Your Assignment

Please read the questions below and fill your answers in the spaces provided.

To begin, consider the three-step process model in the Process 1 tab. The process is staffed by three
workers: Alice is assigned to step A, Bob is assigned to step B, and Charlie is assigned to step C. Please
answer the questions below.

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1. What is the bottleneck of this process?

Answer: Workstation B, Bob

2. What is the cycle time of this process?

Answer: 5 minutes

3. What is the capacity of this process?

Answer: 12 per hour

4. What is the throughput time for a rush order (that is, an order arriving when the system is empty that
is moved through the process without delay)?

Answer: 10 minute

5. What is the labor utilization of each worker?

Answer: Alice 60%, Bob 100%, Charlie 40%

6. What is the average labor utilization of the workers?

Answer: 66.67%
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Now that you have finished Process 1, consider the same process, but assume we assign Betty, an
additional worker to a step B. Betty and Bob are equally qualified, and they are told to split the work of
step B (working simultaneously to complete the 5 minutes of work on a unit in half that time).

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7.

Before doing any calculations, which process metrics would you expect to change relative to Process 1?

Answer: Minimum throughput time, cycle time, capacity per hour and utilization

8. What is the bottleneck of this process?

Answer: Workstation A, Alice

9. What is the cycle time of this process?

Answer: 3 minutes

10. What is the capacity of this process?

Answer: 20 per hour

11. What is the throughput time for a rush order (that is, an order arriving when the system is empty
that is moved through the process without delay)?

Answer: 7.5 minutes

12. What is the labor utilization of each worker?

Answer: Alice 100%, Bob 83.33%, Betty 83.33%, Charlie 66.67%

13. What is the average labor utilization of the workers?

Answer: 83.57

14.

What have you learned?

Answer: We learnt the practical meaning of the process metrics, bottleneck and blocking. We also learnt
how adding parallel redundant units for bottlenecks can improves throughput time, cycle time and
utilization and remove blocking.

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Look at Process 3, a variant of Process 1 (3 workers, Alice does step A, Bob step B and Charlie step C),
but assume that steps A and B can be completed in parallel as shown in the diagram below (by in
parallel, we mean that Alice can work on her component at the same time as Bob works on his
component. For example, Alice could be finishing a table top at the same time Bob is finishing the four
legs and Charlie could be assembling the table by attaching the legs to the table top).

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15.

Before doing any calculations, which process metrics would you expect to change relative to Process 1?

Answer: Minimum throughput time will change.

But cycle time and hence capacity and utilization will remain the same.

16. What is the bottleneck of this process?

Answer: Workstation B, Bob

17. What is the cycle time of this process?

Answer: 5 minutes
18. What is the capacity of this process?

Answer: 12 per hour

19. What is the throughput time for a rush order (that is, an order arriving when the system is empty
that is moved through the process without delay)?

Answer: 7 minutes

20. What is the labor utilization of each worker?

Answer: Alice A 60%, Bob B 100%, Charlie C 40%

21. What is the average labor utilization of the workers?

Answer: 66.67%

22.

What have you learned?

Answer: The use of parallel running of seperate processes though does not decrease the bottleneck or
cycle tym and hence capacity and utilization but the minimum throughput time decreases(improves).
Your Assignment

Please read the questions below and fill your answers in the spaces provided.

Consider the following process in the Process 1 tab. All steps (A, B, C, D) are necessary to create each
finished unit. Each step employs a single worker who is not cross-trained for any other step. The
processing times listed represent the amount of time each worker spends on a single unit. There is no
variability in processing times.

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1. What is the fastest that a rush order can go through the process?

Answer: 35 minutes

2. Working 8 hours a day, what is the daily capacity?

Answer: 32 per day

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For the next two questions, consider a fifth step added to the process, along with a fifth worker. The
fifth step, Step E, is done after Step C, and before Step D, as drawn in simulate part 2. All steps (A, B, C,
D, E) are necessary to create each finished unit. Processing times are shown for each process step.

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3. What is the fastest that a rush order can go through the process?

Answer: 45 minutes

4. Working 8 hours a day, what is the daily capacity?

Answer: 32 per day

Your Assignment

Please read the questions below and fill your answers in the spaces provided.

Consider the following three-step worker-paced line in the Process 1 tab. Each step employs a single
worker who is not cross-trained for any other step. The set-up represents the amount of time the
worker spends setting up the machine for each batch. No units can be processed during set-up. The run
time represents the amount of time it takes the worker to process a single unit. When a worker
completes a batch, he or she hands it off to the next stage.

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1. If only 10-unit batches are produced, what is the average capacity of the process per 8-hour day?

Answer: 53.33 per day

2. At what batch size does the bottleneck move? That is, at what batch size are there two steps that are
the bottleneck?

Answer: Batch size of 5

Your Assignment

Please read the questions below and fill your answers in the spaces provided.

Consider the six-step process in the Process 1 tab where the processing time for each step is uniformly
distributed, for which processing times can range from 12 to 18 minutes (any value in that range is as
likely to occur as any other in that range)

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1.

If inventory were permitted to accumulate throughout this process, what impact would you expect on
capacity (as compared to the process without inventory)?

Answer: Without inventory, everytime there is a variation causing block for any workstation, the
capacity will be affected and decreased.
Where as the inventory would prevent this and hence improve the capacity compared to without
inventory.

2. If you could add one inventory buffer, where would you add it to maximize capacity?

Answer: Capacity won't be affected by adding any extra inventory buffer as it is not required.

3. If you added a second unit of buffer to the same location as the first, what would be the incremental
impact on capacity of the second unit as compared to the first unit?

Answer: There is no incremental effect of adding the second inventory buffer.

Your Assignment

Please read the questions below and fill your answers in the spaces provided.

Consider the four-step worker paced line in the Process 1 tab. Each step employs a single worker who is
not cross-trained for any other step. The processing times listed represent the amount of time each
worker spends on a single unit. There is no variability in processing times. Assume that all workers
begin to work on the next unit as soon as they can.

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1. Assume that inventory is not permitted to accumulate, i.e., a unit cannot be passed to the next stage
until the worker receiving the unit is ready for it. What is the capacity of the process?

Answer: 3 per hour

2. If inventory were allowed to accumulate in this process, where would it accumulate?

Answer: It will accumulate to all three buffers.

3.

If inventory were allowed to accumulate, how would capacity be affected?

Answer: Capacity will not be affected and will remain same as the bottleneck is unaffected and remain
same even after allowing the inventory to accumulate.

4.

If inventory were allowed to accumulate, how would average throughput time be affected?

Answer: It will not be affected and will remain same.

From this point forward, assume that inventory is not permitted to accumulate, and that work cannot be
passed to the next stage until the worker receiving the unit is ready.

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5. If a fifth worker were added to the process, what would the maximum capacity be? Assume that you
can add the fifth worker to any one of the four tasks, that the worker is not cross-trained to do any of
the other tasks, and that the fifth worker works at the same rate as the original worker doing that task.

Answer: 4 per hour by adding the additional worker to workstation D

6.

Instead, if a fifth worker who was cross-trained for all tasks were added to the process, what would the
new capacity be? Assume that this fifth worker incurs no travel time in moving between steps. Compare
the labor utilization of the worker at Step 1 in the original situation (four workers, no inventory) and this
situation. How does it change?

Answer: The additional worker is able to work on workstation B also, thereby reducing the time for
which Workstation A is blocked and hence increasing its utilization from 25% in original situation to 43%
in this situation.
Your Assignment

Please read the questions below and fill your answers in the spaces provided.

Krunchy Kreme, in making its famous doughnuts, begins with the three-step process shown in Process 1.
One dedicated worker mixes the dough and creates the doughnut shape from it. Batches of doughnuts
from the Shaping stage are processed in one of two identical machines in the third step, staffed by one
worker each. (Ignore the remaining steps in the process, such as frying and packing, because they have
ample capacity.) Assume that all setups are done by the workers. A setup must be performed in each
step of the process before every batch. Also, assume that each worker is busy during the run time of his
or her operation.

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1. Suppose that batch size is 50 doughnuts. What is the capacity in an eight-hour day?

Answer: 505.28 per day

2. What is the average utilization of these four workers?

Answer: 84.21%

3. If Krunchy Kreme decides to change batch sizes, for what range of batch sizes is mixing the
bottleneck?

Answer: Mixing(Workstation A) is bottleneck for batch size of 29 to 50.