Production and Operations Management – Consider an assembly line

Production and Operations Management

Problem 1

Consider an assembly line with 3 sequential operations A, B, and C with processing rates 10, 20, and 30 parts per hour, respectively. The line is bottleneck paced.

1. Suppose there is one dedicated worker for each of the operations (so 3 workers in all).
2. (i) Calculate the capacity of the process in parts per hour.
3.  (ii) Compute the capacity utilization of each worker.
4. (iii) What is the lead time of the process?

(b) Suppose there is one dedicated worker for A and B (Abe) and one dedicated worker for C (Chris).

(i) Calculate the capacity of the process in parts per hour.

(ii) Compute the average capacity utilization of Abe and of Chris.

(iii) What is the lead time of the process?

(c) Suppose Abe runs all 3 operations.

(i) Calculate the capacity of the process in parts per hour.

(ii) Compute the average capacity utilization of Abe.

(iii) What is the lead time of the process?

 Problem 2

Consider the following bread-making process, which works in batches of 100 loaves.

Each and every operation is managed by a separate worker.

Mix 11 Proof Bake WIP RM MaterialMater Mix Proof Bake Pack FG Note that there are 2 identical independent parallel lines (which can run simultaneously) before the packing stage. The cycle times are as follows: Mix = ¾ hr per 100 loaves, Proof = ¾ hr per 100 loaves, Bake = 1 hr per 100 loaves. Pack = ¾ hr per 100 loaves.

 Calculate

 (i)  the capacity of each of the parallel Mix-Proof-Bake lines;

 (ii)  the capacity of the process.

Problem 3

 (a) Consider an assembly line process in which each operation is manned by a separate worker, and all but two operations have different cycle times. The assembly line is bottleneck paced and X workers have 100% utilization. What are the possible values of X? State your answer and please justify it.

(b) Consider an assembly line consisting of 10 sequential operations, with each operation managed by a separate worker. Suppose the cycle of time of one of the operations is reduced by 5 minutes. Then is the capacity of the process guaranteed to increase? State your answer and please justify it.