Assignments (refer to chapter 2 of Mikell P.

Groover’s book):

1.1 A certain part is through six machines in a batch production plant. The setup and operation
times for each machine are given in the following table:

Machine Setup time (h) Operation time (minute)

1 4 5,0
2 2 3,5
3 8 10,0
4 3 1,9
5 3 4,1
6 4 2,5

The batch size is 100 and the average non-operation time per machine is 12 hours.
a. Determine the manufacturing lead time?
b. Determine the production rate for operation 3.

1.2 Supposed that the part in problem 1.1 is made in very large quantities on a flow production
lin in which an automated work handling system is used to transfer parts between the
machines. The transfer time between stations is 15 seconds. The total time required to setup
the entire line is 150 hours. Assume that the operation times at the individual machines
remain the same.
a. Determine the manufacturing lead time for a part coming off the line?
b. Determine the production rate for operation 3?
c. What is the theoretical production rate for the entire production line?

1.3 The average part produced in a certain batch manufacturing plant must be processed through
an average of six machines. There are 20 new batches of parts launched each week. Other
pertinent data are as follows:

Average operation time = 6 minutes

Average setup time = 5 hours
Average batch size = 25 parts
Average non-operation time per batch = 10 hours

There are 18 machines in the plant. The plant operates an average of 70 production hours per
week. Scrap rate is negligible.

a. Determine the manufacturing lead time for an average part?

b. Determine the plant capacity?
c. Determine the plant utilization?
d. How would you expect the non-operation time to be affected by the plant utilization?

1.4 Based on the data prvided in problem 1.3 and your answer to that problem, determine:
 a. The average level of work-in-process (number of parts in process) in the plant?
b. The WIP ratio?
c. The TIP ratio?

1.5 An average of 20 new orders are started through a certain factory each month. On average, an
order consists of 50 parts to be processed through 10 machines in the factory. The operation
time per machine for each part = 15 minutes. The non-operation time per order at each
machines averages 8 hours, and the required setup time per order = 4 hours. There are 25
machines in the factory, 80% of which are operational at any time (the other 20% are in
repair or maintenance). The plant operates 160 hours/month. However, the plant manager
complains that a total of 100 overtime machine hours must be authorized each month in order
to keep up with the production schedule.
a. What is the manufacturing lead time for an average order?
b. What is the plant capacity (on a monthly basis), and why must the over time be
authorized?
c. What is the utilization of the plant according to the definition given in the text?
d. Determine the average level of work-in-process (number of parts in process) in the plant?
e. Determine the WIP ratio and TIP ratio?

1.6 Four products are to be manufactured in department A, and it is desired to determine how to
allocate the resources in that department to meet the required demand for these products for a
certain week. The demand and other data for the products are given as follows:

Product Weekly demand Setup time (h) Operation time (minute) Scrap rate

1 750 6 4,0 0,02

2 900 5 3,0 0,04
3 400 7 2,0 0,05
4 400 6 3,0 0,03

The plant normally operates one shift (6.75 hour per shift), 6 days per week, there are
currently three available work centers in the department.
a. Propose a way of scheduling the machines to meet the weekly demand?
b. Propose a way of scheduling to meet the weekly demand if there were four machines
instead of three?
c. Discuss the issues and problems encountered in developing your machine schedule in
part a, and b.

1.7 The mean time between failures for a certain production machine is 250 hours, and the mean
time to repair is 6 hours. Determine the availbility of the machine?
1.8 The mean time between failures and the mean time to repair in a certain department of the
factory are 400 hours and 8 hours, respectively. The department operates 25 machines during
one 8-hour shift per day, 5 days per week, 52 week per year. Each time a machine breaks
down, it costs the company $200 per hour (per machine) in lost revenue. A proposal had been
submitted to install a preventive maintenance programme in this department. In this
programme, preventive maintenance would be performed on the machines during the evening
so that there will be no interruptions to production during the regular shift. The effect of this
programme is expected to be that the average MTBF will double, and haft of emergency
repair time normal accomplished during the day shift will be performed during the evening
shift. The cost of maintenance crew will be $1500 per week. However, a reduction of
maintenance personnel on the day shift will result in a savings during the regular shift of
$700 per week.
a. Compute the availability of machines in the department both before and after the
preventive maintenance programme is installed?
b. Determine how many total hours per year the 25 machines in the department are under
repair both before and after the preventive maintenance programme is installed. In this
part and in part c, ignore the effect of queueing of the machines that might have to wait
for maintenance crew?
c. Will the preventive maintenance programme pay for itself in term of savings in the costs
of lost revenues?

1.9 There are 9 machines in the automatic lathe section of certain machine shop. The set up time
on an automatic lathe average 6 hours. The average batch size for parts processed through the
section is 90. The average operation time is 8.0 minutes. Under shop rules, an operator is
permitted to be assigned to run up to three machines. Accordingly, there are three operators
in the section for the nine lathes. In addition to the lathe operators, there are two setup
workers who perform machine setups exclusively. These setup workers are kept busy for the
full shift. The section runs the 8-hour shift per day, 6 days per week. However, an average of
15% of the production time is lost due to machine breakdowns. Scrap losses are negligible.
The production control manager claims that the capacity of the section should be 1836 pieces
per week. However, the actual output averages only 1440 units per week. What is the
problem, recommend a solution?