A process has two subsequent stages with the following information: 1) Stage 1 h

Question

A process has two subsequent stages with the following information:

1) Stage 1 has three processors, each with a capacity of 5/hr, and:

2) Stage 2 has four processors, each with a processing time of 15 minutes.

Demand comes in at 12/hr. Determine the utilization for each stage and identify the bottleneck.

   Utilization stage 1: 80%, Utilization stage 2: 75%, Bottleneck is Stage 2.

   Utilization stage 1: 125%, Utilization stage 2: 133%, Bottleneck is Stage 2.

   Utilization stage 1: 125%, Utilization stage 2: 133%, Bottleneck is Stage 1.

   Utilization stage 1: 80%, Utilization stage 2: 75%, Bottleneck is Stage 1.

Explanation / Answer

Given Values:

Stage 1:

Number of processors = 3

Capacity of each processor = 5 units per hour

Stage 2:

Number of processors = 4

Capacity of each processor = 60 minutes / 15 minutes = 4 units per hour

Demand or maximum output = 12 units per hour

Solution:

Bottleneck is the process that takes the maximum amount of time or produces minimum output in a system. In the given process, each processor in stage 1 has a capacity of producing 5 units per hour while each processor in stage 2 produces only 4 units per hour. Therefore, stage-2 is the bottleneck process.

Utilization of each stage is calculated as,

Utilization = [(Number of processors x Actual output) / Maximum output] x 100

Stage-1 Utilization = [(3 x 5) / 12] x 100 = 125%

Stage-2 Utilization = [(4 x 4) / 12] x 100 = 133%

Answer: (B) Utilization stage 1: 125%, Utilization stage 2: 133%, Bottleneck is Stage 2.

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