Q&A Hero

Q: One of the best pieces of advice with respect to the design of warehousing facilities is to ____. a. automate whenever possible b. build up rather than out c. avoid consultants d. use common sense

Q: Multiclient warehousing mixes attributes of ____ and ____ warehousing. a. private; contract b. common; private c. public; common d. public; contract

Q: With respect to contract warehousing, ____ to ____ year contracts appear to allow sufficient time for the warehousing provider to learn the client's business while allowing the client some flexibility in case the agreement fails to produce acceptable results. a. 1; 2 b. 2; 3 c. 3; 5 d. 5; 7

Q: All are characteristics of private warehousing, except ____. a. generates high fixed costs for the user b. feasible when demand patterns are irregular c. users have a great deal of control d. may reduce an organization's flexibility e. all of the above are characteristics

Q: ____ warehousing is owned or occupied on a long-term lease by the firm using them. a. private b. public c. contract d. multiclient

Q: What is considered to be the biggest drawback to public warehousing? a. high fixed cost to user b. lack of safety regulation c. lack of locational flexibility d. lack of control by the user

Q: Which of the following is not a characteristic of public warehousing? a. requires no capital investment from user b. users have a fairly exact determination of their warehousing costs c. good for companies dealing with large volumes of inventory d. lack of control by user e. all of the above are characteristics

Q: Warehousing labor safety practices in the United States are monitored by which federal government agency? a. Warehousing Safety Administration b. Department of Commerce c. Food and Drug Administration d. Consumer Product Safety Commission e. none of the above

Q: ____ refers to a process where a product is received in a facility, occasionally married with product going to the same destination, and then shipped at the earliest time, without going into longer-term storage. a. just-in-time b. cross-docking c. accumulation d. agglomeration

Q: Throughput refers to ____. a. storage capacity of a warehousing facility b. volume through a pipeline c. inventory turnover in a one-month period d. amount of product entering and leaving a facility in a given time period

Q: Distribution centers emphasize ____ and their primary purpose is to maximize ____. a. rapid movement of product; throughput b. product storage; throughput c. product storage; usage of available storage space d. rapid movement of product; usage of available storage space

Q: Warehouses emphasize ____ and their primary purpose is to maximize ____. a. rapid movement of product; usage of available storage space b. rapid movement of product; throughput c. product storage; usage of available storage space d. product storage; throughput

Q: ____ refers to separating products into grades and qualities desired by different target markets. a. assorting b. sorting out c. allocating d. accumulating

Q: ____ refers to building up a variety of different products for resale to particular customers. a. accumulating b. allocating c. sorting out d. assorting

Q: ____ involves bringing together similar stocks from different sources. a. bulk-breaking b. assorting c. accumulating d. sorting out

Q: ____ and ____ refer to adjustments associated with the quantity of product. a. allocating; assorting b. accumulating; allocating c. sorting out; accumulating d. sorting out; assorting

Q: Warehousing and ____ are substitutes for each other. a. transportation b. materials handling c. packaging d. inventory management e. none of the above

Q: How are cleanliness and sanitation issues relevant to warehousing operations?

Q: Discuss how warehousing security can be enhanced by focusing on people, facilities, and processes.

Q: What is a hazardous material? What design elements should be considered when storing hazardous materials?

Q: Discuss how fires are a constant threat in warehousing.

Q: What is OSHA's role in warehousing safety?

Q: How can warehousing productivity be improved without significant investment in technology or equipment?

Q: What are some potential nonstorage space needs that might impact warehousing design?

Q: Discuss some key considerations associated with warehouse automation.

Q: Explain the relevance of aisle width in warehouse design.

Q: Discuss the trade-offs associated with order-picking versus stock-replenishing functions.

Q: Distinguish between fixed and variable slot locations. How might they affect warehousing design?

Q: Suppose that AAA decides to near-source production to Latin America. Keeping in mind the key stipulation presented in the case, where might AAA locate its production plant in Latin America? Why?

Q: Would you answer to Question 5 change if the shirts are exported through the Port of Kolkata? Why or why not?

Q: Should AILS recommend that the manufacturing plant be located in Patna or Lucknow? Why?

Q: With respect to quality-of-life considerations, is Patna or Lucknow the preferred location? Why?

Q: With respect to labor characteristics, is Patna or Lucknow the preferred location? Why?

Q: With respect to transportation considerations, is Patna or Lucknow the preferred location? Why?

Q: With respect to the natural resources needed to make wickable shirts, is Patna or Lucknow the preferred location? Why?

Q: Communication with employees is more important for facility closings than for facility relocations.

Q: The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act mandates that employers give 90 days' notice about plant closings and mass layoffs.

Q: Facility relocation is associated with business growth, while facility closing is associated with business contraction.

Q: The idea behind a weighted center-of-gravity approach is that a prospective warehousing facility will be located closer to the existing sites with the greatest current demand.

Q: Grid systems are important to locational analysis because they allow one to analyze spatial relationships with relatively simple mathematical tools.

Q: Free trade zones must be adjacent to a port or an airport.

Q: Brownfields refer to a place where flattened cartons are stored until they are recycled.

Q: A community can encourage or discourage business activity through changes in the zoning classifications of land.

Q: Government considerations such as the relevant legal system, political stability, and protectionism are important when companies are thinking of facility location in non-domestic countries.

Q: Quality of life considerations play a limited role in facility location decisions.

Q: The European Union's expansion into Central and Eastern European countries has seen Hungary become a favored distribution site because of its relatively central geographic location.

Q: The development and implementation of multicountry trade agreements has had profound impacts on trade patterns.

Q: With respect to commodity flows, logisticians are especially interested in what is being produced and where it is being produced.

Q: Supplier parks refer to places where main component makers locate in specially created industrial complexes adjacent to assembly plants.

Q: Agglomeration refers to the net advantages that can be gained by a sharing of common locations by various enterprises.

Q: Centralized facilities tend to minimize total transit distances, which likely results in minimum transportation costs.

Q: A poor facility location can increase transportation costs, but has minimal impact on customer service.

Q: Intermodal competition refers to the number of carriers within a particular mode of transportation.

Q: A general rule of thumb is that the services received from business taxes represent only about 50% of the taxes that were paid.

Q: Inventory taxes have become increasingly difficult to collect in part because of a lack of agreement as to what is meant by inventory.

Q: Turnover rates for expatriate workers currently range between 20% and 40%.

Q: An expatriate is a person who is not allowed to work outside his (her) home country.

Q: Right-to-work laws mean that every person who wants a job is guaranteed a job.

Q: Sweatshops are organizations that exploit workers and that do not comply with fiscal and legal obligations towards employees.

Q: Maquiladora plants have experienced a resurgence in recent years because of a focus on manufactured products that depend on fast time to market.

Q: The United States has the highest hourly compensation rates in the world.

Q: Labor wage rates appear to be a key locational determinant as supply chains become more global in nature.

Q: Population size is an irrelevant consideration in the facility location decision.

Q: Population can be viewed as both a market for goods and a potential source of labor.

Q: Over the past quarter century, discussion of natural resources and facility location has increasingly factored in environmental and sustainability considerations

Q: The processing point for a weight-gaining raw material should be close to the market.

Q: The processing point for a weight-losing raw material can be anywhere between the source and the market.

Q: A pure material is one that is totally water soluble.

Q: An early step in the facility location decision should involve determining the total number of facilities that a firm should operate.

Q: A locavore strategy focuses on hiring local workers.

Q: China and India account for approximately one-third of the world's population.

Q: The five most populous states in the United States were the same in 1980 and 2010.

Q: Poorly located facilities, such as manufacturing plants and warehouses, negatively impact logistical effectiveness, but have little impact on logistical efficiency.

Q: The initial focus in facility location is on a region of the world.

Q: Facility location is a logistics/supply chain activity that has evolved from a tactical decision to one of tremendous strategic importance in numerous organizations.

Q: Which of the following is not a possible reason for a facility closing? a. eliminating redundant capacity in mergers and acquisitions b. poor planning c. improving supply chain efficiency d. insufficient volume of business e. all of the above are possible reasons

Q: The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act mandates that employers give ____ days' notice about plant closings and mass layoffs. a. 30 b. 60 c. 90 d. 120 e. none of the above

Q: How does the weighted center-of-gravity approach to location analysis differ from the center-of-gravity approach to location analysis? a. the weighted approach considers real estate taxes b. the weighted approach is less complicated c. the weighted approach considers shipment volume d. the weighted approach considers tapering rates

Q: The center-of-gravity approach to location analysis minimizes ____. a. labor costs b. warehousing costs c. real estate taxes d. distance to existing facilities

Q: A free trade zone refers to an area ____. a. that is home to businesses that are owned and operated by large concentrations of a particular ethnic group b. in which products can be stored, exhibited, or processed without being subjected to duties and quotas unless they enter the customs territory of the zone country c. in which the federal government disregards all import and export quotas for products coming from, or destined to, "favored" nations d. an area outside the legal jurisdiction of federal, state, and/or local governments e. none of the above