Supply Chain Planning & Control
Assignment Number
1
Assignment Type
Quantitive
Weighting 20%
Submission Date
Saturday 25th February
Continuous Assessment Submission Guidelines
Assignments are to be completed using Excel, they are to be formatted for A4 and must be submitted via Turnitin. If assignments are not submitted via Turnitin, this will be regarded as a non-submission.
Please observe the suggested word count. Assignments that are too short or too long may be penalised.
Extension Policy
Only in exceptional circumstances will extensions be granted.
Undergraduate and postgraduate extensions cannot be granted by your lecturer. Such extensions can only be granted by the Faculty of Lifelong Learning once a completed extension form and supporting documentation is returned online. Students can apply for extensions at:
https://www.itcarlow.ie/study/lifelong-learning/lll-forms/extension-request-form.htm
Extensions must be sought in advance of the submission date. Extensions will not be granted retrospectively.
The circumstances under which an extension request will be considered include, but are not limited to:
• Serious personal/family/business reasons
• Where a student is representing their country or university
An extension request is unlikely to be considered under the following circumstances:
• Minor illnesses such as a common cold
• Holidays during the academic year
• Multiple assignments due at the one time
• Failure to plan study schedule
• Debs/weddings/social events
• IT and/or computer failure
The Faculty of Lifelong Learning reserve the right to request supporting documentation. If you are applying for an extension that exceeds 5 days you must submit supporting documentation (e.g. letter from a doctor, employer, line manager etc.) so that any prolonged absence can be verified.
Please note that loss of/damage to a USB stick is not considered a valid reason for an extension. To avoid any unnecessary distress, please ensure that you back up your work regularly as you undertake your assignment. By registering with free online storage services such as Dropbox or Skydrive you can save your work online and access it at any computer. Alternatively use an external hard drive/or just email it to yourself.
Failure to submit a piece of assessment may result in a grade of 0.
Plagiarism Policy
Assignments which have copied work from websites, from other authors, from other students or any other sources will receive a grade of 0. All instances of plagiarism must be reported to the Head of Department who, in turn, is obliged to report them to the Registrar. Students who receive this grade may be asked to justify their actions to the University’s plagiarism panel. Students must apply to the examination board at the end of the academic year to re-submit their work in such instances. Please note that copying verbatim from original sources is unacceptable even if you provide references.
Referencing
Please consult ‘Credit Where Credit is Due’ for the referencing system used by SETU. Please ensure accuracy and consistency in your referencing. The following are the most common reference types that you will need when compiling the reference list at the end of your assignments.
Journal articles:
For example:
Seebohm, P., Gilchrist, A. and Morris, D. (2012) Bold but Balanced: How Community Development Contributes to Mental Health and Inclusion. Community Development Journal, 47 (4), pp. 473-490.
Books
For example:
Banks, S. (2012) Ethics and Values in Social Work. (4th Ed.) Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Book Chapter
If a book is an edited collection with different contributors for each chapter, cite the author of the specific chapter you have used in your work. If you use more than one chapter, cite each author separately. Include the page numbers of the chapter in the bibliography.
For example:
Forde, C. (2009) The Politics of Community Development: Relationship with the State. In: Forde, C., Kiely, E. and Meade, R., eds. Youth and Community in Ireland: Critical Perspectives, Dublin: Gill and Macmillan, pp. 49-68. Webpage
Unless the webpage has a specified individual author, you can treat the organisation as the author. If the year the webpage was created is available, you can give this. If not, simply state ‘no date available’. You must also include the date which you last accessed the webpage in brackets at the end of the reference. For example:
Children’s Rights Alliance, (no date available) What Are Children’s
Rights? Available: http://www.childrensrights.ie/childrens-rights-ireland/childrens-rightsireland [accessed 01 September, 2013].
To avoid common referencing mistakes, please note the following:
• In the reference list, place the title of the journal, not the specific journal article, in italics.
• In the reference list, give a full reference for a webpage not just the url.
• When referencing books in the reference list, the place of publication (e.g.
Dublin) precedes the name of the publisher (e.g. Gill and Macmillan).
• There is no need to bullet point or number your reference list.
• When citing websites within the main body of your assignment, use the (author, date) formulation rather than the url; i.e. write (Children’s Rights Alliance, no date available) rather than inserting the web address.
When quoting directly from an original source within the main body of your assignment, give the page number(s). Try to avoid excessive use of direct quotation.
MODULE AIM
This module aims to provide students with the quantitive tools to enable them to make structured decisions
LEARNING OUTCOMES
On successful completion of this module the learner should be able to:
1. Apply quantitive techniques utilising data
2. Make structured decisions based on data and mathematical models
3. Problem solve using applied quantitive techniques.
4.
MODULE ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component Details Learning Outcomes addressed % of total
Quantitive assignment 1, 2 & 3 20%
Green Fingers are a landscaping company that contract both labour and equipment from a local construction company. The construction company have given Green Fingers the following three capacity options:
Capacity Labour Hours Equipment Hours
High 9,000 6,000
Medium 6,750 4,500
Low 4,500 3,000
• Labour costs €10 per hour whilst the hiring of equipment is €20 per hour.
• Once a capacity option has been chosen it cannot be altered and the hours associated with each capacity option are fixed.
• Green Fingers estimate that the average job has revenue of €2,000 and requires 30 hours of labour and 20 hours of equipment usage.
For 2023 Green Fingers have developed the following forecast:
Demand No. of Jobs Probability
High 300 30%
Medium 200 40%
Low 120 30%
You are required:
a) Determine the fixed costs and break-even point for each capacity option. (6 marks)
b) What is the maximum number of jobs that can be handled under each capacity
option? (3 marks)
c) Draw a decision tree for Green Fingers and calculate the profit associated with each
option. (19 marks)
d) Which option would you advise Green Fingers to pursue to maximise profit and why?
(2 marks)
As the estimator for ABC Enterprises you have been asked to prepare an estimate for a potential service contract. The contract is for the service of diesel cylinder heads used in trains which the company has previously done on a sporadic basis.
The time required to service the first cylinder head is exactly 4 hours and similar work has been accomplished with an 85% learning curve. The customer wants you to quote the total time in batches of 12 and 20.
You are required:
a) Prepare a quotation based on a rate of €25.00/hour. (10 marks)
b) After preparing the quote, you find a job docket for this customer for five cylinder heads. From the information on the job docket, you conclude that the fifth cylinder
head took 2.5 hours to service. What do you conclude about the learning rate and
your quote? (10 marks)
A high-tech company makes medical devices using its highly skilled workforce. They can also access production facilities at a nearby sister company whose workforce is just as skilled.
They have a regular production capacity of 820 units which can be supplemented by a weekly overtime out of 40 units. The sister company can offer them extra capacity of 100 units monthly if required.
The forecasted demand and costs data for the next six months are as follow:
Month Demand
Costs and other data
1 770 Previous output level 760 units
2 790 Beginning inventory 0 units
3 810 Stockout cost €800 per unit
4 820 Inventory holding cost €400 per unit at month end
5 850 Unit Cost, regular time €1,500 per unit
6 860 Subcontracting €2,100 per unit
Unit Cost, overtime €1,800 per unit
Hiring workers €200 per unit
Firing workers €500 per unit
They are considering one of the following three aggregate plans:
• Plan A is to produce a level quantity utilising overtime, incurring back orders and
inventory charges. (7 marks)
• Plan B is to produce a base quantity of 800, using first, overtime, then subcontracting,
to meet demand. (7 marks)
• Plan C, a chase plan, using overtime and then subcontracting if regular capacity is
insufficient to cover monthly demand. (7 marks)
There is no need to start and end on the same output level and you have been asked to recommend one of the plans.
Prepare each of the plans, calculate the costs associated with each plan and make a recommendation explaining the reasons for your recommendation. (4 marks) (a) A particular operation uses a two-step sequence that all jobs in a certain category follow. For the group of jobs listed below;
Processing time (minutes)
Jobs a b c d e
Workstation A 27 18 70 26 15
Workstation B 45 33 30 24 10
(i) Find the sequence that will minimise the total completion time. (4 marks)
(ii) Construct a progress chart for the sequence of jobs. Clearly identify the amount of idle time at workstation B and the makespan of the batch of jobs. (5 marks)
(iii) What jobs are candidate for splitting? Why? If they were split, how much would idle time and makespan time be reduced? (Assume splitting the jobs in half) (5 marks)
(b) The table below contains information concerning four jobs that are awaiting processing at a work centre.
Job Processing Time (days) due date (days)
A 15 28
B 12 20
C 8 30
D 10 26
(i) Sequence the jobs using the SPT, EDD and CR priority rules. (4 marks)
(ii) For each of the job sequences from part (i) calculate the mean flow time, the mean number of jobs at the work centre, the mean tardiness, the maximum
lateness and the number of late jobs. (5 marks)
(iii) Which sequence performs best for this batch of jobs? (2 marks)
This is a course assignment guidelines for a quantitative assignment in Supply Chain Planning & Control, which has a 20% weighting and is due on 25th February. The assignment should be completed using Excel and submitted via Turnitin. Requests for extensions must be made in advance, and will only be granted in exceptional circumstances. Plagiarism will result in a grade of 0, and must be reported to the Head of Department. The referencing system used is “Credit Where Credit is Due,” and accuracy and consistency in referencing is required.
