Process Design Homework

#1.) This problem requires you to design an assembly line that is capable of producing
240 units of product in an 8 hour day. To produce the product, 8 tasks need to be
performed. The following table contains information about these tasks, their task times,
and precedence relationships among the tasks.
Task
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H

Task time
(seconds)
60
80
20
50
90
30
30
60

Immediate
Predecessor
None
A
A
A
B,C
C,D
E,F
G

a.) Design an assembly line that is capable of achieving the desired output rate with the
fewest number of work stations (WS). Make sure you state the number of work
stations in your assembly line as well as the task(s) assigned to each work station.
b.) For your proposed design, answer the following questions:
-

Which work station(s) dictates the output rate?

What is the cycle time?
What are the capacity utilization ratios (CURs) of the work stations in your
proposed design?
Is (are) the work station(s) that dictates the output rate a bottleneck resource?
Where is/are the bottleneck(s)?
If the flow into the system is not controlled (i.e., each work station process as
many units as possible), where will inventory accumulate (i.e., in front of
which work stations)?

#2.) The desired daily output for this assembly line is 360 units. This assembly line will
operate 450 minutes per day. The following table contains information on tasks required
to produce the product, their task times and precedence relationships.

Task
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H

Task time
(seconds)
30
35
30
35
15
65
40
25

Immediate
Predecessor
None
A
A
B
C
C
E,F
D,G

a.) Design an assembly line that is capable of achieving the desired output rate with the
fewest number of work stations. Make sure you state the number of work stations in
your assembly line as well as the task(s) assigned to each work station.
b.) For your proposed design, answer the following questions:
-

Which work station(s) dictates the output rate?

What is the cycle time?
What are the capacity utilization ratios (CURs) of the work stations in your
proposed design?
Is the work station(s) that dictates the output rate a bottleneck resource?
Where is the bottleneck?
If the flow into the system is not controlled, where is inventory likely to
accumulate (i.e., in front of which work station)?

#3.) The following table lists the tasks that need to be performed to build a particular
product. The time required to perform a particular task as well as a tasks predecessor(s)
are also listed. The tasks below need to be assigned to work stations to create an
assembly line capable of producing the product. The assembly line will operate 7
hours per day. The output requirement is 1,000 units per day.

Task
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L

Task time
(seconds)
15
24
6
12
18
7
11
9
14
7
15
10

Immediate
Predecessor
None
A
A
B
B
C
C
D
E
F,G
H,I
J,K

a.) Design an assembly line that is capable of achieving the desired output rate with the
fewest number of work stations. Make sure you state the number of work stations in
your assembly line as well as the task(s) assigned to each work station.
b.) For your proposed design, answer the following questions:
-

Which work station(s) dictates the output rate?

What is the cycle time?
What are the capacity utilization ratios (CURs) of the work stations in your
proposed design?
Is the work station that dictates the output rate a bottleneck resource?
Where is the bottleneck?
If the flow into the system is not controlled, where is inventory likely to
accumulate (i.e., in front of which work stations)?