?Read this text taken from an article about some key aspects of operations management.
?Choose the best sentence to fill each of the gaps.
?For each gap (9-14), mark one letter (A-H) on your Answer Sheet.
?Do not use any letter more than once.
The Operations Function
Goods are tangible items purchased by individuals or organizations for subsequent uses. Services are intangible items that are consumed when being provided, with the customer taking away or retaining the benefit of that service. But in many commercial situations, what is provided or produced by an organization can be a mixture of both goods and services. In some situations the product will outweigh the service but in other situations it will be the opposite.
The operations function is the part of the organization that exists mainly to generate and produce the products. (9) .They have a conversion process, some resource inputs into that process, the outputs resulting from the conversions of the inputs, and the
information feedback about the activities in the operations system. (10) . Economists refer to the transformation of resources into goods and services as the production function. (11) .This process is what creates the revenue for the company making the products or providing the services. (12) .
When taking the conversion process into consideration we must take into account that the process is subject to random change and fluctuations. Unplanned or uncontrolled influences may cause the actual output to differ from the planned output. (13) .If there is a circumstance in which the Yangzi River of China was to flood, the production of rice would suffer, therefore causing an increase fluctuation in the price of rice. (14) .Fluctuations may also tend to be caused by internal problems inherent in the conversion process. Faulty equipment, material imperfections, and of course human errors are only a few of the ideas that affect output quality.