Bilal is an Operations Manager at an apple pie manufacturer and is currently undertaking an Aggregate Capacity Analysis.
What is the purpose of this?

• A. It will tell Bilal if he has the correct number of apples he needs to produce the desired number of apple pies
• B. It will give Bilal an overall evaluation of the company's ability to meet demand fluctuations
• C. It will help Bilal decide if he needs to hire more workers in the short term to ensure the factory produces enough apple pies to meet demand
• D. It will help Bilal assess if he is working within the allocated budget

Below are details of five companies who operate a Total Quality Management System (TQM). For each company, select the system used and identify which area of the Balanced Scorecard this relates to.
Company 1: The focus of this company is to gather real-time data to assess the quality of products created during the manufacturing process. There are tight budgets and reworking any defects will affect the bottom line.
Company 2: This company is concerned about how their products are received. They have recently completed market research focused on their client's feelings. The objective is now to improve the product's look and performance to meet these expectations.
Company 3: The focus of this company is defining the customer requirements and translating this into a high-quality specification and effective operational process.
Company 4: Within this company there is a group of 6 employees who meet regularly with the objective of reducing issues that arise in the manufacturing of products.
Complete the table below by listing the TQM System used and the relevant Balanced Scorecard criteria for each company. Each response should only be used once: Quality Circle, Statistical Process Control, Kansei Engineering, Quality Function Deployment, Finance Criteria, Business Process Criteria, Learning and Growth Criteria, Customer Criteria.

Which of the following will you put into box 8?

• A. customer criteria
• B. finance criteria
• C. learning and growth criteria
• D. business process criteria

Sunshine Ltd is a global manufacturer of confectionary with sales of products in over 30 different countries bringing in a revenue of over £5m. Due to different cultures and tastes, they produce similar products for each country market, but tweak the recipe slightly for each customer base. Which type of manufacturing process is used at Sunshine Ltd?

• A. mass customisation
• B. customisation
• C. mass production
• D. make to order

Below are details of 4 local manufacturing companies. For each company you must decide what the main objective is for the organisation and what layout their manufacturing plant has.
Company 1: This company creates large, delicate products which are hard to move. The main aim of the company is to stand out from competitors due to the superior level of materials used and by using the latest forms of technology to create the items.
Company 2: This company produces 72 different items and has designated zones within its premises for the creation of each item. The zones are organised based on the technology used and some products may be passed between different zones to be completed. The company creates many different items in response to changing customer demands, with many product lines only lasting a single season.
Company 3: Company 3 creates one product which flows along a single production line, with staff members adding to the product on four different occasions. The company must produce a high volume of this singular product in order to break even. Therefore, there is always a steady flow of items through the plant and it is important there is no stoppage in production.
Company 4: This company produces small batches of products, as and when they are ordered by customers. Due to uncertainty in demand, a high profit margin is added to the cost of each item. Teams in the factory are grouped into different areas depending on the technological process they are using.
Complete the table below by listing the objective criteria and plant layout for each company. Each response should only be used once: flexibility, speed, quality, cost, functional layout, cell layout, product layout, fixed-position layout

Which of the following will you put into box 2?

• A. quality
• B. speed
• C. flexibility
• D. cost