Test Papers / Previous Question Papers of IGNOU MS5 Management of Machines and Materials June 2005

MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME
Term-End Examination

June, 2005

MS5 : MANAGEMENT OF MACHINES AND MATERIALS

Time: 3 hours
Maximum Marks: 100
(Weightage 70%)

SECTION A

1. (a) Define FMS. What is the general field of FMS applicatlon ? Is the field of FMS application significant in terms of the potential market size for its capability ? State with reference to any production unit.

(b) Describe five major types of materials handling methods and name some advantages of each. (10+10)

2. (a) Whai is the major difference between aggregate planning in manufacturing and aggregate Planning in services ?

(b) Discuss the role of the Operations Manager in today's context. Do you agree that, Operations Management is a multi-disciplinary function ? Discuss. (10+10)

3. (a) Overland Motors uses 25,000 gear assemblies each year and purchases them at Rs. 340 each. It costs Rs. 5000 to process and receive an order, and inventory can be carried at a cost of Rs. 78 per unit-year.
(i) How many assemblies should be ordered at a time ?
(ii) How many orders per year should be placed ?

(b) Shiv Bakery has orders for five speciality jobs (A, B, C, D and E) that must be processed sequentially through two work centers (baking and decoration). The amount of time (in hours) required for the jobs is shown below.

Determine the schedule sequence that minimises the total elapsed time for the five jobs. (10+10)

4. (a) Paradise Airlines offers customers a vacation plan for Rs. 5200. The airline estimates that the fixed costs associated with this plan are Rs. 72,00,000 and at a volume of 3,000 passengers, total variable costs would be Rs. 48,00,000 and profits should be Rs.36,00,000.
(i) Find the break-even volume.
(ii) If fixed costs remained constant, how many additional passengers (beyond break-even) would be required to increase profits to Rs. 50,00,000 ?

(b) Explain Value Engineering giving its area of application in some industry which you are aware of. (10+10)

5. (a) A small manufacturing facility is being planned that will feed parts to three heavy manufacturing facilities. The location of the current plants with their coordinates and volume requirements is given in the following table :

Use the centre of gravity method to determine the best location for this new facility.

(b) Four different organisations are considering your home town as a potential location for one of the following :
(i) a medical research centre
(ii) a soft-drink producer
(iii) a steel mill
(iv) a uranium-mining firm
Select any one of the four, and systematically evaluate the relevant locational factors. (10+10)

SECTION B

6. A project has been defined to contain the following list of actvities along with their required times for completion :

(a) Draw the network diagram.
(b) Show the early start and early finish times.
(c) Find the critical path.
(d) What would happen if activity F was revised to take four days instead of two ? (20)

7. Write short notes on any four of the following : (4 x 5 = 20)
(a) Operating Characteristic Curve
(b) Bill of Materials
(c) Standardisation and Codification
(d) CAD/CAM
(e) Job enrichment
(f) Delphi Technique