Problem 6-9 Honda Motor Company has discovered a problem in the exhaust system o
ID: 390820 • Letter: P
Question
Problem 6-9
Honda Motor Company has discovered a problem in the exhaust system of one of its automobile lines and has voluntarily agreed to make the necessary modifications to conform to government safety requirements. Standard procedure is for the firm to pay a flat fee to dealers for each modification completed. Honda is trying to establish a fair amount of compensation to pay dealers and has decided to choose a number of randomly selected mechanics and observe their performance and learning rate. Based on the results of this test, Honda decided to pay a $60 fee for each repair (3 hours × $20 per flat-rate hour).
Southwest Honda, Inc., is considering whether to participate in the program. If they can average three hours or less on each repair (what Honda is willing to pay them for), it will make sense for them to agree. They performed their own test repairs to help in their decision process. Six mechanics, working independently, have completed two modifications each. On average, the mechanics took 9 hours to do the first unit and 7.20 hours to do the second. The dealership expects to perform 300 such modifications, which works out to 50 modifications per mechanic, including the first two units already built. Use Exhibit 6.5.
On average, how many hours will it take Southwest Honda to perform each modification using all six mechanics as planned? (Round your answer to 1 decimal place.)
Improvement Curves: Table of Cumulative Values CUMULATIVE IMPROVEMENT FACTOR For the Excel 1.000 2.045 2.155.268 2.384 2.502 2.623 2.746 2.872 2.405 2.578 2.710 2.977 2.758 3.345 3.738 4.031 4.688 5.322 5.936 4.626 5.204 5.839 6.533 2.946 3.459 3.934 3.142 3.556 3.774 2.946 4.339 3.274 3.593 4.299 .847 4.303 4.802 5.346 7.261 .290 8.111 10 5.589 12 7.227 6.994 16 4.7045.541 6.514 7.635 8.920 10.38 12.04 18 4.946 5.879 6.972 8.245 6.492 9.388 24 5.574 6.7738.213 9928 11.95 14.33 17.10 20.31 25 6.909 7.540 4.02 17.0920.73 25.00 19.29 23.67 28.86 26.54 32.68 36.47 40.22 12.72 45 18.68 23.50 29.37 60 0.39 42.87 48.05 53.14 6.80 62.25 30.35 32.65 37.05 69.45 27.02 50.39 67.93 29.67 15.97 22.72 62.95 34.54 36.80 13.01 19.28 28.56 42.05 86.80 95.96 105.0 16.79 68.95 132.1 52.72 250 1.47 8883 179.2 300 13.81 31.34 46.94 69.66 102.2 1482 22.18 33.89 1.48 T.43 115.1 244.8 15.14 23.44 36.26 B4.85 72 24.60 38.48 59.80 91.971397 209. 309. 500 63.68 70.97 77 174.2 403.3 29.45 48.04 124.4 196.1 19.51 32.60 54.46 90.26 147.7 237.9 376.9587.2 96.07 1,20021,30 1,400 22.32 23.23 36.59 107.0 179.7 296.6 481.2 766.6 333.9 69.9 67,85 2.49 1001 43.00 2,000 24.83 144.7 742.3 1230 90.39 3,000 27.99 52.62 9.90 183.7 335.2 599 1047 1791Explanation / Answer
T1 = 9 hours
T2 = 7.2 hours
Therefore, learning rate for each mechanic = T2/T1 = 7.2/9 = 0.80
Each mechanic will perform 50 modifications, so cumulative time to perform 50 modifications by each mechanic is to be computed using Exhibit 6.5.
Cumulative improvement factor for 80% learning rate and 50 cumulative units is 20.12
Therefore, total time taken by each of the 6 mechanics perform 50 modifications = 9*20.12 = 181.08 hours
So, average time per modification = 181.08/50 = 3.62 hours
However, if each modification is done using all 6 mechanics, then cumulative number of units is 300 and the corresponding cumulative improvement factor for 300 units is 69.66
Total time to complete 300 modification = 9*69.66 = 626.94 hours
Average time to perform each modification using all six mechanics = 626.94/300 = 2.1 hours