CIPS Operations Management Sample Questions:

1. There are four manufacturing companies located on Seashell Industrial Estate. Each company creates a different product and employs a different maintenance approach to its operations. For each company, select the corresponding maintenance approach and the key operating process characteristic.
Company 1: This company creates craft beer and offers customers a tour of the brewery for a small charge. The brewing equipment is serviced monthly and the brewery is kept extremely clean. All equipment is labelled with the last service date.
Company 2: This company produces seasonal items such as Easter Eggs and Christmas Cake. The equipment has a control panel where lights will flash red advising staff to check oil levels and components. Staff can then report issues to the maintenance team if remedial work is required. Product demand fluctuates throughout the year.
Company 3: This equipment does not often break down and is only fixed when it is reported by staff as no longer working. Company 3 creates toys, providing a large range of product sizes and colours based on different customer requirements.
Company 4: Parts of the machine are serviced quarterly but in general, the machine is left to run its course and is then replaced when it is no longer financially viable to fix. The company produces cereal and the operating process is focused on the quantity produced and therefore uses standardised processes.
Complete the table below by listing the maintenance approach and operating process characteristic for each company. Each response should only be used once: preventative maintenance, run to breakdown maintenance, condition-based maintenance, mixed maintenance, volume, visibility, variation, variety

Which of the following will you put into box 1?

A) run-to-breakdown maintenance
B) condition-based maintenance
C) preventative maintenance
D) mixed maintenance

2. Tools by Tom is a manufacturer of hardware. They have recently advertised that a new range of hammers would be released shortly, however due to issues in the supply chain and a low-quality delivery of steal, the production of the new hammers has been put on hold. Of the following, which are internal impacts of failure for the company? Select TWO.

A) decreased market share
B) customer complaints
C) loss of credibility
D) downtime
E) wasted resources

3. Barry is a Hotel Manager and is keen to understand where his business is failing. He has asked his staff to conduct a number of different techniques to uncover failures within the service. Of those listed below, which of the following would provide Barry with answers the quickest? Select TWO

A) machine diagnostic checks
B) in-process checks
C) phone surveys
D) point-of-departure interviews

4. Which of the following would you likely find on a Process Control Chart which is being used to monitor the quality of products manufactured in a factory?

A) arrows showing the flow of goods
B) different activities completed and the amount of slack available in each activity
C) upper and lower control limits
D) frequency of defects

5. When processing low volumes of a product, specialisation is high and it is therefore possible to create products at a lower unit cost. Is this TRUE?

A) no- creating products in low volumes often leads to a higher unit cost
B) yes- staff gain specialities when there is less products to create
C) no- the volume of products created does not impact upon unit costs as these are fixed in advance
D) yes- when producing low volumes of a product, cost savings can be transferred to the customer

Solutions: