Problem
Green-hold is a manufacturer of environmentally friendly adult diapers based in Green Bay, WI. Their diaper manufacturing essentially consists of six separate tasks; these tasks can be done in any order because most of the production process is merely assembling the product using a Velcro-like material. The times taken for each of these tasks by a single employee are given in parentheses: A (45 secs), B (15 secs), C (27 secs), D (52 secs), E (7 secs) and F (18 secs). Given the information above, answer the following questions
a) Because of the sudden increasein the number of enviro-conscious baby-boomers, the hourly demand for these diapers has spiked to an unprecedented 120 diapers/hour. If Green-hold wants to perform each task in a separate station (dedicated to it), how many employees should they place at each station?
b) Suppose Green-hold is reluctant to hire any more employeesthat what it had initiallybut is willing to crosstrain the employees such that they can do any task. They will also be investing in a ?exible station on which all tasks can done. What is the maximum capacity that Green-hold can obtain through this exercise?