chap 09 学习要点.doc

Chapter 9 Improving Productivity and Quality Outline Introduction The Learning Goals of this chapter are to: Identify the key resources used for production. Identify the factors that affect the plant site decision. Describe how various factors affect the design and layout decision. Describe the key tasks that are involved in production control. Describe the key factors that affect production efficiency. This chapter is concerned with production management, which is the management of the process in which resources are used to produce goods and services. Resources Used for the Production Process A production process (also called conversion process) is the series of tasks in which resources are used to produce a product or service. Production management (also called operations management) attempts to achieve an efficient production process by determining the proper amounts of materials to use, the proper mix of resources to use, the proper assignments of tasks, and the proper sequence of the tasks that must be performed. Effective production management can contribute significantly to the profitability and value of the firm. Human resources are the types of labor needed for production. Some types of production are more labor-intensive than others, and some production processes require more skilled labor than others do. The operating expenses involved in hiring human resources depend on both the number of workers and their skill level. Materials used in the production process are normally transformed by the firm’s human resources into the final product. Other resources used in production include buildings, such as factories and warehouses and machinery and equipment. Combining Resources for Production: Managers attempt to combine human resources, materials, and other resources in a manner that achieves production at low cost. Two ways of combining resources to carry out production are work stations and assembly lines. Work stations are areas to which one or more