Strayer JWI550 Full Course Latest 2020 October

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Week 1 Discussion

Operational Excellence and Competitive Advantage

Welcome to the course. Please introduce yourself to your classmates and professor.

What are the top 2 operational challenges in your industry?

What differentiates the most competitive organizations from the laggards in your industry?

What do you hope to get out of this course as it relates to operations management in your workplace?

 

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Week 2 Discussion

Value Stream Mapping

Read the Course Project overview on pp. 16-17 of the Course Guide. In preparation for Part A, identify a value stream relevant to your organization that needs improvement. Include specific references to this week’s course materials to support your response.

What value does this value stream deliver to the organization or contribute to its competitiveness?

What metrics are currently used (or should be used) to monitor the performance of this value stream?

What do you predict might be some improvement opportunities in this value stream?

 

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Week 3 Discussion

Process Performance Impacts Competitive Advantage

Identify one key process that is within the value stream map you shared in Week 2. Include specific references to this week’s course materials, specifically Operations Management Reading: Process Analysis, to support your response.

What process metrics are used in this process?

Describe any shortcomings such as delays, bottlenecks, or quality issues in the process.

 

 

 

 

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Week 4 Discussion

Process Types and Strategies

Choice of process types is a strategic decision in Operations Management. Answer the following and include references to this week’s course materials, specifically “Operations Management Reading: Designing, Managing, and Improving Operations,” to support your response.

Identify 2 different processes used in your industry and classify them into process types such as job shop, batch processing, assembly line, etc. Explain the rationale for your process type classifications.

Which companies or similar organizations in your industry would you consider to be recognized leaders in any of these process types? How does that compare to your organization?

What should management focus on in managing those process types?

 

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Week 5 Discussion

Applying Lean in Your Organization

This week, you learned how Lean is used to reduce inventory, eliminate waste, and improve processes. In preparation for Course Project Part B, answer the questions below. Be sure to include specific references to this week’s course materials to support your response.

Now that you have completed your value stream assignment, what are some opportunities in your value stream where a Work-Out or Kaizen event can be applied?

Which Lean tools would be most useful in these events?

What challenges have you seen, or anticipate, in deploying Lean in your industry? How would you address those challenges?

 

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Week 6 Discussion

Inventory and Supply Chain Management

One of the most important areas of focus in pursuing operational excellence is improving inventory and supply chain performance. As we have seen, supply chain shortcomings have regularly made headlines during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addressing the following questions, support your response with specific references to this week’s course materials.

Locate and post a link to a news story from the last six months published in The Wall Street Journal or other reputable source about an inventory or supply chain issue. This need not be directly related to COVID-19.

Briefly summarize the issue including what went wrong and the impact this had on customers.

What steps did the organization and/or its supply chain/logistics partners take to address the issue? What was the outcome?

Given the information available at the time, what could have been done differently to mitigate the impact on the supply chain?

 

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Week 7 Discussion

Why Quality Matters

Option 1

There are a number of resources for both industry professionals and consumers that analyze and publish quality metrics. Examples include: Hospital Compare – published through Medicare.gov, J.D. Power – well known for its car reviews, and Quality Magazine and Quality Digest are two resources used by OM professionals.

Locate and post a link to a quality review resource that is used in your industry (select one that is different from what has already been posted by your peers).

What information do these resources provide about how they collect and analyze data, and develop reports and (if applicable) rankings?

Which metrics are most frequently used in assessing quality failures and the impact these failures have on costs?

How can this resource be used by OM professionals to support quality improvement initiatives?

OR

Option 2

Quality failures have impacts that go beyond costs. Quality failures can erode an organization’s competitive advantage.

Locate and post a news story from the last six months published in The Wall Street Journal or other reputable source about an internal or external quality failure.

Briefly summarize the issue including what went wrong and whether it was a performance quality or conformance quality issue.

What was the impact on costs to the organization and/or its customers?

How did the organization address the issue?  What steps did they take to either  the problem or provide a resolution to customers?  Were these reasonable and fair? Explain.

What steps could have been taken to reduce or prevent this failure?

 

 

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Week 8 Discussion

Applying Six Sigma

Six Sigma projects are widely used to improve the quality, cost, and time performance of processes, products, and services.

Watch the Six Sigma Foundations course and answer the following questions:

Provide an example of variation in the products or services in your industry and explain how this variation impacts customers.

Select one specific Six Sigma concept or tool seen in the Six Sigma Foundations course in LinkedIn Learning that you found to be most useful.

Explain why you selected this particular concept or tool. How easy or difficult would it be to apply this in your industry?

Support your responses with specific references to the Six Sigma Foundations course.

 

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Week 9 Discussion

Product and Service Design

This week’s course materials present examples of how integrating product and service design into your pursuit of operational excellence can be an effective strategy to increase your organization’s competitive advantage. Support your response to the prompts below with specific references to this week’s course materials.

Identify two articles or videos from this week’s materials that you found to be most useful. What were your takeaways from these? Why?

Select any product or service that you are familiar with, either as a provider or as a consumer. Describe how effective its design is in meeting customer needs.

 

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Week 10 Discussion

Lessons Learned in Operational Excellence

What are your key takeaways from this course?

What are your favorite tools that you studied in this course? What do you like most about them?

When answering this question, consider: ease of implementation, application to your particular organization, receptivity by your colleagues, etc.

How have you applied, or how will you apply, these tools? If applicable, what results were achieved?

What impact has this course had on your professional performance?

 

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Assignment 1

Operations Management Project Part A: Value Stream Mapping and Analysis

Overview

A core tool in Operational Excellence is Value Stream Mapping. This tool helps stakeholders visualize complex work systems (including material and information flows) and address disconnects, redundancies, and gaps in how work gets done between the beginning and end of a value stream or end-to-end process.

• The primary type of value stream is one in which a product or service is requested by, and delivered to, an external customer. Examples include request to receipt, order to delivery, and quote to cash.

• Other value streams which support the delivery of value are called value-enabling or support value streams. Examples include recruiting, onboarding, IT support, and annual budgeting.

Since it is nearly always a mistake to initiate changes without have a clear picture of how the system is currently functioning, we are beginning our Course Project with the creation and analysis of a Value Stream Map.

Instructions

For this assignment, select a value stream in your organization that can benefit from analysis and improvement. As noted previously, the value stream (or end-to-end process) selected does not need to be overly large or complex. Select something which has the potential for meaningful improvement, but which is manageable within the scope of this assignment.

1) Develop a current state Value Stream Map of your selected value stream. Show the customer demand rate (or Takt), information flow, work flow, and summary timeline on the map.

2) Document key metrics for each process block:

• Process Time (PT)

• Lead Time (LT)

• Percent Complete and Accurate (%C&A)

• Any other appropriate metrics, such as number of operators, changeover time or setup time, batch size, and % uptime.

3) Calculate the current state summary metrics:

• Total lead time (TotalLT)

• Total process time (Total PT)

• Activity Ratio (AR)

• Rolled Percent Complete and Accurate (Rolled %C&A)

4) Describe the current state of the value stream and highlight any performance deficiencies and challenges, such as delays, excessive WIP, bottlenecks, capacity and workload imbalances, rework, poor quality yields, long lead times, and other operational issues.

Submission Requirements

Your work may be submitted in either Word or PowerPoint.

• Since you will need to include a diagram to map the value stream for #1, you should select whatever software you are most comfortable working with. The Value Stream Map can easily be created in PowerPoint (see the symbols and template provided by the instructor), or neatly drawn by hand.

You may also use software such as Visio. In all cases, please scan or convert your map to a PDF or JPG, and paste it into Word or PPT before submitting.

• For #2, the information for each process block should be on the value stream map. For #3, it can be on the map or in tabular form. Show how the summary metrics are calculated. Keep your written answers brief and to the point. Accuracy is what matters. This should take no more than one page.

There are no additional points for overly elaborate responses.

• For #4, a thorough response with specifics should take no more than one page. As you discuss improvement opportunities, mention and make specific reference to the Value Stream Map, including names of process blocks and performance metrics.

 

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Assignment 2

Operations Management Project Part B: Detailed Agenda(s) for Kaizen or Work-Outs

Overview

Kaizen events or Work-Outs are one- to five-day rapid improvement events widely used in the deployment of Lean and Operational Excellence. Jack was a huge fan of Work-Outs, which were so named because the focus was on getting the unnecessary work out of the system. These events were NOT just brainstorming sessions, but were well-planned and highly structured events that had:

? A well-defined process and set of expectations going in

? Sufficient time and freedom from distraction so participants could focus on the issues being discussed

? Participation by key stakeholders all the way from line workers to senior management

? Clearly defined requirements for decision and action

The second component of your Course Project is to construct a detailed agenda for such an event. The agenda must demonstrate how you will get input from key stakeholders involved with the selected process, use the  Lean tools, and conclude the event with actionable improvement outcomes.

Instructions

Use your work from Part A of the Project to identify improvement opportunities in the value stream that are suitable for Kaizen events or Work-Outs.

1 ) List the potential Kaizen events, select the one to be deployed, and justify your selection. Then, define the Kaizen objective and scope for the selected event.

2 ) Develop a detailed agenda for your selected Kaizen event. Use a tabular format, showing:

• Days and times

• Session topics

• Lean tools to be used

• Deliverables or outputs

• Rationale

Day Time Session Topic/Objective Lean Tools Output/Deliverables Rationale

3) Explain your choice for number of days and sequence for session topics, and justify the Lean tools to be used and outputs from each session. Show how your Kaizen agenda supports the Kaizen objective and scope for the event. This discussion should be specific to your value stream and organization.

Submission Requirements

Your work is to be submitted in Word. Total length should be 3 to 4 pages, including the actual agenda. You are free to organize your submission in whatever way you feel best presents the material and makes it easy to understand. Typically, this will mean presenting each day’s tabular agenda in granular detail (15 minute to 2-hour timeslots with details for each session), and then providing supporting pages with additional explanations.

As guidance, design this as a document you would share with your team and/or your supervisor. It should be detailed enough to clearly explain how the event will be structured and why, but concise enough that it will actually get read.

Note: A generic agenda for a Kaizen event or a generic Lean discussion is not acceptable.

 

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Assignment 3

Operations Management Project Part C: Six Sigma Project Charter

Overview

Six Sigma projects are powerful tools for achieving breakthrough improvements. Improvement projects utilize the DMAIC methodology, while design or re-design projects use the DMADV methodology. Such projects can be undertaken for large or small initiatives. But because they require a fair bit of work in planning and engaging the team, they are usually applied in situations where a significant change effort is likely to lead to an outcome well in excess of the work put into the project.

In the first two parts of your Operations Management Course Project, you have: (A) mapped and analyzed the value stream, and (B) organized a Kaizen or Work-Out to address improvement opportunities which do not require rigorous data analysis. Now, you are ready to move forward with one or more projects that leverage the power of Six Sigma’s tools and rigorous data-driven analysis. A project charter is needed for each proposed

Six Sigma project. Project charters enable management to understand, evaluate, and approve projects for launch.

Instructions

Use your work in Part A and Part B of your Course Project, as well as what you have learned so far in this course, to identify a potential Six Sigma project that can benefit the value stream and your organization.

1) List and describe potential Six Sigma project(s) that you would propose to senior management, recommend one project, and justifyyour selection.

2) Develop a detailed Project Charter for your recommended project. The project charter must include the following:

a. Problem statement

b. Goal statement or objectives

c. Project scope

d. Critical-to-quality requirements, or CTQs, of the processes within the scope of this project

e. Key metric Y (or key metricsY)

f. Expected operational and financial benefits of the project

g. Milestone dates for each phase of DMAIC (or DMADV)

h. Project team (titles of project team leader and members)

i. Champion (title of executive or senior manager)

Submission Requirements

Your work is to be submitted in Word. Total length should be 3-4 pages. Since this is a charter, put some thought into how best to present the material visually. Use the instructor-provided Project Charter Template as a guide. At an absolute minimum, you should include clear headers and sub-headers. You may also want to call out certain elements, like timelines or key milestones, using graphics, tables, or colors to make the charter visually appealing and easy to read.

 

 

 

 

 

 

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Knowledge Check 1

Question 1Process Flow Diagram for Completing a Transaction with an Additional Worker All steps (A, B, C, D, and E) in the below process are necessary to complete each transaction or unit. Task times are shown for each step. A second worker has been hired to duplicate task D. Now transactions that have been through task C go to any one of the two workers on task D. The product still requires the five steps (A, B, C, D, E).

Refer to the Process Flow Diagram with an Additional Worker. Assume the entire process is running at the pace of the bottleneck. Consider only task D, with both workers performing task D. What is the capacity utilization for task D?

A. 100 %

B. 60 %

C. 50 %

D. 40 %

Question 2Process Flow Diagram for Completing a Transaction (such as a loan application, a call at a call center, an order in a fast food restaurant, a customer at a bank, or a unit being processed). Consider the following process flow diagram for completing a transaction unit. All tasks or steps (A, B, C, D, and E) are necessary to process and complete the transaction. Each task employs a single employee. Exact task times, in minutes/unit, are shown at each step. For example, it takes exactly 4 minutes to complete task C.

Refer to the Process Flow Diagram. Assume that the entire process is running at bottleneck pacing. Consider only task A, in isolation from the rest of the process. What is the approximate labor utilization at task A?

A. 5 %

B. 33 %

C. 42 %

D. 83 %

E. 100 %

Question 3Process Flow Diagram for Completing a Transaction (such as a loan application, a call at a call center, an order in a fast food restaurant, a customer at a bank, or a unit being processed). Consider the following process flow diagram for completing a transaction unit. All tasks or steps (A, B, C, D, and E) are necessary to process and complete the transaction. Each task employs a single employee. Exact task times, in minutes/unit, are shown at each step. For example, it takes exactly 4 minutes to complete task C.

Refer to the Process Flow Diagram. What is the minimum throughput time, that is, the fastest a rush order for one unit can go through the process? 

A. 12 minutes

B. 26 minutes

C. 31 minutes

D. 36 minutes

E. None of these answers are .

Question 4Process Flow Diagram for Completing a Transaction (such as a loan application, a call at a call center, an order in a fast food restaurant, a customer at a bank, or a unit being processed). Consider the following process flow diagram for completing a transaction unit. All tasks or steps (A, B, C, D, and E) are necessary to process and complete the transaction. Each task employs a single employee. Exact task times, in minutes/unit, are shown at each step. For example, it takes exactly 4 minutes to complete task C.

Refer to the Process Flow Diagram. Consider the entire system (all steps). What is the entire system’s minimum cycle time?

A. 4 minutes/unit

B. 12 minutes/unit

C. 5 minutes/unit

D. 10 minutes/unit

Question 5Process Flow Diagram for Completing a Transaction with an Additional Worker All steps (A, B, C, D, and E) in the below process are necessary to complete each transaction or unit. Task times are shown for each step. A second worker has been hired to duplicate task D. Now transactions that have been through task C go to any one of the two workers on task D. The product still requires the five steps (A, B, C, D, E).

Refer to the Process Flow Diagram with an Additional Worker. If the entire system (all processes) is operating at full capacity, what is the system cycle time?

A. 4 minutes/unit

B. 12 minutes/unit

C. 5 minutes/unit

D. 10 minutes/unit

Question 6Process Flow Diagram for Completing a Transaction (such as a loan application, a call at a call center, an order in a fast food restaurant, a customer at a bank, or a unit being processed). Consider the following process flow diagram for completing a transaction unit. All tasks or steps (A, B, C, D, and E) are necessary to process and complete the transaction. Each task employs a single employee. Exact task times, in minutes/unit, are shown at each step. For example, it takes exactly 4 minutes to complete task C.

Refer to the Process Flow Diagram. Assume that the process operates eight hours a day. What is its daily capacity, in units per day?

A. 13 units/day

B. 40 units/day

C. 48 units/day

D. 96 units/day

E. None of these answers are .

Question 7 INSTRUCTIONS

NOTE: To make your calculations as straightforward as possible in the following exercises, assume unless stated otherwise that:

There are sufficient transactions or inputs, so tasks are never starved.

Task times have negligible variability and, over time, workers neither speed up nor slow down.

There are no equipment breakdowns or maintenance.

When there are buffers shown in process flow diagrams, they are large enough to accommodate any amount of work in process (WIP).

Travel time and time to move transactions from one operation to another are negligible.

All operations run with 100% yield; that is, the operations produce no defective transactions.

All processes are in steady state; thus, you may ignore any startup effects.

Process Flow Diagram for Completing a Transaction (such as a loan application, a call at a call center, an order in a fast food restaurant, a customer at a bank, or a unit being processed). Consider the following process flow diagram for completing a transaction unit. All tasks or steps (A, B, C, D, and E) are necessary to process and complete the transaction. Each task employs a single employee. Exact task times, in minutes/unit, are shown at each step. For example, it takes exactly 4 minutes to complete task C.

Refer to the Process Flow Diagram. Consider only task A, in isolation from the rest of the process. What is task A’s cycle time?

A. 10 minutes/unit

B. 5 minutes/unit

C. 12 minutes/unit

Question 8Process Flow Diagram for Completing a Transaction with an Additional Worker All steps (A, B, C, D, and E) in the below process are necessary to complete each transaction or unit. Task times are shown for each step. A second worker has been hired to duplicate task D. Now transactions that have been through task C go to any one of the two workers on task D. The product still requires the five steps (A, B, C, D, E).

Refer to the Process Flow Diagram with an Additional Worker. What is the minimum throughput time, that is, the fastest a rush order of one unit can go through the process?

A. 12 minutes

B. 26 minutes

C. 31 minutes

D. 36 minutes

E. None of the answers are .

Question 9NOTE: To make your calculations as straightforward as possible in the following exercises, assume unless stated otherwise that:

There are sufficient transactions or inputs, so tasks are never starved.

Task times have negligible variability and, over time, workers neither speed up nor slow down.

There are no equipment breakdowns or maintenance.

When there are buffers shown in process flow diagrams, they are large enough to accommodate any amount of work in process (WIP).

Travel time and time to move transactions from one operation to another are negligible.

All operations run with 100% yield; that is, the operations produce no defective transactions.

All processes are in steady state; thus, you may ignore any startup effects.

Process Flow Diagram for Completing a Transaction (such as a loan application, a call at a call center, an order in a fast food restaurant, a customer at a bank, or a unit being processed). Consider the following process flow diagram for completing a transaction unit. All tasks or steps (A, B, C, D, and E) are necessary to process and complete the transaction. Each task employs a single employee. Exact task times, in minutes/unit, are shown at each step. For example, it takes exactly 4 minutes to complete task C.

Refer to the Process Flow Diagram. Consider only task A, in isolation from the rest of the process. What is task A’s cycle time?

A. 10 minutes/unit

B. 5 minutes/unit

C. 12 minutes/unit

Question 10Process Flow Diagram for Completing a Transaction with an Additional Worker All steps (A, B, C, D, and E) in the below process are necessary to complete each transaction or unit. Task times are shown for each step. A second worker has been hired to duplicate task D. Now transactions that have been through task C go to any one of the two workers on task D. The product still requires the five steps (A, B, C, D, E).

Refer to the Process Flow Diagram with an Additional Worker. Assume the entire process is running at the pace of the bottleneck. Consider only task B. What is the capacity utilization for task B?

A. 100 %

B. 60 %

C. 50 %

D. 40 %

 

 

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Knowledge Check 2

Question 1Which of the following process types is the best fit for producing high volumes of a commodity liquid detergent?

A. Job shop

B. Batch flow process

C. Machine-paced line

D. Continuous flow process

Question 2Which of the following process types is the best fit for producing a wide range of consumer electronics (several product categories, where the mix of demand among the categories is quite stable) characterized by very short product life cycles and a rapid rate of new product introduction?

A. Job shop

B. Batch flow process

C. Cell

D. Continuous flow process

Question 3True or false: A highly customized product could typically be produced more efficiently in a continuous flow process than in a job shop.

True

 False

Question 4Reliance on human judgment and expertise becomes ______ efficient when the degree of proceduralization of a process is _____.

A. least; high

B. least; low

C. least; medium

D. most; medium

Question 5With multiple departments arranged by resource type, conventional general hospitals are _____. The routes by which patients flow though departments are highly variable and depend on the condition for which a patient is being treated. However, at the beginning of cold and flu season, a hospital designates an area only for flu shots. There are four stations in the area for flu shots: registration, blood pressure check, shot administration, and debriefing. All patients flow through the four stations in the same order. This type of process most closely resembles a(n) ____.

A. job shops; unpaced line

B. continuous flow processes; machine-paced line

C. unpaced lines; machine-paced line

D. job shops; batch flow process

Question 6Which of the following is most important in designing and/or managing continuous flow processes?

A. Scheduling work so that workers are fully utilized

B. Keeping raw material inventories low

C. Matching system capacity to demand

D. Keeping work-in-process inventories low

Question 7How does the cost of learning change as the division of labor increases (having more workers, doing more narrowly defined tasks)?

A. It tends to decrease at first but eventually starts growing again.

B. It tends to increase at first but eventually starts decreasing.

C. It tends to decrease with the growing degree of division of labor.

D. It is unchanged by the division of labor.

Question 8True or false: Consider the differences between a high-end stock brokerage, where each client is assigned to a specialist and each client receives an individualized portfolio, versus a mutual fund, where there is a much higher volume of clients, with each client receiving the exact same portfolio (the bundle of securities that the fund holds). In Figure 4: Product-Process Matrix in the reading, the high-end stock brokerage would be positioned above and to the left of the mutual fund.

True

False

Question 9Last month, a processing facility (such as a check processing facility or a distribution center) transitioned from an unpaced assembly line to a machine-paced assembly line, so that now work is done to the product while it stays on the conveyor belt. Yesterday, the worker at the bottleneck station was replaced by another worker who works more slowly than the original worker (and nothing was done to compensate). Which of the following is most likely to result?

A. Inventory piles up before the new bottleneck worker.

B. Quality problems occur.

C. Cycle time increases.

D. The direction of the workflow changes.

Question 10Which of the following is usually TRUE?

A. a. Cells have a slower quality feedback loop than do job shops.

B. Cells have a faster quality feedback loop than do job shops.

C. Cells have a similar quality feedback loop to that of job shops.?

D. Quality feedback loops cannot be compared in general terms between cells and job shops.

 

JWI550 OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Knowledge Check 3

Question 1A car-service center orders new tires using the continuous review system. The expected demand is 420 tires per year, and the lead time (the time necessary for the shipment of tires to arrive after it has been ordered) is one week on average. The manager decides to hold safety stock of 20 tir