Felcher & Sons Goes Global
Upon graduating from university, Steve Bergman began his career as a management trainee at Felcher & Sons Ltd, a manufacturer of mid-priced office furniture.The firm has recently decided to expand overseas with manufacturing plants in Singapore and Thailand and sales offices in the Far East, Europe and the United States.In conjunction with this investment in new plants and technologies, the firm plans to develop an online presence that will enable customers to individually tailor the products they order from Felcher & Sons.Terry Tate, VP of Operations for Felcher & Sons, has been tasked with overseeing the development of these plants and new capabilities.Mr Tate has asked that Steve be assigned to him to help him in this process.
-Refer to Felcher & Sons Goes Global (Scenario).Mr Tate and Steve have scheduled a site visit to a nearby Dell Computer assembly facility in order to see firsthand many of the technologies available to Felcher & Sons.Dell Computer uses technologies such as computer-controlled factory equipment, industrial robots, bar code scanners and logistics software that enable them to manufacture, assemble and ship custom-designed computers in a very short time.Such technologies characterise ________, which give companies the ability to quickly readjust their assembly lines to make products to order.
A)design-to-order manufacturing techniques
B)new technological techniques
C)email customer specifications input
D)flexible manufacturing techniques
E)intellectual property techniques

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Flexible manufacturing techniques refer to the ability of companies to readjust their assembly lines quickly and efficiently to produce products to order. This is the characteristic of Dell Computer's use of computer-controlled factory equipment, industrial robots, bar code scanners, and logistics software. Therefore, the best choice is D. Design-to-order manufacturing techniques might also be a possible answer, but it is not as specific and does not encompass all the technologies mentioned in the scenario. Email customer specifications input and intellectual property techniques are not relevant to the scenario. New technological techniques are too broad and do not specifically refer to the flexible manufacturing techniques mentioned in the scenario.