One of Detroit Motor Company’s (DMC) newer products, the ABX-60 controller, was

Question

One of Detroit Motor Company’s (DMC) newer products, the ABX-60 controller, was developed for a new model of trucks to be introduced in 2006. Since this product is a modified version of an earlier controller, the assembly process to produce the controller had to be redesigned.

Listed below are the station times in minutes to assemble the old controller and the new ABX- 60 controller. There is one worker at each station.

A. What is the Cycle time of the ABX-60 line?

B. What is the efficiency of the ABX-60 line?

C. If each worker is paid $14.00 per hour on the ABXABX-60 line, how much money is lost in an 8 hour day due to balance delay?

Currently the following workers are assigned to each station for the production of the old controller as follows:

D. What is the present nominal hourly output rate (in units) for the production of the old controller?

E. Assuming the workers experience the same average efficiency regardless of which assembly station they work at, what worker would you assign to each station on the new ABX-60 line to achieve the highest possible hourly output rate? What level of hourly output can be achieved, given these new assignments?

Station Old Controller ABX-60 1 1.9 1.8 2 1.8 1.9 3 2.2 2.0 4 2.4 2.2 5 1.9 2.1

Explanation / Answer

A. Cycle time of ABX-60 controller is the maximum station time, which is 2.2 of station 4.

Cycle time = 2.2 minutes

B. Lead time = Cycle time * Number of stations = 2.2*5 = 11 minutes

Sum of all station times = 1.8+1.9+2.0+2.2+2.1 = 10

Efficiency = Sum of all station times / Lead time = 10/11 = 90.9 %

C. Idle time = Lead time - Sum of all station times = 11-10 = 1 minute

Balance delay = Idle time / Lead time = 1/11 = 9.1 %

Money lost in an 8 hour day = 8 hours * 5 stations * $ 14 per hour * Balande delay = 8*5*14*9.1% = $ 50.96

D. Calculate production capacity and actual production rate of each station

Capacity per hour = (1/station time)*60 minutes per hour

For example, capacity of station 2 (Lopez) = (1/1.8)*60 = 33.33

Production rate = Capacity * Efficiency = 33.33*90% = 30.00

Station with the minimum production rate is the bottleneck, which determines the actual production rate. Minimum production rate is 30 of station 2 and 3

Therefore, production rate (units per hour) = 30 units per hour

E. Optimal assignment is such that worker with high efficiency is assigned to station with minimum capacity. Resulting optimal assignment is following

Highest possible hourly output rate = 30 units per hour

Worker Ave. Efficieny Station ABX-60 Capacity Production rate Lopez 90% 1 1.8 33.33 30.00 Roberts 100% 2 1.9 31.58 31.58 Ryan 100% 3 2.0 30.00 30.00 Cruise 110% 5 2.1 28.57 31.43 Cage 120% 4 2.2 27.27 32.73

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