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Because of the trend toward pickup trucks with shorter beds, Alpha Assemblies is

ID: 363807 • Letter: B

Question

Because of the trend toward pickup trucks with shorter beds, Alpha Assemblies is developing a set of Bed Extenders that will mount in their different hitches and allow for transporting larger loads. It will also be adaptable to accommodate a variety of shapes and sizes of items. After showing this around at some trade shows, they have received a contract to produce several units per week for the next 16 weeks. Simone has volunteered to analyze the impact of this contract and has brought you in to assist in the calculations.

1. The smallest of the extenders (Model A) fits with the 1-1/4 inch light duty hitches.

The contract calls for 262 Model A extenders per week to be delivered in equal installments over the 16 weeks of the contract. The goal of Alpha Assemblies is to work 40 hours per week. What is the Takt Time (stated in minutes per unit) necessary to achieve the goal of getting the weekly production completed in 40 hours?

This does not need to be an integer, fractions of minutes are acceptable. Don't round any values until you reach the end of the problem and then round the final answer to 2 decimal places.

2. The Model B extender also fits with the 1-1/4 inch light duty hitches.

The contract calls for 263 Model B extenders per week to be delivered in equal installments over the 16 weeks of the contract. The goal of Alpha Assemblies is to work 40 hours per week. The actual work time for completing the Model B extenders was 6 hours per week. What was the Cycle Time (stated in minutes) for Model B extenders?

This does not need to be an integer, fractions of minutes are acceptable. Don't round any values until you reach the end of the problem and then round the final answer to 2 decimal places.

3. The Model C extender also fits with the 1-1/4 inch light duty hitches.

The contract calls for 275 Model C extenders per week to be delivered in equal installments over the 16 weeks of the contract. The goal of Alpha Assemblies is to work 40 hours per week. The actual work time for completing the Model C extenders (minutes per unit) has been broken down by process in the table below. All processes must be performed in sequence and each step has its own separate and unique workcenter. What was the Cycle Time in minutes for Model C extenders?

Process

Time Required per Unit

Predecessor Task

A

19

B

17

A

C

23

B

D

8

C

E

14

D

F

13

E

G

25

F

H

14

G

I

16

H

This does not need to be an integer, fractions of minutes are acceptable. Don't round any values until you reach the end of the problem and then round the final answer to 2 decimal places.

4. The Model D extender also fits with the 1-1/4 inch light duty hitches.

The contract calls for 225 Model D extenders per week to be delivered in equal installments over the 16 weeks of the contract. The goal of Alpha Assemblies is to work 40 hours per week. The actual work time for completing the Model D extenders has been broken down by process in the table below. All processes must be performed in sequence and each step has its own separate and unique workcenter. What was the efficiency (stated as a percent) of the Model D extender?

Process

Time Required per Unit

Predecessor Task

A

19

B

10

A

C

20

B

D

9

C

E

10

D

F

8

E

G

13

F

H

13

G

I

21

H

This does not need to be an integer, fractions of minutes are acceptable. Don't round any values until you reach the end of the problem and then round the final answer to 2 decimal places.

5. The Model E extender fits with the 2 inch heavy duty hitches.

The contract calls for 155 Model E extenders per week to be delivered in equal installments over the 16 weeks of the contract. The goal of Alpha Assemblies is to work 40 hours per week. The actual work time for completing the Model E extenders has been broken down by process in the table below. Also provided is the anticipated learning rate for each process. All processes must be performed in sequence and each step has its own separate and unique workcenter. To achieve the goal of working 40 hours per week or less, the cycle time must be lower than the takt time. What is the expected Cycle Time for Model E in Week 16?

Process

Time Required per Unit

Predecessor Task

Learning Rate

A

12

81

B

14

A

89

C

15

B

89

D

17

C

84

E

14

D

82

F

12

E

81

G

11

F

84

H

11

G

84

I

14

H

82

This does not need to be an integer, fractions of minutes are acceptable. Don't round any values until you reach the end of the problem and then round the final answer to 2 decimal places.

6. The Model F extender fits with the 2 inch heavy duty hitches.

The contract calls for 216 Model F extenders per week to be delivered in equal installments over the 16 weeks of the contract. The goal of Alpha Assemblies is to work 40 hours per week. The actual work time for completing the Model F extenders has been broken down by process in the table below. Also provided is the anticipated learning rate for each process. All processes must be performed in sequence and each step has its own separate and unique workcenter. To achieve the goal of working 40 hours per week or less, the cycle time must be lower than the takt time. For week 16 how much better (lower so answer will be positive) or worse (higher so answer will be negative) is the cycle time for Model F than the takt time?

Process

Time Required per Unit

Predecessor Task

Learning Rate

A

9

82

B

14

A

85

C

11

B

88

D

15

C

87

E

15

D

81

F

16

E

81

G

17

F

84

H

10

G

83

I

9

H

86

This does not need to be an integer, fractions of minutes are acceptable. Don't round any values until you reach the end of the problem and then round the final answer to 2 decimal places.

7. The Model G extender fits with the 2 inch heavy duty hitches.

The contract calls for 207 Model G extenders per week to be delivered in equal installments over the 16 weeks of the contract. The goal of Alpha Assemblies is to work 40 hours per week. The actual work time for completing the Model G extenders has been broken down by process in the table below. Also provided is the anticipated learning rate for each process. All processes must be performed in sequence and each step has its own separate and unique workcenter. Ideally, Alpha Assemblies will get the number of hours per week for Model G to under 40. Each workcenter requires an employee on-site regardless of working or idle. For Model G, how many fewer hours are required during Week 16 than for Week 1?

Process

Time Required per Unit

Predecessor Task

Learning Rate

A

15

87

B

16

A

81

C

9

B

86

D

15

C

88

E

16

D

84

F

10

E

85

G

11

F

86

H

15

G

89

I

18

H

85

This does not need to be an integer, fractions of minutes are acceptable. Don't round any values until you reach the end of the problem and then round the final answer to 2 decimal places.

Process

Time Required per Unit

Predecessor Task

A

19

B

17

A

C

23

B

D

8

C

E

14

D

F

13

E

G

25

F

H

14

G

I

16

H

Explanation / Answer

1.

MODEL A:

Demand per week = 262 units

Available Hours per week = 40 hours/week

Available Minutes per week = 60 x 40 = 2400 minutes per week

TAKT Time (CT) = Total Available time/Demand = 2400/262

TAKT Time (CT) = 9.16 minutes per unit

2.

MODEL B:

Demand per week = 263 units

Available Hours per week = 40 hours/week

Available Minutes per week = 60 x 40 = 2400 minutes per week

TAKT Time (CT) = Total Available time/Demand = 2400/263

TAKT Time (CT) = 9.12 minutes per unit

3.

Model C:

The duration of each activity is provided, and assuming each process step is performed separately at unique workstation.

Cycle time = duration of bottleneck process step

Bottleneck process is the process with maximum duration or process taking longest to process the unit. Process G is bottleneck process with longest duration i.e. 25 minutes.

Cycle time for Model C = 25 minutes

4.

Model D:

TAKT time

Demand per week = 225 units

Available Hours per week = 40 hours/week

Available Minutes per week = 60 x 40 = 2400 minutes per week

TAKT Time (CT) = Total Available time/Demand = 2400/225

TAKT Time (CT) = 10.67 minutes per unit

The duration of each activity is provided, and assuming each process step is performed separately at unique workstation.

Actual Cycle time = duration of bottleneck process step

Bottleneck process is the process with maximum duration or process taking longest to process the unit. Process I is bottleneck process with longest duration i.e. 21 minutes.

Cycle time for Model D = 21 minutes

Actual number of workstation required = 9

Efficiency of line = total work content/(actual number of workstation x Cycle time)

Total work content = 123 minutes

Efficiency of line = 123/(9 x 21) = 123/189 = 0.6507

Efficiency of line = 65.07%