Exercise 1: The company "Frank Pianki" wants to establish an assembly line to

manufacture its new product, the Iscan phone. Frank's goal is to produce 60 iscan per

hour. The tasks, task times, and immediate predecessors are displayed in the following

table:

Task Time (in seconds) Immediate predecessors

A 40 -
B 30 A
C 50 A
D 40 B
E 6 B
F 25 C
G 15 C
H 20 D,E
I 18 F,G
J 30 H,I
Total time ∑ T =274 seconds

a) Make the precedence diagram for mounting the Iscan telephones.

 b) What is the theoretical minimum for the smallest number of workstations that

Frank can achieve on this assembly line?

Theoretical minimum for the smallest number of stations:

1
T . c=
r (desired productionrate∈units per h/min/ sec)

The Frank Pianki company produces 60 iscan per hour, that is, it produces one Iscan every

minute, which is why it has a cycle time equivalent to 60 seconds (1 minute is equivalent to

60 seconds)

∑ T = Total time = 274 second =4.57 stations=5 stations

T .C Cicle time 60 second
 c) Use the heuristic technique (problem solving using procedures and rules

instead of mathematical optimization) by considering the preceding tasks first

to balance an assembly line for the Iscan phone.

Taking as reference the precedence diagram and the heuristic technique for assigning tasks

to workstations, we can see that the number of stations was determined at 6, which would

allow an effective balance of the assembly line for the Iscan telephone.

Cicle time (T.C)=60 sec

Task Time (in Immediate Time left Workstation
seconds) predecessors

A 40 - 60-40=20 1 Station: A
B 30 A 60-30=30 2 Station: B,E
30-6=24
C 50 A 60-50=10 3 Station: C
D 40 B 60-40=20 4 Station: D,H
20-20=0
E 6 B -
F 25 C 60-25=35 5 Station: F,G,I
G 15 C 35-15=20
H 20 D,E -
I 18 F,G 20-18=2
J 30 H,I 60-30=30 6 Station: J

Observations:

The task with the shortest time is activity “E”.

The minimum cycle time is comprised by activity “C” with activity “C” whose

execution time is 50 Sg, this task corresponds to station 3.

According to the application of the heuristic technique, 6 stations were determined

of work.

d) How many workstations correspond to your answer to part (b)?

By applying the formula of the Theoretical Minimum, a number of stations approximately 5

were determined.

e) What is the efficiency of your answer to part (c)?

Effic iency=
∑T =
274 seconds
=
274 sec
=0.76
¿ S tations∗T . C 6 S tations∗60 sec 360

0.76∗100=76.11 %

Note: The number of stations was determined through the heuristic technique, with which

the assembly line of the Iscan telephone was balanced and 6 work stations were obtained.

When calculating inefficiency =1−Effic iency=1−0.76=0.24∗100=24 %

Non−use time =¿

Non−use time =( 20+24+ 10+ 2+30 )∗(6 work stations)

Non−use time=86∗6=516 sec

To check inefficiency, there is an approximate method to calculate it:

( Total idle time )∗(Theoretical minimumof workstation , part b) 86∗5

= =0.26
∑ T ( Total time )∗( ¿ of stations determined∈ part C) 274∗6

The proven inefficiency gives us a fairly close approximation to the inefficiency obtained

in the exercise, which indicates that the solution is correct.