5.4
e) 2.4
Ans: c (makespan = completion time of last job beginning time of 1st job)
Level: moderate
45. A greater number of jobs in the system implies what?

a) a higher work-in-process inventory level and a longer response time
b) a lower work-in-process inventory level and a longer response time
c) a higher work-in-process inventory level and a shorter response time
d) a lower work-in-process inventory level and a shorter response time
e) more jobs will certainly be tardy.
Ans: a
Level: moderate
46. Job A is due on day 15, and it is finished on day 12. What is its lateness?
a) 3
b) 0
c) 3
d) both a) and b)
Ans: a
Level: moderate
47. Which of the following is a measure of how long after the due date the job is completed?
a) job belatedness
b) mean flow time
c) makespan
d) job overdueness
e) job tardiness
Ans: e
Level: easy
48. Which of the following scheduling rules is often considered the fairest rule?
e) longest processing time
Ans: a
Level: moderate
49. Which of the following scheduling rules minimizes the average number of jobs in the
system?
Ans: d
Level: moderate
50. Which of the following scheduling rules minimizes mean job flow time?
Ans: d
Level: moderate
51. Using the following data, calculate the average job lateness.
Job Completion Date Due Date

A 15 12
B 11 24
C 25 22
D 18 19
a) -2 days
b) 3 days
c) 13 days
d) -8 days
e) 1.5 days
Ans: a
Level: moderate
52. Using the following data, calculate the average job tardiness.

A 15 12
B 11 24
C 25 22
D 18 19
a) 6 days
b) 1.5 days
c) -2 days
d) -8 days
e) 3 days
Ans: b
Level: moderate
53. Five jobs must be scheduled. Each of the jobs must be processed on two machines (A and B)
in the same order. The processing times are listed below. According to Johnsons rule, in what
order should the jobs be processed?
Job Machine A Machine B

A 6 30
B 23 2
C 1 7
D 4 3
E 8 8
a) C-B-D-A-E
b) C-D-A-E-B
c) B-E-A-D-C
d) C-A-E-D-B
e) C-D-E-B-A
Ans: d
Section Ref: Comparing Priority Rules
Level: moderate
54. What does negative lateness mean?

a) The job is finished after its due date.
b) The job is finished on its due date.
c) The job is finished before its due date.
d) The job is not finished.
e) The job has not started.
Ans: c
Level: moderate
55. Job A is due on day 15, and it is finished on day 12. What is its tardiness?
a) 3
b) 0
c) 3
d) both a) and b)
Ans: b
Level: moderate
56. Seven jobs must be scheduled. Each of the jobs must be processed on two machines (A and
B) in the same order. The processing times are listed below. According to Johnsons rule, in
what order should the jobs be processed?
Job Machine A Machine B

A 6 25
B 12 2
C 11 7
D 4 3
E 7 8
F 9 1
G 18 5
a) A-E-C-G-D-B-F
b) A-C-E-G-D-B-F
c) F-B-D-G-C-E-A
d) F-D-B-G-E-C-A
e) G-D-B-F-A-E-C
Ans: a
Level: moderate
57. Which of the following sequencing rules is used for minimizing makespan in a two-stage,
unidirectional process?
b) slack over remaining operations
c) shortest processing time
d) critical ratio
e) Johnsons rule
Ans: e
Level: easy
58. Which of the following is the least effective tactic for managing a bottleneck station?
a) Assign extra workers to the bottleneck station if necessary in order to keep it running.
b) Increase the production rate at the bottleneck station.
c) Inspect items just as soon as they come out of the bottleneck station.
d) Subcontract part of the workload at that station to other companies.
e) Assign your best people to that station to improve efficiency.
Ans: c
Section Ref: Sequencing Jobs Through Two Work Centers
Level: hard
59. Consider a production line with five stations. Stations one through five can process a unit in
10, 15, 20, 5, and 12 minutes, respectively. What is the maximum throughput per hour?
a) 6 units
b) 4 units
c) 3 units
d) 12 units
e) 5 units
Ans: c
Section Ref: Scheduling Bottlenecks
Level: moderate
60. Consider a production line with five stations. The first station can process a unit in 8
minutes. The second station has two identical machines, each of which can process a unit in 18
minutes (each unit only needs to be processed on one of the two machines). The third station can
process a unit in 4 minutes. The fourth station has two different machines, one can process a unit
in 5 minutes, and the other one can process a unit in 9 minutes (each unit needs to be processed
on both machines). The fifth station can process a unit in 10 minutes. Which station is the
bottleneck station?
a) Station 1
b) Station 2
c) Station 3
d) Station 4
e) Station 5
Ans: e
Level: hard
61. Which of the following statements is not a valid scheduling principle?

a) Balance the process rather than the flow.
b) Non-bottleneck usage is determined by some other constraint in the system.
c) Usage and activation of a resource are the same.
d) The process batch should be variable.
e) An hour lost at a bottleneck resource is an hour lost forever.
Ans: c
Level: moderate
62. What is throughput?

a) the quantity of finished goods that can be sold
b) the quantity of items moved at the same time from one resource to the next
c) the quantity of work-in-process inventory
d) the quantity produced at a resource before the resource is switched over to produce another
product
e) the average flow time of the system
Ans: a
Level: easy
63. What is a process batch?

product
e) the set of machines used to make products
Ans: d
Level: easy
64. What is a transfer batch?

product
e) the quantity of items needed to attain a full truckload (TL) shipping rate
Ans: b
Level: easy
65. The process batch should:

a) match the transfer batch.
b) exceed the transfer batch.
c) be smaller than the transfer batch.
d) be fixed.
e) be variable.
Ans: e
Level: moderate
66. Which of the following statements is not true?

a) An hour lost at a bottleneck is an hour lost forever.
b) An hour lost at a non-bottleneck is just a mirage.
c) Bottlenecks determine throughput and system inventory.
d) The transfer batch does not have to equal the process batch.
e) Lead times are predetermined.
Ans: e
Level: moderate
67. Which of the following is mostly like to be an internal resource constraint?
a) increasing market demand
b) raw material shipping problems
c) decreasing market demand
d) no overtime
e) a regular bottleneck in the product process
Ans: e
Level: moderate
68 Which of the following is mostly like to be a market constraint?

a) strike at the suppliers plant
d) no overtime
Ans: c
Level: moderate
69. Which of the following is mostly like to be a policy constraint?

a) strike at the suppliers plant
d) no overtime
Ans: d
Level: moderate
70. Only Roses Flower Shop currently operates 7 days per week. The staffing needs for each day
are shown in the following table. Each of the employees must have two consecutive days off in a
week. (Since Monday is used as the first day of the pay week, an employee cannot be off on
both Sunday and Monday.) What is the minimum number of employees that needs to be hired?
Days of Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Staff Need 2 3 4 4 5 4 6
a) 5
b) 6
c) 7
d) 8
e) 9
Ans: b
Section Ref: Scheduling for Service Organizations
Level: hard
71. Jim-Os fast focus restaurant is opening up a new branch. Based on demand forecast the
following service personnel levels are anticipated. What is the number of employees needed for
Thursday-Friday pair?
Days of
Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Staff needs 5 4 3 4 6 6 5
a) 7
b) 9
c) 10
d) 11
e) 12
Ans: c
Level: easy
72. Jim-Os fast focus restaurant is opening up a new branch. Based on demand forecast the
following service personnel levels are anticipated. What days will employee #1 have off?
Days of
Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Staff needs 5 4 4 3 6 6 5
a) Mon - Tue
b) Tue - Wed
c) Wed - Thur
d) Thur - Fri
e) Fri - Sat
Ans: c
Level: moderate
73. When were Gantt charts developed?

a) early 1800s
b) early 1900s
c) early 1920s
d) early 1940s
e) early 1960s
Ans: b
Level: hard
74. Optimized production technology (OPT) was introduced by Eli

________________________.
a) Goldratt
b) Manning
c) Jefferson
d) Rosenblatt
e) Strasburg
Ans: a
Level: hard
True/False
1. Flow operations are often related to high volume production.
Ans: True
Level: easy
2. A Gantt chart is usually used for a company with low flexibility in both product variation and
product volume.
Ans: False
Level: moderate
3. A Gantt chart is a basic scheduling tool for low-volume systems.
Ans: True
Level: moderate
4. In a service organization, a doctors office is a good example of finite loading.
Ans: True
Level: moderate
5. Forward scheduling sometimes causes inventory buildup if items are not delivered by the due
date.
Ans: True
Level: moderate
6. Backward scheduling determines the earliest possible completion time for a job.
Ans: False
Level: easy
7. The backlog at a work center increases when the work center receives more work than it
finishes.
Ans: True
Level: easy
8. Priority rules are more useful in sequencing jobs in high-volume systems than in low-volume
systems.
Ans: False
Level: moderate
9. A local priority rule sets priority based only on the jobs waiting at that individual work center.
Ans: True
Level: easy
10. If using critical ratio (CR) as the scheduling rule, the job with the smallest ratio of time
remaining until due date to the processing time remaining has the lowest priority.
Ans: False
Level: moderate
11. If using slack per remaining operations (S/RO) as the scheduling rule, the job with the least
slack per remaining operations has the highest priority.
Ans: True
Level: moderate
12. Makespan has a link to customer due dates.
Ans: False
Level: moderate
13. Makespan is a measure of WIP.
Ans: False
Level: moderate
14. If customer service is important to the company, average job lateness is probably a more
relevant measurement than average job tardiness.
Ans: False
Level: moderate
15. EDD always minimizes mean job flow time.
Ans: False
Level: moderate
16. Negative lateness means the job is finished before the due date.
Ans: True
Level: easy
17. Firms should balance the flow rather than the process.
Ans: False
Level: moderate
18. Schedules should be established by considering all constraints simultaneously.
Ans: True
Level: moderate
19. Usage and activation of a resource are not the same.
Ans: True
Level: moderate
20. According to the text, a systems input is determined by three kinds of constraints: internal
resource constraint, market constraint, and policy constraint.
Ans: False
Section Ref: Theory of Constraints
Level: moderate
21. The transfer batch should always equal the process batch.
Ans: False
Level: hard
22. The process batch should be variable.
Ans: True
Level: moderate
23. Using the Tibrewala, Phillippe, and Brown technique for a Monday through Sunday work
week a regular, full time employee can end up with a Sunday-Monday set of days off.
Ans: False
Section Ref: Developing a Workforce Schedule
Level: moderate
24. Marketing uses flow time metrics to determine if deliveries are made on time.
Ans: False
Section Ref: Scheduling Across the Organization
Level: moderate
Essay
1. What are some important considerations to make when developing an operational schedule?
Ans: Are there some activities that can be done in parallel? Can the schedule be arranged to
avoid bottlenecks? Can some of the tasks be done by someone else? Are there some
activities that can be postponed to another time? Are additional tasks created because of the
sequence that is followed? For each task, we need to know what must be done, how long it
should take to do, who must do it, and what its priority is.
Level: hard
2. What are the two major kinds of Gantt charts?
Ans: load chart and progress chart

Level: easy
3. Based on the definition in the ninth edition of the APICS Dictionary, what is operation
sequencing?
Ans: a technique for short-term planning of actual jobs to be run in each work center based
on capacity and priorities
Level: moderate
4. Discuss how companies can benefit from both infinite and finite loading.
Ans: Infinite loading identifies the companys resource bottlenecks for a proposed schedule so
that planners can find solutions proactively. Finite loading develops the operational schedule
that suits the available capacity. Each provides a different view for a broader overall planning
purpose.
5. Discuss what slack is.
Ans: Slack is the amount of time a job can be delayed and still be finished by its due date.
Level: easy
6. Define job lateness.
Ans: Job lateness is a measure of whether the job is done ahead of, on, or behind schedule.
Level: moderate
7. Define job tardiness.
Ans: Job tardiness is a measure of how long after the due date the job is completed.
Level: moderate
8. Define Johnsons rule.
Ans: Johnsons rule is a technique for minimizing makespan in a two-stage unidirectional

process.
Level: moderate
9. Optimized production technology (OPT) was introduced by whom in the late 1970s, and what
does it do?
Ans: Eli Goldratt introduced OPT, and it is a technique used to schedule bottleneck systems.
Section Ref: Sequencing
Level: moderate
10. What is a transfer batch?
Ans: the quantity of items moved at the same time from one resource to another
Level: moderate
11. What are the three kinds of constraints defined by TOC?
Ans: internal resource constraint, market constraint, and policy constraint

Level: moderate
12. What does the term floating employees refer to?
Ans: Floating employees perform a number of services and are assigned where they are needed
each day.
Level: moderate
Problems
1. Desire Inc. produces a variety of pediatric nutritional products. Management wants to

evaluate the performance of Work Center 17, the bottleneck in the packaging line. Managers are
particularly worried about the backlogging problem in the work center. The following
input/output report is given.
Input Information
Period 1 2 3
Output Information
Period 1 2 3
The initial backlog was 50 hours. Based on the above information, calculate the backlog hours
of Work Center 17 for periods 1, 2, and 3, respectively.
Ans: period 1 = 30, period 2 = 60, period 3 = 50

Level: moderate
2. Terrys cycle shop standard hour input/output report is below. Calculate the output deviation
and backlog hours for periods 1, 2, 3, and 4.
Input Information
Period 6 7 8 9
Planned Input 59 68 54 62
Actual Input 55 72 62 48
Output
Information
Period 6 7 8 9
Planned Output 50 65 55 65
Actual Output 52 60 53 67
Backlog 75
Ans: Output deviation = -3, -12, -9 and 19; Backlog = 78, 87, 84 and 56
Level: moderate
3. Job A has a flow time of 20 days, job B has a flow time of 13 days, job C has a flow time of 12
days, and job D has a flow time of 15 days. If the time it takes to finish all four jobs (as a whole
batch) is 15 days, what is the average number of jobs in the system?
Ans: 4 jobs
Level: moderate
4. Using the following data, calculate the average job lateness and average job tardiness.

A 13 10
B 19 24
C 25 20
D 18 18
Ans: lateness = 0.75 days, tardiness = 2 days

Level: moderate
5. What is the mean job flow time for Bobs body and fender shop for the following repair jobs?
Fender job finishes day 8; hood replacement finishes day 7, front end repair finished day 4, trunk
fix finishes on day 12, and the door repair finishes on day 6.
Ans: 7.4
Level: moderate
6. Perfect Inc manufactures a variety of wooden chairs. The following data were reported by the
control system for order processing at the assembly station. The current date is day 100. The
number of remaining operations and the work time remaining includes the operations at the
assembly station. All jobs are available for processing, and none have been started yet.
Remaining Work Time Remaining

Job Due Date Operations
A 110 10 9
B 115 9 5
C 118 1 7
D 106 8 4
E 120 5 12
Using the S/RO priority rule, sequence the above jobs.
Ans: A-D-B-E-C
Level: moderate
7. Jackie is the owner and the manager of an auto repair company. In order to be fair to all the
customers, Jackie decides to use the FCFS priority rule in job sequencing. Currently, four cars
need to be repaired. Assume that the cars arrive in the order listed, that is, A first, then B, then C,
then D. The estimated labor times (in days) and promise dates are shown in the following table.
Customers usually do not pick up their cars early. Today is day 0.
Car Estimated Labor Time Promise Date

A 5 5
B 10 18
C 1 12
D 3 15
Based on the FCFS sequence, calculate the following performance measures: (a) makespan, (b)
average job flow time, (c) average number of jobs in the system, (d) average job tardiness.
Ans: (a) 19 days, (b) 4.75 days, (c) 2.89 jobs, (d) 2 days
Level: moderate
8. The following jobs need to be processed at J. J. Ruppers work center.
Job Arrival Date Production Days Needed Due Date

A 5 20 75
B 15 30 95
C 17 16 70
D 20 10 125
E 25 18 105
In what sequence would the jobs be ranked according to the following rules: (a) FCFS, (b) SPT,
(c) LPT, (d) EDD?
Ans: (a) A-B-C-D-E, (b) D-C-E-A-B, (c) B-A-E-C-D, (d) C-A-B-E-D

Level: moderate
9. The following jobs are waiting to be processed at J. J. Ruppers work center.
Job Production Days Needed Due Date

A 20 135
B 30 190
C 16 140
D 10 125
E 18 150
Customers usually do not pick up orders before the due date. Today is day 100. Using the SPT
priority rule, calculate the (a) mean flow time, (b) average number of jobs in the system, and (c)
average job tardiness.
Ans: (a) 47.6 days, (b) 2.53 jobs, (c) 6.6 days
Level: moderate
10. The following jobs must be processed in the Super Clean motor center. Assume that the
company operates seven days per week.
Job Arrival Date Work Required (in Days) Due Date

A Nov. 1 8 Nov. 16
B Nov. 4 1 Nov. 11
C Nov. 2 20 Nov. 21
D Nov. 3 5 Nov. 13
E Nov. 6 3 Dec. 2
F Nov. 5 4 Dec. 10
Today is November 10. If the company decides to use EDD as the priority rule, calculate the (a)
average flow time, (b) average number of jobs in the system, and (c) average job tardiness.
Ans: (a) 22.2 days, (b) 3.24 jobs, (c) 10 days

Level: moderate
11. Six jobs are to be processed through a two-stage operation. The first operation involves drill
pressing, and the second involves lathing. Process times are as follows
Job Operation 1 Operation 2

A 15 12
B 11 24
C 25 22
D 18 19
E 10 15
F 8 9
Determine a sequence that will minimize the total completion time for these jobs.
Ans: F-E-B-D-C-A
Level: moderate
12. Steves Steak House currently operates 7 days per week. The staffing needs for each day are
shown in the following table. Each of the employees must have two consecutive days off in a
week. (Since Monday is used as the first day of the pay week, an employee cannot be off on
Sunday and Monday.) Develop a schedule to satisfy staffing needs as well as minimize excess
capacity by using the technique developed by Tibrewala, Philippe, and Brown.
Days of Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

Staff Need 3 2 4 2 5 4 5
Ans: 6 workers minimum, one possible (but not unique schedule) is as follows:
Employee Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

1 off off
2 off off
3 off off
4 off off
5 off off
6 off off

Level: hard
Short Answer
1. Load and progress charts are examples of ________________________
Ans: Gantt charts

Difficulty: easy
2. Operational schedules that consider work center capacity use ________________________
Ans: finite loading

Difficulty: moderate
3. The formula (due date - remaining processing time)/(number of remaining operations

measures the ________________________
Ans: critical ratio

Difficulty: hard
4. The time a job spends in the shop is called its ________________________
Ans: flow time

5. What is the formula for makespan? ________________________
Ans: (last job completion time) - (first job starting time)

Difficulty: hard
6. The greater the number of jobs in the system, the longer the queues and subsequently the
longer the ____ ____ ____.
Ans: job flow times

7. If all jobs are available at the same time, their flow time is the same as their:
Ans: completion time

Difficulty: easy
8. A scheduling technique for jobs that follow the same path through two operations is
________________________
Ans: Johnson's rule

9. Eli Goldratt's bottleneck scheduling system is called ________________________
Ans: optimized production technology (opt)

10. Eli Goldratt's approach to continuous improvement is called ________________________
Ans: theory of constraints

11. Under OPT, lead times are ________________________ rather than

________________________
Ans: scheduled, predetermined

Difficulty: hard
12. Employees who perform a variety of services and are assigned where they are needed each
day are said to ________________________
Ans: float

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File: ch15, Chapter 15: Operations Scheduling

1. Which of the following is not a feature of flow operations?

2. Flow operations can be _____ or _____ operations.

3. Scheduling in the high-volume environment is typically done through what?

4. Which of the following is not a feature of job-shop operations?

6. Which of the following techniques loads jobs up to a predetermined capacity level?

7. A progress chart shows the relationship between:

14. Slack can be calculated if ________________________________________________.

18. Which of the following scheduling rules is a global priority rule?

Calculate the cumulative deviation of the input at the end of period 3.

Calculate the cumulative deviation of the output at the end of period 3.

23. Which of the following is not an assumption of priority rules?

a) There is no variability in the setup time.

Job Due Date Duration (days)

Job Slack Remaining Operations

34. What does job flow time measure?

36. What does makespan measure?

37. A measure of response time is:

38. What does average number of jobs in the system measure?

Job Processing Time

Job Arrival Date Work Required (in Days) Due Date

Job Processing Time

Job Processing Time

45. A greater number of jobs in the system implies what?

Job Completion Date Due Date

Job Completion Date Due Date

Job Machine A Machine B

54. What does negative lateness mean?

Job Machine A Machine B

61. Which of the following statements is not a valid scheduling principle?

62. What is throughput?

63. What is a process batch?

64. What is a transfer batch?

65. The process batch should:

66. Which of the following statements is not true?

68 Which of the following is mostly like to be a market constraint?

69. Which of the following is mostly like to be a policy constraint?

Days of Week Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday

73. When were Gantt charts developed?

74. Optimized production technology (OPT) was introduced by Eli

1. Flow operations are often related to high volume production.

3. A Gantt chart is a basic scheduling tool for low-volume systems.

4. In a service organization, a doctors office is a good example of finite loading.

12. Makespan has a link to customer due dates.

13. Makespan is a measure of WIP.

15. EDD always minimizes mean job flow time.

18. Schedules should be established by considering all constraints simultaneously.

19. Usage and activation of a resource are not the same.

22. The process batch should be variable.

2. What are the two major kinds of Gantt charts?

Ans: load chart and progress chart

5. Discuss what slack is.

6. Define job lateness.

7. Define job tardiness.

8. Define Johnsons rule.

Ans: Johnsons rule is a technique for minimizing makespan in a two-stage unidirectional

11. What are the three kinds of constraints defined by TOC?

Ans: internal resource constraint, market constraint, and policy constraint

12. What does the term floating employees refer to?

2. Flow operations can be _ or _ operations.