Luya, Rizza Mae M.

Operations Management

BSOA 1-2P

CHAPTER 6

1. What do you mean by process analysis? Why should organizations conduct process
analysis?

Process Analysis is used to have a detailed review of the process of the

business, input-process-output, in order to find more efficient methods to use by the
business. Process Analysis is a methodical approach to enhance the understanding and
redesigning of the workflow of the organization. It acts as a tool to maintain and improve
the business processes and also help in attaining the incremental to transformational
benefits, such as cost reduction, optimum utilization of resources, effective human
resource allocation and process efficiency.

2. An automobile garage owner wants to perform process analysis in order to improve

her customer service process. You have been engaged as a consultant. Prepare a
one-page plan of action for the automobile garage owner.

As a consultant hired by the automobile garage owner to perform a process

analysis, this is my plan of action to improve the customer service process of the
business.

Interview major participants of the process: First thing to do is ask the people
involved in the customer service process of the business, it could be the owner and
if there’s someone who is in charge of this task. Gather information of the current
situation of the customer service process of the company.

Carry out group discussion: Conduct a meeting or a group discussion about the
gathered information and brainstorm of what is working and what is not.

Identify bottlenecks and redundancies: Find out the bottlenecks in each task that
causes delay and various measures to remove it. Further, identify the unnecessary
activities, whose elimination can ease the process.

Create Sketch: Make a sketch right from the scratch of the entire process,
depending upon the business process requirements, which came into light after
interviews and discussions. It could be in a input-process-output outline.

Compare: At the end, compare the latest process flow with the previous one, and
mark the areas that require changes, as per the research conducted.
3. What do you mean by process mapping? Explain with the help of an example.

A process mapping is a flow chart or a diagram of step by step process of

anything; it could be a process on how to make a pizza, how to start a business,
anything. Once you see a process map you could easily understand the steps on how to
do, make, perform things depending on the topic. In this case, I will attach an example
of process mapping of a hiring process I saw on Google.

4. Suppose you want to visit your bank to deposit your salary cheque and then
withdraw some money from your account. Use your knowledge of process mapping
and draw the process.

Bank Deposit of Salary Process

Go to the nearest bank

Fill out a form for deposit slip

Submit it and the cheque to the teller

Wait until the money is transferred to your account

Withdraw the money to an ATM

5. What do you understand by the term “business process”?

Business process a set of activities performed by the stakeholders to achieve

their desired mission and vision. The processes are performed by people or systems in
a structured manner to attain a pre-defined objective. Efficient and streamlined
execution of business processes directly contributes to the success of business
operations and growth. A business process has also been defined in simple terms as a
set of activities and tasks that, once completed, will accomplish an organizational goal.
Each step in a business process denotes a task that is assigned to a participant.

6. What do you understand by the term “business process’?

Business process a set of activities performed by the stakeholders to achieve

their desired mission and vision. The processes are performed by people or systems in
a structured manner to attain a pre-defined objective. Efficient and streamlined
execution of business processes directly contributes to the success of business
operations and growth. A business process has also been defined in simple terms as a
set of activities and tasks that, once completed, will accomplish an organizational goal.
Each step in a business process denotes a task that is assigned to a participant.

7. What do you mean by BPR? Why is it an important process improvement tool for an
organization?

Business process reengineering is the act of recreating a core business process

with the goal of improving product output, quality, or reducing costs. BPR helps
organizations reimagine their existing processes and redesign them to achieve
extraordinary results. It allows companies to make better decisions through better data
dissemination which, as a result, ensures the organization is able to make sound
improvements to their customer service.

8. Outline the key steps involve in a BPR exercise. Are these steps generic enough to
apply to any business process?
Key Steps involve in a BPR exercise
1) Define Business Processes.
2) Analyze Business Processes.
3) Identify and Analyze Improvement Opportunities.
4) Design Future State Processes.
5) Develop Future State Changes.
6) Implement Future State Changes.

Yes, these steps are generic enough to apply to any business process. It is
broad and specific that you can use it in any business process.
9. How do you define capacity in operating system? Are input measures of capacity
more appropriate than output measures of capacity?

The capacity in operating system means the availability of the resources used by
the company until it requires replacement on account of depreciation or wear and tear. I
think either of the two measures of capacity is appropriate depending on the type of
business you are in.

10. What are the alternative methods by which capacity could be augmented in an
operating system? Explain with some examples.
 Waste elimination
It can save money on supplies, conserve natural resources and energy,
reduce current waste disposal costs and hedge against increased future
disposal costs
 Multi skilling of the workforce
By having a monthly/annual/quarterly training of new skills to employees
 Subcontracting/Outsourcing
By subcontracting/outsourcing you will just hire an agency to look for people
to work on a certain task, this way you won’t be bothered by going through a
hiring process because the agency will got it covered.
11. How does knowledge of capacity helps an operations manager?

Capacity planning is a process that helps operations managers determine the

capacity of their resources and plan for future growth. Businesses can avoid capacity
issues and ensure smooth operations by estimating future demand and providing
enough capacity to meet that demand.

12. What are the alternative metrics available to evaluate available alternatives for
capacity planning/extension?

There are two major ways to evaluate the capacity alternatives to select the best one:
economic and non-economic.

Economic considerations take into account the cost, useful life, compatibility and
revenue for each alternative. Techniques used for evaluation are:

 Break Even Analysis (this is the only one discussed in this chapter)
 Payback Period
 Net Present Value

Non-economic considerations include public opinion, reactions from employees and

community pressure.
CHAPTER 7

1. What is Plant Layout?

Plant layout is a plan of management of facilities which include; personnel,

operating equipment, storage space, material handling equipment, and all other support
services. It includes the arrangement and location of work centres and various service
centres like inspection, storage, and shipping within the manufacturing/factory building.
(James Moore)

2. Explain the objective of Plant Layout

Plant Layout identically involves the allocation of space and the arrangement of
equipment in such a manner that overall operating cost is minimized.

The main objectives are revealed through the attainment of the following facts;
 Congestion reduction
 Elimination of unnecessary occupied areas
 Reduction of administrative and indirect work
 Improvement on control and supervision
 Better adjustment of changing directions
 Better utilisation of the workforce, equipment and services
 Reduction of material handling activities and stock in process
 Reduction on parts and quality risks
 Reduction on health risks and increase on workers safety
 Ensuring that workers satisfaction is increased
 Reduction on delays and manufacturing time as well as production capacity

3. Explain the main principle of Plant Layout

a. Principle of minimum movement. As far as possible materials and labor should
be moved over minimum distances.
b. Principle of flow. The work areas should be arranged according to the sequence
of operations so that there is a continuous flow of materials without backtracking
or congestion. The layout should allow for easy movement of materials without
interruptions or delays. As far as possible movement of materials should be
continuous.
c. Principle of space. All available cubic space should be effectively used both
horizontally and vertically.
d. Principle of safety. Due consideration should be given to the safety and
convenience of workers. There should be built-in provision for the safety and
comfort of employees.
 e. Principle of flexibility. Layout should be so designed that production facilities can
easily be rearranged when it becomes necessary in future on account of
expansion or technological changes.
f. Principle of interdependence. Interdependent operations and processes should
be located in close proximity to each other. For example, materials should be
stored near the area of requirement, transport, etc. This will minimize product
travel.
g. Principle of overall integration. All the plant facilities and services should be fully
integrated into a single operating unit so as to maximize efficiency and minimize
costs of production.
h. Principle of minimum investment. The layout should yield savings in fixed capital
investment through optimum utilization of available facilities.

4. Explain the different types of Layouts

Process Layout

 In process layout, the machines of similar type are located together according to
their function.
 Products move between the groups of equipment in order of the operations
required.
 The work which has to be done is allocated to the machines according to the
loading schedules with the object ensuring that each machine is fully loaded.
 It is used when the operations system must handle a wide variety of products in
relatively small volumes.
 It is also known as Functional Layout.
 It is best suited for intermittent type of operation.
 Machines in this layout are general purpose machines.

Product Layout

 In product layout, machines and equipment’s are arranged in the sequence of the
manufacturing operations required for the product.
 The material is moved from one work station to another sequentially without
backtracking or deviation.
 It is also known as Line Layout because machines are mostly arranged in a
straight line. The raw materials are fed at one end and taken out as the finished
product on the other.
 Output of one machine becomes input to next machine.
 It is a grouping of machines in one sequence. A product layout may assume a
straight line shape or U-shape or circular shape.
  Examples: Sugar refineries, Paper mills, Cement plants, Rolling mills, Automobile
assembly plants, Food processing chains.

Fixed-Position Layout

 In fixed position layout, men and equipment are moved to the material, which
remains at one place and the product is completed at that place where the
material lies.

 This type of layout is used in Ship Building, Aircraft Manufacture, Big Pressure
Fabrication etc.

Group Layout

 Group layout is the combination of process and product layouts and it combines
the advantages of both types of layout.

 Certain manufacturing units may require all three processes namely intermittent
process (job shops), the continuous process (mass production shops) and the
representative process combined process.

5. Explain the physical facilities of required in an organization

Physical Facilities consist of land and building, machinery and tools, furniture and
fixtures, office equipment, vehicles and parking space. Having properly managed
facilities has a significant impact on employee morale. It helps them focus, take pride in
their workplace, and make them feel proud about working in the organization. It also
decreases sick days, and hence increase employee productivity.

CHAPTER 8

1. What are the key aspects of service process design? How is it different from
manufacturing process design?

The key aspects of service design are people, props, and processes. People. This
component includes anyone who creates or uses the service, as well as individuals who
may be indirectly affected by the service. Props. This component refers to the physical
or digital artifacts (including products) that are needed to perform the service
successfully. Processes. These are any workflows, procedures, or rituals performed by
either the employee or the user throughout a service. It is completely different from a
manufacturing process design because manufacturing, the customer is seldom part of
the process. He/she merely places an order and awaits the delivery of the product.
Issues such as what resources are to be deployed, how they need to be laid out, how to
link the successive stages of the conversion process, and what kind of planning and
coordination elements to deploy are all made with this basic understanding.

2. Give one example of low-degree customer contact and high-degree customer

contact in each of the following service settings:
a) Travel agency
b) DVD rental services
c) Courier services
d) Computer facilities management services
e) Investment consulting services
f) Sweets and savories shop
3. Why should we understand the notion of customer contact in service design?

We should understand the notion of customer contact in service design because

it is inevitable; you will encounter and will service the customer in person. In service
design customer participates in the preparation and consumption of a service as well as
the nature and intensity of interaction that the customer has with the service personnel.

4. Suppose your friend has decided to set up a travel agency service. Explain the
principles of service complexity and service divergence and help him make an
appropriate positioning of the travel agency service.

Service Complexity are Businesses where the relationship with the consumer go
beyond simple transactions and reach into a more engaged relationship, including ones
that are deemed sensitive or critically important by the individual or firm purchasing the
service. These can be advisory, reciprocal or requiring a longer-term relationship by the
customer. Service complexity can be measured by analyzing the number and intricacy
of the steps required performing it. Apart from complexity, however, some processes
include a high level of executional latitude and others do not. The degree of freedom
allowed or inherent in a process step or sequence can be thought of as its divergence.
A highly divergent service thus would be one in which virtually every performance of the
process is unique.

5. Visit your hostel mess and prepare a service blueprinting of the service offered.
Based on the service blueprint that you have developed can you comment on the
existing layout of the hostel mess and provide recommendations for improvement?
With this service blueprint the hostel mess will now understand the visible structure for
implementing and achieving operational goals and fosters better communication
between customers, employees, and management, which increases the chances that
companies will understand their customers and respond to their needs while keeping
their service processes free from unnecessary complications and redundancies.

6. What are the basic elements of a waiting-line model? How does waiting-line
modelling help an operations manager to address capacity issues in an operating
system?

Basic Elements of a waiting-line model

Population –Source of customers Infinite or finite

Arrival Rate –Rate at which customers arrive at a service facility during a specified
period of time

Service Times –How many customers can be served in a period of time

Waiting line model deals with issue of treatment of customers in sense reduce wait time
and improvement of service.

7. Are capacity management issues in a service system different from those in a

manufacturing system?
Yes, manufacturing system capacity would focus on the resources of the company
while, Service capacity may be understood as a volume that service can be
managed while ensuring certain pre-defined quality standards and overall delivery
 performance. Service capacity management focuses on providing better services to
clients and customers as per their demands.

8. The manager of an automobile garage in the heart of the city of Delhi has built such
a good reputation for himself that more and more customers throng to his garage for
getting their cars serviced. The utilization of the facility is now about 88 per cent. He
has been getting more and more requests for automobile servicing. What will be
your advice to the manager? Prepare a one page report for him.

The manager should review their service blueprint in that way they could
understand if there are things that should be changed or improve. My advice to him as
well is to see if there is enough staff working in the automobile garage so that as the
number of customer increases, they will still employees assisting them.

9. Compare the issues pertaining to measuring service quality with that of product
quality. Which one is easier to assess? Why?

Measuring service quality is easier to assess than of product quality because the
moment you enter the shop or a physical store you will instantly notice things like space,
employees, their services per se. You will get the first impression as you enter their
premises and you will get to experience their services firsthand. While in assessing
product quality, yes you can still assess the product as soon as you receive it but you
will still need a quite some time to really assess if the product is effective or not.

10. Consider any one service system which you are familiar with. Can you identify one
instance for each of the five gaps as per the SERVQUAL model?

The service system that I am familiar with is a fast food chain, Jollibee; here is the
instance for each of the five gaps as per the SERVQUAL model;

1. Reliability

I am delighted that there is no gradual change when it comes to the food that they offer
and I can say that they are improving it by developing more foods to offer.

2: Assurance

Our family is an avid fan of Jollibee, every time we have some money to spare we go to
eat at the fast food chain. And I can say that ever since I was a child there is no change
of taste it any of their foods so I am assured that the food there will always be good.

3: Tangibility

There are some chains of Jollibee that are not properly cleaned especially the bathroom
area. There are always something in maintenance and broken.
4. Empathy

I did not encounter any staff that is rude.

5: Responsiveness

When I need something, I approach whoever staff that I see and I can say that some of
them are efficient and fast on attending my needs.

11. What are the challenges in assessing the quality of services? How can an
organization mitigate some of these challenges?

The challenges in assessing the quality of services are spaces, rude staff,
cleanliness, efficiency, and many more. I think organization can mitigate some of these
challenges by gathering information on their customer on what they like and don’t like
on the services the organizations are offering and with that, they can review it and use
as a basis of improvement.

CHAPTER 9

 How important are location decisions in operations management? What are the
consequences of a bad location decision?

Location plays a huge role in attracting and retaining the best employees, many
of whom keep a close eye on where they're based in order to optimize work-life
balance. Good location decisions can significantly boost a company's long-term
performance. Poor ones can cost millions in lost talent, productivity and capital

 What factors drive the globalization of operations? Do these have any bearing on the
location decision that an operations manager makes?
Factors that drive the globalization of operations;
 Regulatory Issues. The most significant factor that drives globalization is the
ongoing economic and regulatory reforms in several developing countries.
 Factor Advantages. The globalization of manufacturing is also triggered by factor
advantages that an organization can enjoy by operating in specific locations.
 Expanding Markets in Developing Countries. Another phenomenon that
promotes the globalization of operations and provides more alternatives for
location decisions is the growth rate of the economy in developed and developing
countries.

 Will the choice of factors for selecting an appropriate location vary with the
geographical spread of the potential candidates for location? Why?
Yes, because if you chose a location that are full of competitors you will have a hard
time making your business to the top because you are just new to the area.

 Identify three important factors that a location planner may consider with respect to
each of the following:
a) A super-specialty intensive care unit- Market-related Issues
b) A thermal power plant operating with coal as its fuel- Environmental
Issues
c) A state-of-the-art design center for automobile manufacturing- Market-
related Issues
d) A multi-cuisine restaurant- Market-related Issues and cost related
e) An agro-based handicrafts manufacturing unit- Cultural issues
 What are the pros and cons of using the location factor analysis method for location
planning? Do you have any recommendations on how to use this method for location
planning?

Location factor analysis method helps businesses find the ideal location for
opening their new offices, store locations, or manufacturing units by analyzing audience
demographics, psychographics, brand affinities, trade areas, pathing, and other
important factors. Location analysis also accelerates the decision-making process for
organizations.

 A manager intending to use the location planning model for analysis is not sure
about which of the two models, the center-of-gravity method and the load–distance
method, should be used for his analysis. Prepare a one-page note that will help him
identify an appropriate model for his consideration.

The Centre of Gravity analysis is a method of calculating the ideal location for a
centralized distribution center. It makes it possible to optimize your supply chain. This
method considers existing warehouse facilities and calculates the perfect location based
on:

 Markets
 Volume of goods
 Shipping
 Transport costs
 M2 availability
 Labor market situation and cost
 Industry knowledge

In every facility location analysis, attractive candidate locations must be identified

and compared on the basis of quantitative factors. The load–distance method is one
way to facilitate this step. Several location factors relate directly to distance: proximity to
markets, average distance to target customers, proximity to suppliers and resources,
and proximity to other company facilities. The load–distance method is a mathematical
model used to evaluate locations based on proximity factors. This approach assumes
that there is only one facility to be located, it must serve a predetermined set of nodes
(customers, suppliers) in a logistic network, and it is independent of any other facility
that may be in the network.

 What are the key differences between using a transportation model and a load–
distance method for solving a location problem?

Transportation model uses supply and demand as its variable while load-distance
method uses customers and suppliers.

CHAPTER 10

1. Why do you need aggregate units while planning for operations?

There are several reasons for every organization, whether engaged in product
manufacturing or service delivery, to plan operations at an aggregate level. The
following ones merit some attention:

• Demand fluctuations: Organizations hardly experience stable or even demand. As

we saw in the previous chapter, several sectors of the manufacturing and service
industry experience a significant upswing in demand during certain periods. The
demand for garments in India is high between August and October due to the festive
season. Prior planning is required to meeting surges in demand.
• Capacity fluctuations: While demand fluctuations occur on account of seasonality,
there are fluctuations in capacity too. The capacity available in the month of
February will be 10 percent lower than that in the month of May on account of fewer
calendar (and working) days. Moreover, scheduled and unscheduled plant
shutdowns have a significant impact on capacity availability.
• Difficulty level in altering operation rates: Operational systems are complex. Varying
the rate of operation from one level to another requires some amount of prior
planning and coordination with related systems on the supplier and distributor sides.
Thus, an organization manufacturing diesel engines at the rate of 4,000 engines per
day cannot unilaterally change it to 5,000 engines. It needs to ensure that the
required material, capacity, and other resources are available for the incremental
plan. Similarly, it needs to ensure that the distributors have the required capacity to
 handle the additional load on them. Similar is the case of a restaurant offering multi-
cuisine menu.
• Benefits of multi-period planning: It is known that planning just for a particular period
with no consideration of potential events in the near future amounts to a knee-jerk
reaction than an attempt to reach optimal and cost-saving decisions. For example,
while planning the production for a month, an organization is better off by taking into
consideration the likely scenario in the next few months. If the estimates indicate a
rising demand in the next few months, it is better to produce at a slightly higher,
albeit even pace and accumulate inventory to handle the additional demand in the
future than to react every month. Such month-by-month reactions to the market are
not only expensive but also not feasible for the reasons discussed earlier.

2. Give three examples each from the manufacturing and service sectors of industry for
aggregation of products and services.

Manufacturing Sectors

 allocating the correct amount of resources for every manufacturing process so

that the time and costs are minimized during idle mode
 matching demand and capacity period by period
 steady production rate and a steady employment rate is maintained

Service Sectors

 hiring temporary workers

 laying off employees for a specific period
 cross-training

3. How does aggregate operations planning impact each of the following functional
areas in an organization ?

a. Marketing

It allows for maximum utilization of the available production capabilities while meeting
customer demand and reducing their wait time, as well as reducing the cost of stocking
excess inventory

b. Finance

Aggregate planning helps companies achieve their financial goals and improve the
bottom line.

c. Strategy
Aggregate planning is vital to a business' ability to schedule production, allocate
resources, and adjust staffing. It allows businesses to minimize costs and keep
production running consistently

d. Materials and Procurement

It specifies what materials and resources will be necessary and when to procure them.

4. What considerations will you bear in mind while selecting either demand-oriented
alternatives or supply oriented alternatives during an AOP exercise?

Demand-oriented alternatives are group of options that respond to demand fluctuations

through the use of inventory or back orders, or by shifting the demand pattern.

 Reactive options, in which the operations department uses inventories and back
orders to react to demand fluctuations.
 The proactive option, in which marketing tries to shift the demand patterns to
minimize demand fluctuations.

Supply-oriented alternatives requires strong forecasting of demand to know if production

levels must be increased or decreased as customer demands grow and shrink. This
aggregate production planning strategy will keep your workforce steady but can
increase your inventory and backlog.

5. Which AOP alternatives are more suited to a service organization? Why?

The best AOP alternative that is more suited for a service organization is the hybrid
strategy. This keeps the balance between the production rate, workforce and inventory
levels, while still responding to demand as it changes. This alternative offers a bit of
flexibility that can satisfy demand while working to keep production costs low. Services
are considered “perishable,” where any capacity that is unused is considered to be
wasted.

6. What are the key differences between level strategy and chase strategy in AOP
formulation?

Level strategy focuses on supply management while chase strategy focuses on

demand.

7. Identify suitable AOP alternatives for an organization manufacturing made-to-order

items. Will your recommendations change if the items are made-to-stock?

If an organization manufacturing made to order items the suitable AOP for them
is chase strategy. As the name implies, you are chasing market demand. The
production matches demand, and excess inventory isn’t held over. This is part of a
larger lean production strategy, which saves money by waiting until an order is placed.
In that way, no products will be wasted or stocked for a long time when no one is
ordering them. Of course if it is made to stock, level strategy is the best for it. It will
increase their inventory and backlog that is really pretty much made to stock.

8. “Mixed strategies are always superior to pure strategies in an AOP exercise”

comment on this statement.

I believe so too because it balances the focus of the business. Unlike the other pure
strategies where there are some part of the business will be neglected.

9. What are the pros and cons of using optimal methods for solving the AOP problem?

Optimization is a scientific approach to solve for the best solution for a problem.
Its applications emerge in many different areas is real-life. For instance, you need to
minimize the labor cost in a business or to maximize the profit of a product. On the other
hand, in an airline company, you need to minimize the flight time of a plane or the fuel
cost. In basic words, in an optimization issue, you need to either minimize or maximize
the result (the objective or cost function). Of course, you can't generally optimize a
situation without some particular constraints.

10. How is the Master Production scheduling exercise different from an AOP exercise?

Aggregate operations planning is a rough-cut capacity planning exercise on the

basis of forecast quantities of products and services. MOS makes use of actual
customer orders for the purpose of capacity planning and resource allocation to specific
customer orders. While aggregate operations planning ensures that adequate capacity
is available in a period-by-period basis, organizations need to relate the capacity needs
of specific varieties of products and services that they offer to the overall capacity
available. MOS is the process by which disaggregation of varieties is done.

11. How are the Materials planning and capacity planning related to MOS?

Capacity planning is a process that determines the production capacity required

to meet manufacturing demand. A Material Planning accelerates the manufacturing
production process by determining what raw materials, components and subassemblies
are needed, and when to assemble the finished goods, based on demand and bill of
materials. Master production scheduling is the process that helps manufacturers plan
which products and related quantities to produce during certain periods.

CHAPTER 11

1. Define maintenance.
 Maintenance management can be defined as the process of maintaining a
company's assets and resources and its main objectives are: controlling costs,
controlling time, managing resources, ensuring regulatory compliance.

2. What is reactive maintenance?

Reactive maintenance (also known as breakdown maintenance) refers to repairs

that are done when equipment has already broken down, in order to restore the
equipment to its normal operating condition.

3. What is preventive maintenance?

Preventive maintenance (or preventative maintenance) is maintenance that is

regularly and routinely performed on physical assets to reduce the chances of
equipment failure and unplanned machine downtime that can be very costly for
maintenance teams and facility managers.

4. What is predictive maintenance?

Predictive maintenance (PdM) is a technique that uses data analysis tools and
techniques to detect anomalies in your operation and possible defects in equipment and
processes so you can fix them before they result in failure. Ideally, predictive
maintenance allows the maintenance frequency to be as low as possible to prevent
unplanned reactive maintenance, without incurring costs associated with doing too
much preventive maintenance.

5. What is maintenance planning?

Maintenance planning is a process of determining which assets or facilities need

to be maintained, when they need to be maintained, and how often. The process also
involves identifying the resources required for the maintenance—for example, what
spare parts and materials are needed.

6. What is scheduling?

Scheduling is the process of planning, coordinating, and controlling the use of

resources to complete a production process. It involves deciding when to start and finish
each task, which resources to use for each task, and the sequence in which to carry out
the tasks.

7. What is reliability centered maintenance?

Reliability centered maintenance (RCM) is a corporate-level maintenance

strategy that is implemented to optimize the maintenance program of a company or
facility. The final result of an RCM program is the implementation of a specific
maintenance strategy on each of the facility's assets.

8. What is six sigma maintenance?

This step involves determining benchmarks, determining availability and reliability

requirements, getting customer commitments and mapping the flow process.

Measure. This step involves development of failure measurement techniques and tools,
data collection process, compilation and display of data.

Analysis. This step involves checking and verifying the data and drawing conclusions
from data. It also involves determining improvement opportunities, finding root causes
and map causes.

Improve. This step involves creating model equipment and maintenance process, total
maintenance plan and schedule and implementing those plans and schedule.

Control. This step involves monitoring the improved programme. Monitor improves
performance and assesses effectiveness and will make necessary adjustments for the
deviation if exists.

9. Discuss the different types of maintenance.

1. Run-to-Failure: This is the simplest maintenance strategy where assets are

actually allowed to operate until they break down. The asset receives no
maintenance until the failure event occurs and then it’s (hopefully) fixed without
causing any production issues. However, when using this method, it’s really
critical to have spare parts and reliable staff on hand to replace the failed parts in
a timely manner. This strategy is mostly used on assets that don’t have safety
risks and have a minimal impact on production.

2. Preventive Maintenance (or Preventative Maintenance): This type of proactive

maintenance approach includes adjustments, cleaning, lubrication, repairs, and
parts replacements. Preventive maintenance software keeps assets in good
working order and reduces unscheduled downtime and major repairs.

3. Predictive Maintenance: This is a technique that uses condition-monitoring

tools to track the performance of equipment during normal operation to detect
possible defects and fix them before the asset fails.

4. Reliability-Centered Maintenance: This is a strategy that is implemented to

optimize the maintenance program of a corporation or a facility. It means having
a specific maintenance strategy for each asset that is optimized so that
productivity is maintained using cost-effective maintenance techniques.
10. Discuss the enterprise asset management.

Enterprise asset management (EAM) is a combination of software, systems and

services used to maintain and control operational assets and equipment. The aim is to
optimize the quality and utilization of assets throughout their lifecycle, increase
productive uptime and reduce operational costs. Enterprise asset management involves
work management, asset maintenance, planning and scheduling, supply chain
management and environmental, health and safety (EHS) initiatives.
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