UNIVERSITY OF SWAZILAND FACULTY OF COMMERCE DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION MAIN EXAMINATION PAPER MAY, 2009 (FULL TIME / IDE STUDENTS). OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT BA 513 THREE (3) HOURS 100 MARKS INSTRUCTIONS : (1) TOTAL NUMBER OF QUESTIONS IN THIS PAPER 1S FIVE (5) @) THE PAPER CONSISTS OF SECTION A AND SECTION B. @) ANSWER ALL QUESTION IN SECTION A WHICH. 1S COMPULSORY AND ANY THREE (3) QUESTIONS IN SECTION B. @) ‘THE MARKS ALLOCATED FOR A QUESTION / PART OF A QUESTION ARE INDICATED AT THE END OF EACH QUESTION / PART OF QUESTION. (©) WHERE APPLICABLE, ALL WORKINGS / CALCULATIONS MUST BE CLEARLY SHOWN. NOTE: MAXIMUM MARKS WILL BE AWARDED FOR GOOD QUALITY LAYOUT, ACCURACY, AND PRESENTATION OF WORK. ‘HIS PAPER MUST NOT BE OPENED UNTIL PERMISSION HAS BEEN GRANTED BY THE INVIGILATOR.SECTION A (COMPULSORY) - 40 MARKS QI. An automobile manufacturer is conducting a product recall after it was discovered that a possible defect in the steering mechanism could cause loss of control in certain cars, The recall covers a span of three model years, The company sent out letters to car ‘owners promising to repair the defect at no cost at any dealership. ‘The company’s policy is to pay the dealer a fixed amount for each repair. The repair is somewhat complicated, and the company expected learning to be a factor. In order to set a reasonable rate for repairs, company engineers conducted a number of repairs themselves. It was then decided that a rate of E880.00 per repair would be appropriate, based on a flat hourly rate of E220.00 per hour and a 90 percent learning rate. Shortly after dealers began making repairs, the company received word that several dealers were encountering resistance from workers who felt the flat rate was much too low and who were threatening to refuse to work on those jobs. One of the dealers collected data on job times and sent that information to the company as follows: Three mechanics each completed two repairs, Average time for the first unit was 9.6hours, and average time for the second unit was 7.2 hours. The dealer has suggested a rate of E1100,00 per repair. (a). Prepare a list of questions that you will need to have answered in order to analyze this situation in terms of recall, manufacturer, and dealership. (18marks). (&). Prepare a list of observations regarding the information provided in this case. (12marks). (©). What preliminary thoughts do you have on solutions/partial solutions to the points you have raised? (lOmarks). SECTION B (ANSWER ANY THREE QUESTIONS)- 60 MARKS Q2 (2), A manufacturer of programmable calculators is attempting to determine a reasonable free-service period for a model it will introduce shortly. The manager of product testing has indicated that the calculators have an expected life of 30 months. Assume product life can be described by an exponential distribution. (i). If service contracts are offered for the expected life of the calculator, what percentage of those sold would be expected to fail during the service period? (3marks), (ii). What service period would result in a failure rate of approximately 10%? (4marks). UNISWA- Faculty of Commerce, Dept. Of Business Administration. BA513° Operations Management Main Examination Paper, May 2009.(b). One of the industrial robots designed by a leading producer of servomechanisms has four major components. Components’ reliabilities are 98%, 95%, 94%, and 90%. All the components must function in order for the robot to operate effectively. Designers want to improve the reliability by adding a backup component, Due to space limitations, only one backup can be added, The backup for any component will have the same reliability as the unit for which itis backup. Which component should get the backup in order to achieve the highest reliability? (Smarks). (©). A designer estimates that she can (a) increase the average time between failures of a part by 5% ata cost of E450, or (b) reduce the average repair time by 10% at a cost of E200, Which option would be more cost-effective? Currently, the average time between failures is 100 hours and the average repair time is 4 hours. (marks). Q3 (a). During the morning hours at a catalog sales department, telephone calls come in at the rate (Poisson) of 40 per hour. Calls that cannot be answered immediately are put on hold. The system can handle eight callers on hold. If additional calls come in, they receive a busy signal. The three customer service representatives who answer the calls spend an average of three minutes with a customer. (i). What is the probability that a caller will get a busy signal? (9marks). (Hint: Solve for log K or In X using triat and error) (ii). What is the probability that a customer will be put on hold? (marks), (b). In a multiple-channe! system, what is the rationale for having customers wait in a single line, as is now being done in many banks and post offices, rather than multiple Jines, (Smarks), Q4. University of Swaziland is embarking on a certain project comprising 10 activities whick have the following durations and precedence: Activity Durations (days) Immediate Preceding Activities A 6 . B 1 A c 2 A D 1 B E 1 D F B G 1 G H EG 1 4 EH J 5 t UNISWA: Facuity of Commerce, Dept. Of Business Administration. BA513: Operations Management Main Examination Paper, May 2009.Activities F and H have uncertain durations which at this stage are difficult to estimate. Required: (@) Draw a suitable network to represent the inter-relationship between the 10 activities. (marks), (b) What is the minimum time that the project could take, ignoring the effects of activities F and H? (marks). (©) Ifthe project must be completed in 19 days, what restrictions does this place on the durations of activities F and H?. (Smarks). (@ After further investigation, it is estimated that the expected times for activities F and # are 2 days and 1 day respectively. Furthermore, it may be assumed that the uncertainty in these two activity durations may be represented by a Poisson distribution. On the basis of this, what is the probability that the project will be completed inno more than 19 days? (6marks). A selection of Poisson probabilities is given in the following table: Probability of Mean (1s) o 1 2 3 4ormore 1 0.368 0.368 0.184 0.061 0.019 2 0.135 0.271 0.271 0.180 0.143 QS. The following table contains information concerning four jobs that are awaiting processing at a work center, Job — Job Time (days) Due Date (days) A 14 20 B 10 16 c 7 15 D 6 17 (a). Sequence the jobs using (1) FCFS, (2) SPT, @) EDD, and(4)CR. _ (14marks). Note: FCES is first come first serve; SPT is shortest processing time, EDD is earliest due date, and CR means critical ratio. (©). For each methods in part a, determine (1) the average job flow time (2) the average tardiness, and (3) the average number of jobs at the work center, (4marks). (c). Is one method superior to the others? Give the reason. (marks). UNISWA: Faculty of Commerce, Dept. Of Business Administration. BA513: Operations Management Main Examination Paper, May 2009.ve os 1 2 02 1 2 0251 2 0301 2 0351 2 040 1 2 ons 1 2 3 050 1 2 3 055 1 2 3 oso 1 2 3 065 1 2 3 070 1 2 3 om 1 2 3 ogo 1 2 3 0g 1 2 3 4 90 1 2 3 4 0951 2 3 4 12 3 4 3 0.026 0.001 0.050 002 ‘0.083, 0.004 0.129 0.007 0.188 oon 0287 oo17 0.368 024 0.002 0500 0033 0.003 0872 0.045 0.004 0.900 0.059 0.006 1.207 oo77 008 1.833 0.038 0011 2250 0133 0015 3.200 0.152 org 4817 0187 0024 0.9003 8.100 0.229 0.930 0.004 18.050 oz 0.037 0.005 0333 0.085 0.007 850 860 800 B18 750 m8 700, 738 850 702 667 550 533 837 500 600 606 450 569 516 400 538 350 509 521 300 481 495 250 455 an 200 429 AaT 150 MB 4a 15 16 WwW 20 21 22 23 301 m2 mn m 116 236 2s 26 43 an 2 2B m 187 199 201 081 165 180 182 053 145; 162 165 028 1B 145 149 148 am 130 1m 138 098 1 121 12 081 105 108 m1 068 03 100 24 25 26 21 28 29 30 34 32 33 0023 1528 0.354 099 0.028 0.008 1.902 oat 0120 0.035 010 2386 0513 0.145 0.043 0.012 3.027 0815 0174 0.052 0015 (continued) 038 .090 31 045 m4 080 082 082 035 085 on 074 074 025 0st 085 067 087 O16 050 058 060 061 008 052 05¢ 085 038 087 049 050 050 032 BREE 92 037 040 040 on 023 033 038 037 37 TABLE 18.4 Infinite-source values for L, and Pa given X/. and MBLE 18.4 EY 4m Me icluded) 344 3.906 0289 10052631003 5 0737 007 013 7 1.081005 6 0.209 0033014 8 0368 005 7 0083 oon 014 9 0135 005 8 0019 5.268 006 10 0.049.005 354 5.185 1.078 910 nM 0.018.006 5 0.882 0337 912 53) 8 «= (5.303.008 6 028 ons 912 7 1249 008 7 0976 0039 m2 8 0422 005 8 0028 oois 012 9 0155 005 8 0.007 6.962.005 10 0.057.005 364 = 7.090 ont 6 1.265.009 1 0.021.005 S155 00 7 03 010 12 0.007.005 6 0795 028 8 0.134 0 546661002 7 9919 07 9 00% O11 71.444 008 8 0.028 07 10 0915 oT 8 0.483.004 9 0008 077 «46 «5980008 9 0.178.008 37 4 == 10347908 6 1.487.008 10 0.066.008 5 1285 020 7 0.453.009 Tomes 005 6 omg 03 8 0.158 010 12 0.009.005 7 0.109.024 9 0054 1 865568590002 8 0034 025 10 0018 910 7 1.674.003 9 0010 02s 47, 513382 008 8 0553004 38 4 = (18837005 6 1752 007 8 0204 004 5 1519017 7 0825 008 10 0.077.008 6 0412 oat 8 018. 998 1 0.028.008 7 0129 022 3 0.064.009 12 0.010.008 8 ona 22 10 0022 008 56) 611.519 OO 3 0013 oz = 4B 5288102 71,944 003 394 (36859 002 6 2071 008 8 ear .003 5 1.830.015 7 0.607.008 3 0.233.008 8 048s 019 8 0.209.008 10 0.088.008 7 0153 a0 8 0074 008 11 0.083.004 8 0.050 020 <1 0028 008 12 0012008 9 0016 02 49 5 46.568 of 576 (16.448 00 405 (2218013 6 2.459.005 7 2284002 6 050 017 7 0702 007 8 o721 003 7 0180 018 8 0282 007 9 0266 003 8 0089 018 9 0087. 007 10 002.003 8 009.018 10 gost 007 1 0.038.003 415 270 on 1 gon 007 12 004.008 6 0688 05 «8062938 «oS 5868373 001 7 072 016 7 088 008 7 2648 002 8 0070 016 8 079.006 & 0873 003 3 0028 017 3 0.101.007 8 0303 003 4205 337009 10 0036 007 10 a6 008 6 0784 013 M0913 907 1 0.044.003 7 028 0 «5163836904 12 0.017.003 & 0083 015 7 0938 «005 «596 58,300.00 9 007 ats 8 0321 006 7 313.002 10 0.009015 8 ONT 006 8 0938 002 43° «5 4149008 10 0042 906 8 0345 003 6 og 012 11 0015 006 10 0.133.003