Advanced Manufacturing Systems (MVS4A11-MVSMCA4)

Semester Test #1

Date 16th March 2022

Time 180 min
Marks 100

Internal Examiner: Prof JR Ren

External Moderator: Prof. SZ Du

Notes
1. Answer ALL questions.
2. This paper contains 6 questions.
3. Number all answers according to the numbering in question paper.
4. Make sure that you understand what the question requires before attempting it.
5. No pencil work will be marked. Please use pen for parts to be marked.
6. Answer all questions in English.
7. Explain answers and give all the necessary steps – simply giving the answer is
not sufficient.
8. Late submission penalty: a 5% reduction from the actual mark achieved.
9. Submit into Blackboard system, NO EMAILS!

1
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Question 1 – Production Capacity (15)

A plant has ten machines and currently operates two 8-hr shift per day, 5 days per week, 50
weeks per year. The ten machines produce the same part each at a rate of 30 pc/hr.
(a) Determine annual production capacity of this plant.
(b) If the plant were to operate three 8-hr shifts per day, 6 days per week, 51 weeks per
year, determine the annual percentage increase in plant capacity.
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Question 2 – Manufacturing lead time (15)

In a batch production plant, a certain batch of parts is routed through six machines in batch
sizes of 300 units. The setup and operation times for each machine are given in the table below.
The average nonoperation time per machine is 12 hr. Determine manufacturing lead time to
complete one batch, assuming the plant runs 8 hr/day, 5 days/wk.

Machine 1 2 3 4 5 6
Setup time (hr) 4 4 3 2 3 3.5
Operation time (min) 7 5 4 3 3 6

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Question 3 – Work-in-process and Utilization (15)

A knife manufacturing company produces 51 121 pieces per day. The average process time per
workstation is 25 minutes.
a) Calculate the critical work-in-progress (WIP) items, that is the level in which a line
having no congestion would achieve a maximum throughput.
b) If the optimal capacity of the plant presented in the Question is 2350 pieces of knives
per hour, calculate the utilization level of the plant.

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Question 4 – Factory overhead & Corporate overhead (15)

Suppose that all costs have been compiled for a certain manufacturing company for the most of
recent years. The summary is shown in the table below. The company operates two different
manufacturing plants plus a corporate headquarters. The company will use those rates to predict
the following year’s expenses.
(a) Determine the factory overhead rate for each plant.
(b) Determine the corporate overhead rate.

Expense Category Plant 1 Plant 2 Corporate

Headquarters
Direct labor R1 800 000 R2 880 000
Materials R3 000 000 R4 000 000
Factory expense R4 200 000 R4 600 000
Corporate expense R24 000 000
Totals R9 000 000 R11 480 000

2
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Question 5 – Transfer Functions of thermocouple (20)

During calibration, an iron/constantan thermocouple emits a voltage of 0.85 mV at

20 °C, and 24.85 mV at 800 °C. The reference temperature is to be set to emit a zero
voltage at 0 °C. Assume the transfer function of this thermocouple is a linear
relationship between 0 °C and 800 °C.
(c) Determine the transfer function of this thermocouple.
(d) Determine the temperature that is corresponding to a voltage output of 18 mV.
(e) Determine the voltage output that is corresponding to a temperature of 640 °C.
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Question 6 – Analysis of single-model assembly lines (20)

A total of 90 000 golf balls must be produced in a workshop during a particular 40-hr
week. The golf balls are of 40 different brands, and each brand is produced in its own
batch. Average batch quantity is 150 balls. Each batch requires a setup and the average
setup time is 3.0 hr. The average machine cycle time to produce a ball is 2 min.
Availability on the lathes is 80%. How many machines are required during the week?
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