FAR EASTERN UNIVERSITY

FEUture Inc.

Operations Management
MBA 703
FEU-Manila

Submitted by:
GROUP # 1
 Reporting Group  Reacting Group
LIM, SHIELLA
GELERA, JANUARY
TARUN, PATRICIA

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I. Case Background
FEUture Inc. decides to expand its product line by producing new plug-in 256
MB backup systems for Dell laptop computers. The goal for this new product is to
become cost leader and also to develop a new expertise in plug-ins. Management
aims to produce 1000 units every standard forty-hour workweek.
Engineers, production managers, and assembly line workers studied plug-in
system production and developed 25 different steps with respective task times
which are based on times of doing identical current tasks. It is given that time
estimates may be off by as much as 10 percent and that demand may change over
time. The following table shows the order and duration of each identified task:

Task Task Predecess

Time ors
A 1.00 None
B 0.40 A
C 0.45 A
D 1.10 A
E 0.36 A
F 0.05 None
G 1.32 B,C
H 0.49 C,D
I 0.54 E
J 1.54 E
K 0.35 F
L 2.10 G
M 0.30 H,I
N 1.82 I
O 0.89 J
P 1.20 L,M,N
Q 1.30 N,O
R 0.62 O
S 1.30 K
T 1.20 P,Q,R,S

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U 1.80 S
V 0.30 T
W 0.87 U
X 1.20 U
Y 1.90 V,W,X

II. Statement of the Problem

This study aims to answer the question:
What is the optimal design product layout for FEUture Inc.’s new product the
plug-in system?

III. Assumptions
The assumptions of this study are the following:
● FEUture Inc. has conducted a study that concludes beneficiary to the
company to expand its product line rather than just fix current financial
problems
● One worker is assigned per station

IV. Areas of Consideration

a. Human Resource and Development

● Employee current expertise is on hard disk systems

b. Operations

● The company has been manufacturing peripherals for

microcomputers for the past decade
● Time estimates may be off by as much as 10 percent
● Demand will change over time
● The company intends to become cost leader for plug-in systems
● The company intends to convert its hard disk expertise to plug-in
expertise
● Management targets to produce 1,000 units per week

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● Current operations use a standard forty-hour week, and the

operations vice-president insists that this be maintained for the new
product
c. Finance

● There has been a recent slump in sales with the current products
● The company intends to become cost leader for plug-in systems
● Management decided to target only 1,000 units per week
d. Marketing

● The company intends to become cost leader for plug-in systems

● It is projected that 60,000 units per years is a reasonable sales goal

e. IT / R & D Business Development etc.

● The company intends to convert its hard disk expertise to plug-in

expertise

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V. Framework

Precedence Diagram

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Line Balancing
Task Task time (in No. of Positional
mins) following weights
tasks
A 1 18 0
E 0.36 11 0.00
C 0.45 8 9.26
F 0.05 8 8.97
K 0.35 7 8.92
I 0.54 7 8.56
S 1.3 6 8.57
B 0.4 6 8.42
J 1.54 6 7.75
D 1.1 6 6.49
G 1.32 5 8.02
N 1.82 5 7.72
O 0.89 5 6.21
H 0.49 5 5.39
L 2.1 4 6.70
M 0.3 4 4.90
U 1.8 3 5.77
Q 1.3 3 4.70
P 1.2 3 4.60
R 0.62 3 4.02
T 1.2 2 0.00
X 1.2 1 3.10
W 0.87 1 2.77
V 0.3 1 2.20
Y 1.9 0 0.00
Total 24.4

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Computations:

a. Cycle time

CT = OT/D

= 40/1000

= 0.04 hours or 2.4 mins

b. Minimum number of Workstations

N = ∑t /CT

= 24.4/2.4

= 10.167 ≈ 11 workstations

Workstation Task Assigning

Using both the rules of most following tasks and positional weights, two
variations of workstation assignments can be generated. The only difference is the
workstation assignment of task V where in the first setup it is in station 10 and in
the second in the 11th station.

Assignment A

Station Time Remaining Assign Task Revised Time Remaining Idle Time

1 2.40 A 1.40  
  1.40 E 1.04  
  1.04 C 0.59  
  0.59 F 0.54  
  0.54 I 0.00 0.00
2 2.40 K 2.05  
  2.05 J 0.51  
  0.51 B 0.11  
  0.11 - - 0.11
3 2.40 S 1.10  
  1.10 D 0.00 0.00
4 2.40 G 1.08  

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  1.08 O 0.19  
  0.19 - - 0.19
5 2.40 N 0.58  
  0.58 H 0.09  
  0.49 - - 0.09
6 2.40 L 0.30  
  0.30 M 0.00 0.00
7 2.40 U 0.60  
  0.60 - - 0.60
8 2.40 Q 1.10  
  1.10 R 0.48  
  0.48 - - 0.48
9 2.40 P 1.20  
  1.20 T 0.00 0.00
10 2.40 X 1.20  
  1.20 W 0.33  
  0.33 V 0.03  
  0.03 - - 0.03
11 2.40 Y 0.50  
  0.50 - - 0.50
    TOTAL IDLE 2

Assignment B

Station Time Remaining Assign Task Revised Time Remaining Idle Time

1 2.4 A 1.4  
  1.4 E 1.04  
  1.04 F 0.99  
  0.99 C 0.54  
  0.54 I 0 0
2 2.4 K 2.05  
  2.05 B 1.65  
  1.65 J 0.11  
  0.11 - - 0.11
3 2.4 D 1.3  
  1.3 S 0 0
4 2.4 G 1.08  

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  1.08 O 0.19  
  0.19 - - 0.19
5 2.4 N 0.58  
  0.58 H 0.09  
  0.09 - - 0.09
6 2.4 L 0.3  
  0.3 M 0 0
7 2.4 U 0.6  
  0.6 - - 0.6
8 24 Q 1.1  
  1.1 R 0.48  
  0.48 - - 0.48
9 2.4 P 1.2  
  1.2 T 0 0
10 2.4 X 1.2  
  1.2 W 0.33  
  0.33 - - 0.33
11 2.4 V 2.1  
  2.1 Y 0.2  
  0.2 - - 0.2
      TOTAL IDLE TIME 2

The total idle time for both task groupings is the same with 2 minutes idle
time. Subsequently, the balance delay or percent idle time is also equal.
Computation is shown below.

Balance delay = Total idle time/ (N)(CT)

= 2 / (11*2.4)

= 0.076 or 7.6%

With this, the efficiency of both setups is:

Efficiency = 1 – 0.076

= 0.924 or 92.4%

The following graphs show plotting of consumed times per workstation

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for the 2 assignments:

Assignment 1
3

2.5

1.5

0.5

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Assignment 2
3

2.5

1.5

0.5

0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

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Smoothing Efficiency

Smoothing efficiency was also computed to compare the 2 groupings. The

lower the smoothing efficiency value using idle time, the better the line balancing.
Smoothing efficiency is computed as:

Smoothing Efficiency = √ ¿ ¿

Assignment 1 Assignment 2
Station Idle Time IT^2 Station Idle Time IT^2
1 0.00 0.00 1 0.00 0.00
2 0.11 0.01 2 0.11 0.01
3 0.00 0.00 3 0.00 0.00
4 0.19 0.04 4 0.19 0.04
5 0.09 0.01 5 0.09 0.01
6 0.00 0.00 6 0.00 0.00
7 0.60 0.36 7 0.60 0.36
8 0.48 0.23 8 0.48 0.23
9 0.00 0.00 9 0.00 0.00
10 0.03 0.00 10 0.33 0.11
11 0.50 0.25 11 0.20 0.04
Sum 0.90 Sum 0.80
Smoothin 0.95 Smoothing 0.89
g Efficiency
Efficiency

VI. Alternative Courses of Action (at least 4)

Advantages:

Disadvantages:

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VII. Action Plans

Activity Responsible Person/s, or Timeline
Department/s, Team/s, etc

VIII.Recommendation

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IX. Conclusion

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