QMpom
Question1) The average annual investment cost of a workstation in New Jersey has been calculated to be $100,000. It has been computed to be $150,000 in Kentucky. The hourly cost at a workstation is $60 in New Jersey and $40 in Kentucky. How do the plants compare with respect to the cost of labor for making a car? For each location, what is the breakeven volume and what is the total cost at breakeven? Using the QMpom module called Capacity Management Models will facilitate solving Problem.
Question2) An interesting comparison can be drawn among the Volvo method of building autos in Sweden and that the U.S. auto companies. Specially, the Volvo Company has pioneered a team approach for assembling an auto. Volvo team builds the car on a platform. Even the engine is put together by the same team and mounted on the chassis. This means that the workers come to the work instead of the work coming to the workers.
a) If it takes Volvo workers 40 hours to assemble a car in this way, what is the cycle time?
b) How many stations are there?
c) Analyze the pros and cons of Volvo assembly system.
d) Does the Volvo system comprise a synthetic flow shop?
e) Volvo doesn’t use this team assembly method for its U.S. plant. Why is that so?
Question3) Define and compare the six essentially different ways of doing work in terms of the seven factors listed here. Each kind of process system (i.e. one of the six types of work configurations) is best suited to a particular set of conditions. These conditions arise from the following factors:
a) How complex is the character of the product line
b) Equipment associated with the process
c) Nature of the market
d) Financial situation of the firm
e) How many units are to be made or serviced
f) How profitable is the venture
g) What is the competition like
Problems concerned with Process Analysis and Charting
Question4) Analyze the service process of making travel arrangements. Then draw a process chart for a travel agent setting up the itineraries and reservations for a business trip to be taken by two company executives who are travelling by air from Chicago to Los Angeles. Draw a process flow layout chart for the agent and the agency. Compare this to the booking on the internet.
Problems concerned with Creating a Production Process
Question5) Research how to service copy machines. Create a process chart for providing this service on a business-like basis. What work configuration do you recommend?
The Preventive Maintenance Strategy Problem.
Question6)In the subway system of Metropolis, there are 100,000 light bulbs which are at risk for failure with the rates described as follows. Complete preventive maintenance policy is to replace all the bulbs at once, four times per year. These light bulbs are long-life light bulbs, that costs more than regular ones.
Each of these bulbs has an expected average life of 3,000 hours and cost $7.00. Setup cost for each subway station is $5,000 and there are 50 stations.
In the subway, every light bulb remains lit, day and night, all year long, which is total of 8,760 hours. Burned out and broken bulbs are only replaced during the TPM sweep. This can mean that station platform light is not always sufficient. At an extra cost, remedial replacement can be used. Total sweep would still take place, replacing all the light bulbs, whether or not they were newly replaced.
For this problem, ignore remedial replacement and its extra cost.
a) Is the total replacement sweep four times per year likely to be sufficient? (Note: Distribution is such that many light bulbs burn out long before expected lifetime is reached, and many last considerably longer than 3,000 hours.)
b) What is the total cost for the following TPM policy?
Question7) Alternative strategy (using information from problem 6) is to replace each bulb as it burns out. Replacement costs $5 per light bulb in addition to the $7 purchase cost per bulb. As noted in the earlier problem, bulbs have an expected lifetime of 3,000 hours. Every light bulb in the subway remains lit, day and night, all year long, a total of 8,760 hours. Expected number of times each bulb will burn out per year is 2.9. For simple calculation round this off to 3 times per year that each light bulb is changed.
How does the service (setup and changeover) procedure used for racing cars differ from regular auto servicing? Is there anything that could be learned from the difference? What does this query have to do with SMED?