Consider the following process that makes customized suits. When an order is pla
ID: 385948 • Letter: C
Question
Consider the following process that makes customized suits. When an order is placed, measurement is taken, which takes 30 minutes to complete. After taking the measurement, materials are prepared and cut, and this takes one hour. Once the materials are prepared and cut, the materials are sewed. Sewing takes 2.5 hours on average per order. The process operates for 10 hours a day. The following picture summarizes the process.
Q10. What is the capacity of the process in [suits/day]?
Q11. Assume that the demand for the customized suit is 0.2[suits/hour]. What should the flow rate of the process be in [suits/day]?
Q12. Assume that the demand for the customized suit is 0.5[suits/hour]. What is the implied utilization (in %) of the Sewing stage?
Q13. Assume that the demand for the customized suit is 0.5[suits/hour]. What is the utilization (in %) of the Measuring stage?
Explanation / Answer
Answer to Q10 :
Following are the processing time of the sequential activities :
Step 1 : Taking of measurement = 30 minutes = 0.5 hour / suit
Step 2 : Preparation and cutting of material = 1 hour / suit
Step 3 : Sewing = 2.5 hours/ suit
The bottleneck step with maximum processing time = 2.5 hours/ suit
Therefore, cycle time of overall process which is determined by processing time of bottleneck process 2.5 hours per suit
Available hours in a day = 10 hours
Capacity of the process = 10 .2,5 = 4 suits / day
Answer to Q11 :
Demand for suit = 0.2 suits/ hour
Available hours in a day = 10 hours
Therefore , flow rate of the process in suits per day = 0.2 x 10 = 2 suits / day
Answer for Q12 :
Demand for suit = 0.5 / hour
Therefore , demand for suit per day = 0.5 x 10 = 5
Implied utilization at the sewing stage
= Demand for suit per day / Sewing capacity per day x 100
= ( 5/4 ) x 100
= 125%
Answer to Q13 :
Daily capacity of measurement process in a day of 10 hours = 10/ 0.5 = 20
Daily demand of suits in a day of 10 hours = 0.5 x 10 = 5
Utilization at the measuring stage
= Daily demand of suits/ Daily capacity of measurement x 100
= ( 5/20 ) x 100
= 25 %