Chapter 5: Problems

6. a.
Alternative 1: Production: Output per hour= 10 projects / 8 hr day= 1.25 projects per hour.
Productivity= Avg output per labor hour = Avg 10 projects per person per day( 8hr day)
= 1.25 projects per labor hr.
Alternative 2: Two people on one project – Person A (Gathering Data ) and
Person B (Analyzing data gathered by A ). An arrow (black or blue) represents
completion of one particular task either data collection or data analysis of a single project.
Green arrow indicates input from data collection in to data analysis process.
Following would be the timeline for the completion of the two aspects of the project – data
collection and analysis.
Person A

Person B:

20 mins 40 mins 60 mins 80 mins

So, Data collection production= 1 project per 20 min= 3 projects per 60 min(1 hr).
For person B to start analysis, there would be a lag of 20 mins till person A gathers data for
the first project.
Data Analysis = (8 hrs ᵡ 60 mins) - 20 mins / 30 mins = 480-20 / 30 = 460/30= 15.33 projects
per 8 hr day.
Data Analysis Production= 15.33 projects / 8hrs= 1.916 projects per hour.
This would also be the total production.
Productivity for data collector(A) = Output per labor hr = 3 projects per one person per hr
= 3 projects per labor hr.
Productivity for Data analyst (B) = 1.916 projects per person per hr
= 1.916 projects per labor hr.
Total productivity= (15.33 completed projects / 8hr of labor) / 2 persons
= 0.958 projects per labor hr.
b. Alternative 1: 1000 projects /1.25 projects per hr = 800 hrs. would be required to complete
1000 projects. The labor content would also be 800 hrs or 100zdays( 8hr per day) as one
person works takes on and completes one project in about 0.8 hrs.(1 project/1.25
projects per hr).
Alternative 2:
The data analysis process (performed by person B) would be the bottleneck or rate limiting
process in this case, hence, would determine the total output.
Hence, 1000 projects/ 1.916 projects per hr = 521.92 hrs = 522 hrs.
OR 30 mins per analysis= 2 projects analyzed per hr. So, 1000 projects would need
(1000projects /2 projects per hr) +20 min (initial lag for data collection) = 520 min.
Labor content- For data collection: 20 min per data collection= 3 projects per hour. So, for
1000 projects- 1000 / 3=333.33hrs i.e. 333hrs and 20 mins.
Labor content for the total process would be 520 mins as described above.
9.
a. Assuming no one works overtime-
Working hours - 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. i.e. 12 hours.
Taking orders –max output= 100 per hr ᵡ 12 hrs= 1200 orders in a day.
Picking orders- max output= 80 per hr ᵡ 12 hrs= 960 orders picked in a day.
Packing orders- max output= 60 per hr ᵡ 12 hrs= 720 orders packed per day.
Maximum output – 60 orders per hour or 720 orders in 12 hrs i.e. per day.
b. Order taker has work at his maximum capacity, which would be 1200 orders per day.
To complete these many orders-
1. Picking operations would have to operate for: 1200 orders / 80 per hr= 15 hrs.
2. Packing operations would have to work for : 1200 orders / 60 per hr= 20 hrs.
c. The maximum number of orders waiting to be picked is 240.
Reasoning: Maximum orders taken are 1200 per day. Picking capacity is 80 per hour, so 960
orders would be picked per day. Hence, at the end of 12 hours, (1200-960=) 240 orders would
be waiting to be picked.
d. The maximum number of orders waiting to be packed is 240.
Reasoning: Maximum orders taken in a day 1200 and maximum orders picked in a day are 960.
Packing capacity is 60 per hour, so, 720 orders would be packed in a day. Hence, at the end of
12 hours, (960-720=) 240 orders would be waiting to be packed.
e. If packing capacity is doubled, it would still be limited by the maximum output of the picking
operations. The picking operations can process 80 orders per hour. The effect on solutions of
above problems is as follows:
b. The picking capacity would have to work for the same 15 hrs. The packing capacity
would have an input of 80 picked orders per hour and hence, would also require 15 hrs
to complete packing.
c. As there is no change in picking capacity, the answer to c would be the same as
above-240 orders in waiting.
d. The changed packing capacity exceeds the picking capacity or output. Hence, there
would be no orders in waiting to be packed at any time.
11. a. The rate limiting step or bottleneck would be the glass making process requiring 60 mins
to produce each glass. The optometrist takes an hour off for lunch during the 10 hour working
day. The actual number of hours available which would input orders for glass making would be
10-1 = 9 hrs.
So, the maximum no. of patients that could get glasses made in a day would be
= (9 hrs ᵡ 60 mins) –( 2+25+20) / 60 min per patient.
= 540-47 / 60 = 493 / 60= 8.21 patients or practically 8 patients.
The 47 mins subtracted would be the time required for registration, eye examination and
frame/glass selection by the first patient in the morning.
b. The bottleneck appears to be the glass making process requiring 60 min per patient.
According to the problem, however, six pairs of glasses could be processed simultaneously in
60 min in the glass making facility. Hence, the logical place to add a person would be another
optometrist. This would ensure more input of orders to the time consuming glass making
process which can process six parallel orders.
c. A mail order lab would release the current constraints on the patient output due to the slow
glass making facility and the single optometrist. As the glass making is moved to an off-site lab,
the new rate limiting or bottleneck step would be the eye examination by the optometrist
(25min). So, maximum output would change to
(9hrs ᵡ 60 min)- 2 min (registration time for first patient) / 25 = 538/ 25 = 21.52 patients per
day or 21 patients per day approximately.