ET ZC412 (EC-1 Regular) Page 1 of 2

Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani Distance Learning Programmes Division

First Semester 2008-2009 Mid-Semester Test

(EC-1 Regular)

Course No. : ET ZC412 Course Title : PRODUCTION PLANNING & CONTROL Nature of Exam : Closed Book Weightage : 40% Duration : 2 Hours Date of Exam : 03/08/2008 (FN) Note: 1. Please follow all the Instructions to Candidates given on the cover page of the answer book. 2. All parts of a question should be answered consecutively. Each answer should start from a fresh page. 3. Mobile phones and computers of any kind should not be used inside the examination hall. 4. Use of any unfair means will result in severe disciplinary action.

Q.1 Microcomp is a U.S. based manufacturer of personal computers. It is planning to build a new manufacturing and distribution facility in either South Korea, China, Taiwan, the Philippines or Mexico. The cost of the facility will differ between countries and will even vary within countries depending on economic and political climate, including monetary exchange rates. The company has estimated the facility cost (in $ millions) in each country under three different future economic / political climate as follows:

Economic / Political climate Country Decline Same Improve South Korea 21.7 19.1 15.2 China 19.0 18.5 17.6 Taiwan 19.2 17.1 14.9 Philippines 22.5 16.8 13.8 Mexico 25.0 21.2 12.5

Determine the best decision using the following decision criteria: a. Minimin

b. Minimax

c. Hurwicz ( = 0.40)

d. Equal likelihood [6]

Q.2 List down various techniques for improving the quality of design. Explain any one of the techniques in detail. [6]

No. of Pages = 2 No. of Questions = 6

ET ZC412 (EC-1 Regular) Page 2 of 2

ET ZC412 (EC-1 REGULAR) FIRST SEMESTER 2008-2009 PAGE 2

Q.3 The Burger Doodle restaurant chain uses a distribution centre to prepare the food ingredients it provides its individual restaurants. The company is attempting to determine the location for a new distribution centre that will service five restaurants. The grid-map coordinates of the five restaurants and the annual number of 40-foot trailer trucks transported to each restaurant is as follows:

Restaurant 1 2 3 4 5

X coordinate 100 210 250 300 400 Y coordinate 300 180 400 150 200 Annual truck shipments 30 25 15 20 18

a. Determine the least-cost location using the centre-of-gravity method. b. Plot the five plants and the proposed new distribution centre on a grid map. c. The Burger Doodle restaurant chain is considering three potential sites, with

the following coordinates for its new distribution centre:

Determine the best location using the load-distance formula, and plot this location on a grid map with the five plants.

d. How does this location compare with the location determined in Part (a)? [10]

Q.4 Three production processes automated (A), cellular manufacturing (C), and job shop (J) have the following cost structure:

Process Fixed cost per year (in $)

Variable cost per unit (in $)

A 110,000 2 C 80,000 4 J 75,000 5

a. What is the most economical process for a volume of 10,000 units per year? b. At what volume would each of the processes be preferred? c. What is the annual break-even quantity for the automated process (i.e. A) if

the selling price of product is $14 per unit? [6]

Q.5 Draw the process flow chart for the assembly of a ballpoint pen. Assume that each component is fabricated and available in stores. The operation starts from getting the components from store and ends with making a pack of 10 pens. [6]

Q.6 Define Cost of Quality and discuss the concept in detail. [6]

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A B C X - coordinate 350 150 250 Y coordinate 300 250 300