(HL) Lean production, quality management and production planning

Learning objectives

(HL) Explain the principles of lean production and compare just-in-time with just-in-case stock control in terms of cost, risk and reliance on suppliers

(HL) Describe kaizen, cradle-to-cradle design and quality circles, and evaluate their effect on cost and on employee involvement

(HL) Distinguish quality control from quality assurance and evaluate total quality management, benchmarking and quality standards as routes to a better product

(HL) Calculate the reorder level and reorder quantity from usage, lead time and buffer stock, and interpret a stock control chart

(HL) Calculate and interpret the capacity utilisation rate, defect rate, labour productivity, capital productivity, productivity rate and operating leverage, and compare the cost to buy (CTB = P × Q) with the cost to make (CTM = TFC + (AVC × Q))

(HL) Complete and interpret a critical path analysis network, identifying the critical path, the earliest start and latest finish times and the total and free float on each activity

(HL) Evaluate crisis management and contingency planning, and explain how research and development keeps a product portfolio competitive, distinguishing incremental from disruptive innovation

(HL) Explain data analytics, databases, big data, data mining, artificial intelligence, critical infrastructure, the internet of things, virtual reality, customer loyalty programmes and cybersecurity, and evaluate the benefits, risks and ethical implications of management information systems, including digital Taylorism