Operations Management (2022) - Tutorial

Session 1 (Section B)

Module 1: Process and Capacity Analysis

Process Analysis: Identifying Bottlenecks

Consider a process consisting of three resources in a production line and a wage rate of Rs. 500 per
hour. The unit is first processed at the first resource, then processed at the second resource, and
is finally processed at the third resource. Each worker handles one unit at a time at a particular
step. Assume demand is unlimited. The processing time data is as follows:

Resource Process time (min/unit) Number of Workers

1 10 2
2 6 1
3 16 3
Table 1: Details of the process steps

• What is bottleneck? What is process capacity? What is flow rate? What is cycle time?
• What is average labour content? Labour utilization? Cost of direct labour?

Process Analysis with Batching

Step Setup Time (min) Run time (min)

1 20 1
2 No setup 2
3 No setup 1.5
Table 2: Details of the process steps

• If batch size is 50 parts, what is the capacity of the process?

• For a batch size of 10 which step is the bottleneck?
• What batch size would you choose to maximize the system’s capacity?

1
Capacity Analysis - Multiple Product Scenario (A, B &
C)
Consider a process consisting of five steps that are operated 8 hours per day. Each worker handles
one unit at a time at a particular step. The process works on three different products A, B and C:

Steps Number of Process Process Process

workers time for A time for B time for C
(min/unit) (min/unit) (min/unit)
1 2 5 5 5
2 2 3 4 5
3 1 15 0 0
4 1 0 3 3
5 2 6 6 6
Table 3: Details of the process steps

Demand for A is 40 units per day, B is 50 units per day, and C is 60 units per day.

• What is the bottleneck?

• If the system cannot meet demand then where will you increase capacity?

Application of Little’s Law (LaVilla)

LaVilla is a village in the Italian Alps. Given its enormous popularity among Swiss, German,
Austrian, and Italian skiers, all of its beds are always booked in the winter season and there are,
on average, 1200 skiers in the village. On average, skiers stay in LaVilla for 10 days.

• How many new skiers are arriving—on average—in LaVilla every day?

Application of Little’s Law (Airline)

Consider the baggage check-in of a small airline. Check-in data indicate that from 9 a.m. to 10
a.m., 255 passengers checked in. Moreover, based on counting the number of passengers waiting
in line, airport management found that the average number of passengers waiting for check-in was
35.

• How long did the average passenger have to wait in line?

∗ ∗ ∗ End of Tutorial 1 ∗ ∗ ∗