MRP Production Scheduling & Capacity Planning 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which scheduling technique sequences jobs to minimize the maximum lateness across all orders?
- Earliest Due Date (EDD) (Correct answer)
- Shortest Processing Time (SPT)
- Critical Ratio (CR)
- First Come First Served (FCFS)
Correct answer: Earliest Due Date (EDD)
EDD minimizes maximum lateness by prioritizing jobs with the nearest due dates.
Question 2: In capacity requirements planning (CRP), what input directly determines the load on each work center?
- Sales forecasts
- Planned order releases from MRP (Correct answer)
- Master production schedule quantities
- Inventory on-hand records
Correct answer: Planned order releases from MRP
CRP converts MRP planned order releases into detailed load hours at specific work centers.
Question 3: A production schedule shows a work center loaded at 130% of its rated capacity for three consecutive weeks. The BEST corrective action is to:
- Increase the safety stock level
- Reschedule orders or add overtime/shifts (Correct answer)
- Reduce the reorder point
- Increase the order quantity
Correct answer: Reschedule orders or add overtime/shifts
Overloads must be resolved by rescheduling orders, adding capacity, or splitting lots.
Question 4: What does the term 'demonstrated capacity' mean in production scheduling?
- The theoretical maximum output based on engineering specs
- The actual output achieved based on historical performance (Correct answer)
- The output planned in the master schedule
- The capacity approved in the annual budget
Correct answer: The actual output achieved based on historical performance
Demonstrated capacity is calculated from actual historical performance data, not theoretical maximums.
Question 5: Which of the following is a characteristic of a BACKWARD scheduling approach?
- It starts from today's date and works forward to find earliest completion
- It starts from the due date and works backward to determine the start date (Correct answer)
- It schedules the highest-priority jobs first regardless of due date
- It fills available capacity slots in chronological order
Correct answer: It starts from the due date and works backward to determine the start date
Backward scheduling determines the latest possible start date by subtracting lead times from the due date.
Question 6: A manufacturer is using constraint-based scheduling. Which resource should receive the most scheduling attention?
- The resource with the lowest utilization
- The resource with the most operators
- The bottleneck resource limiting overall throughput (Correct answer)
- The resource that processes the first operation
Correct answer: The bottleneck resource limiting overall throughput
Theory of Constraints directs that the bottleneck governs total system throughput and must be prioritized.
Question 7: When calculating the Critical Ratio (CR) for job prioritization, what does a CR value less than 1.0 indicate?
- The job is ahead of schedule
- The job is exactly on schedule
- The job is behind schedule and at risk of being late (Correct answer)
- The job has been cancelled
Correct answer: The job is behind schedule and at risk of being late
A CR below 1.0 means remaining time is less than the remaining work required, signaling likely lateness.
MRP Production Scheduling & Capacity Planning 2
Which scheduling technique sequences jobs to minimize the maximum lateness across all orders?