Answe 1 - Value engineering (VE) is a systematic method to improve the "value" of goods or products and services by using an examination

of function. Value, as defined, is the ratio of function to cost. Value can therefore be increased by either improving the function or reducing the cost. It is a primary tenet of value engineering that basic functions be preserved and not be reduced as a consequence of pursuing value improvements.

For example - Russian liquid-fuel rocket motors are intentionally designed to permit ugly (though leakfree) welding. This reduces costs by eliminating grinding and finishing operations that do not help the motor function better. In Japan, it is a standard process to design printed circuit boards of inexpensive phenol resin and paper, and reduce the number of copper layers to one or two to lower costs without harming specifications.

The concept of value engineering originated during the Second World War. It was developed by General Electric Corporations (GEC) and has gained popularity due to its potential for gaining high Returns on Investment (ROI).This methodology is widely used in business reengineering, government projects, automakers, transportation and distribution, industrial equipment, construction, assembling and machining processes, health care and environmental engineering, and many others.
Simplification of processes reduces the cost of manufacturing. Every piece of material and the process should add value to the product so as to render the best performance. Thus, there is an opportunity at every stage of the manufacturing and delivery process to find alternatives which will increase the functionality or reduce cost in terms of material, process, and time.

Value engineering in any organizations helps to identify: The problem or situation that needs to be changed/improved All that is good about the existing situation The improvements required in the situation The functions to be performed The ways of performing each function The best ways among the selected functions The steps to be followed to implement the function The person who executes the function The main benefits of the application of VE are: Cost reduction Overall cost consciousness A culture of effecting savings across organization Streamlining of administration and creation of transparency in all dealings even with outsiders Development of reliable suppliers

Answer 2 SABMilller revamped its supply chain management system to reduce stock-outs caused by an increasingly complex and hard to predict market.

The trigger for the revamp came when the company's customers ran out of stocks of popular SABMiller brands during peak periods in two consecutive years, 2007 and 2008. The shortfall on some brands was as high as 22%. "That had a direct impact on the bottom line," Van Schoor says. Now to achieve its ambition of being the world's most efficient producer, SABMiller called in management consultancy McKinsey to look at the entire supply chain system to see where it could be improved and future stock-outs avoided. The major issues because of which SABMiller decided to revamp the supply chain management system are: Demand factors In South Africa, the worlds most complex and fast-changing market ; economic growth, more disposable income in new hands, changing and upgrading tastes, new product development and new routes to market among the factors that influence demand for SABMiller's products. To maximize its profitability, SABMiller has to integrate information from a lot of sources related to sales forecasts, planned promotions, and cost and production data. These data must then be converted into raw material purchases, manufacturing scheduling, distribution and stockholding plans and all this must be optimized for profit. Domain application used for SCM integration

Maximize profitability

After a global search, SABMiller settled on Infor's advanced supply chain management system, in particular Infor's demand forecasting system. This takes information from modules of SABMiller's SAP enterprise resource management system, integrates them with sales forecasts from the field, and feeds back to the manufacturing resource planning system and financial systems to generate production schedules, raw materials orders and volume and financial forecasts. This will let SABMiller make any of its products in the most cost-effective location, given the local demand, manufacturing, transport and inventory costs. It will also increase its flexibility in responding to changes in demand. Products will no longer be made only in a single plant to optimize production runs, but, based on more holistic data, in the plants that optimize overall profitability. This flexibility also gives the company greater cover to handle factory downtime and to meet rapid changes in demand.
Answer 3a Ingredients of a business process Business process is a total response that a business undertakes utilizing the resources and delivering the outputs that create a value for the customer.

A business process is said to be a successful process when: resources are optimally consumed activities are effectively conducted outcomes are close to expectations The ingredients that might be used in a business process can be briefly outlined as follows: The data which accomplishes the desired business objective Acquisition, storage, distribution, and control of data which undertakes the process across tasks Persons, teams, and organizational units which helps to perform and achieve the tasks Decisions which enhance the value of data during the process Answer 3b Acceptance sampling 1 unit 14 3a unit 8 3b unit 7 3c unit 9 3d unit 1 5 unit 10 6 unit 6