Deck 8: Facility and Work Designs

Question 1

_____ occurs whenever one stage completes work and no units from the previous stage are awaiting processing.

A) Flow-blocking delay
B) Lack-of-work delay
C) Buffer delay
D) Propagation delay

Answer 1

B

Question 2

An assembly line with 28 operations is to be balanced. The total amount of time required for all 28 operations is 39 minutes. The longest operation takes 2.2 minutes and the shortest takes 0.8 minutes. The line will operate for 450 minutes per day.
1)Determine the minimum and maximum cycle time.
2)What is the output rate if the cycle time is set at 2.2 minutes?

A)min cycle time = 0.8; max cycle time = 39; output rate = 204.5
B)min cycle time = 2.2; max cycle time = 39; output rate = 204.5
C)min cycle time = 2.2; max cycle time = 31.2; output rate = 562.5
D)min cycle time = 0.8; max cycle time = 2.2; output rate = 562.5

Answer 2

A

Question 3

An assembly line with 28 activities is to be balanced. The total amount of time required for all 28 activities is 39 minutes. The line will operate for 450 minutes per day. What must the cycle time be to achieve an output rate of 400 units/day?

A) 1.39 minutes
B) 11.54 minutes
C) 1.125 minutes
D) 0.89 minutes

Answer 3

C

Question 4

A _____ layout is an arrangement based on self-contained groups of equipment needed to produce a particular set of goods or services.

A) product
B) process
C) cellular
D) fixed-position

Question 5

Which of the following is NOT a common reason for facility layout studies?

A) There is significant change in demand or throughput volume.
B) A new good or service is introduced to the customer benefit package.
C) A new material supplier is used.
D) Different process, equipment and/or technology are installed.

Question 6

A _____ layout is an arrangement based on the sequence of operations that are performed during the manufacturing of a good or delivery of a service.

A) product
B) process
C) cellular
D) fixed-position

Question 7

The production of large goods such as airplanes is best accomplished using a _____ layout.

A) product
B) process
C) cellular
D) fixed-position

Question 8

The typical layout of facilities in a legal office would be an example of a _____ layout.

A) product
B) process
C) cellular
D) fixed-position

Question 9

_____ classifies parts into families so that cellular layouts can be effectively used.

A) Ergonomics
B) Job enlargement
C) Group technology
D) Flow-blocking delay

Question 10

_____ layout is used for high volumes of demand and setup requirements.

A) Product
B) Process
C) Cellular
D) Fixed-position

Question 11

Which of the following statements is NOT true about cellular layout?

A) Workers concentrate more on moving parts of the machines rather than on production.
B) Workflow is standardized and centrally located.
C) It makes additional floor space available for productive uses.
D) It facilitates the processing of families of parts with similar processing requirements.

Question 12

The typical layout of facilities in a pizza restaurant would be an example of a _____ layout.

A) product
B) process
C) cellular
D) fixed-position

Question 13

A _____ layout consists of a functional grouping of equipment or activities that do similar work.

A) product
B) process
C) cellular
D) fixed-position

Question 14

All of the following are limitations of process layouts EXCEPT:

A) high material handling costs.
B) more complicated planning and control systems.
C) low equipment utilization.
D) diverse range of products.

Question 15

All of the following are common objectives of layout studies EXCEPT to:

A) minimize delays in materials handling and customer movement.
B) minimize the number of workstations.
C) provide for good housekeeping and maintenance.
D) maintain flexibility.

Question 16

Steve, an operations manager at Krypto InfoTech, must set up an assembly line to assemble a computer mouse. The precedent network given below is defined with task times in parentheses and stated in minutes. There are 480 minutes of assembly time per shift and there is one shift. The forecast (output rate) is 60 units per shift. He decides to use the longest/largest-task-time rule to assign tasks to workstations.
SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT
Worksheet for assembly-line balancing problem
$\begin{array}{|c|c|c|c|}\hline \text { Workstation } & \text { Assigned Tasks } & \text { Total Time } & \text { Idle Time } \\\hline \text { A } & & & \\\hline \text { B } & & & \\\hline \text { C } & & & \\\hline \text { D } & & & \\\hline \text { E } & & & \\\hline \text { F } & & & \\\hline\end{array}$ Use the previous assembly-line balancing (ALB) information to answer Questions .

-The task assigned to the third workstation (called C) using the longest/largest-task-rule is _____.

A) task 3
B) task 4
C) task 5
D) task 6

Question 17

Identify an advantage of product layouts.

A) Highly flexible
B) Lower work-in-process inventories
C) Higher job satisfaction
D) Easy to add new products

Question 18

Which of the following statements is NOT true about fixed-position layouts?

A) Work-in-process remains stationary.
B) They require a high level of planning and control.
C) The volume of demand is very high.
D) They are used in the production of heavy machine tools and locomotives.

Question 19

Steve, an operations manager at Krypto InfoTech, must set up an assembly line to assemble a computer mouse. The precedent network given below is defined with task times in parentheses and stated in minutes. There are 480 minutes of assembly time per shift and there is one shift. The forecast (output rate) is 60 units per shift. He decides to use the longest/largest-task-time rule to assign tasks to workstations.
SHAPE \* MERGEFORMAT
Worksheet for assembly-line balancing problem
$\begin{array}{|c|c|c|c|}\hline \text { Workstation } & \text { Assigned Tasks } & \text { Total Time } & \text { Idle Time } \\\hline \text { A } & & & \\\hline \text { B } & & & \\\hline \text { C } & & & \\\hline \text { D } & & & \\\hline \text { E } & & & \\\hline \text { F } & & & \\\hline\end{array}$ Use the previous assembly-line balancing (ALB) information to answer Questions .

-What is the cycle time?

A) 6 minutes/unit
B) 7 minutes/unit
C) 8 minutes/unit
D) 9 minutes/unit

Question 20

Assembly-Line Balancing Problem-Table 1 below
The Florida Appliance Company is installing an assembly line to produce vacuum cleaners, and Patrick, as an operations manager, is responsible for balancing the line. The work elements to be performed are listed, along with their items and immediate predecessors.
$\begin{array}{|l|l|l|}\hline\text { Work } && \text { Immediate } \\ \text { Element } & \text { Time }(s e c) & \text { Predecessor (s) }\\\hline\text { A } & 60 & -- \\B & 40 & \text { A } \\\text { C } & 30 & \text { B } \\\text { D } & 20 & \text { B } \\\text { E } & 40 & \text { B } \\\text { F } & 60 & \text { C } \\G & 70 & \text { D } \\H & 50 & \text { F, G } \\\text { I } & 20 & \text { E } \\J & 60 & \text { H, I }\\\hline\end{array}$

-Use the information in Table 1. The company is planning to operate 2 shifts per day, 8 hours per shift. If the desired output rate of the line is 480 units per day, what is the cycle time?

A) 60 seconds
B) 120 seconds
C) 180 seconds
D) 240 seconds

Question 21

_____ occurs when a work center completes a unit but cannot release it because the in-process storage at the next stage is full.

A) Lack-of-work delay
B) Propagation delay
C) Flow-blocking delay
D) Overload delay

Question 22

The eleven tasks defined in Table 1 given below are necessary to assemble an MP3 player along with their time (in seconds) and flow diagram,
Table 1
$\begin{array}{cc}\text { TASK } & \text { TIME (in seconds) } \\\text { A } & 40 \\\text { B } & 15 \\\text { C } & 35 \\\text { D } & 12 \\\text { E } & 27 \\\text { F } & 29 \\\text { G } & 60 \\\text { H } & 60 \\\text { I } & 30 \\\text { J } & 14 \\\text { K } & 22 \\\hline\text { TOTAl: }&327\end{array}$

-Refer to Table 1. Using this data and a cycle time of 60 seconds, determine an assembly-line balance by using the longest-task-time rule.

A) Station 1: A, B
Station 2: C, D
Station 3: E, F
Station 4: G, H
Station 5: J, I, K

B) Station 1: A, B
Station 2: C, D
Station 3: E, F
Station 4: G, H
Station 5: J
Station 6: I, K

C)Station 1: A, B
Station 2: C, E
Station 3: D, F
Station 4: G
Station 5: H, I
Station 6: J, K

D)Station 1: A, B
Station 2: C, D
Station 3: E, F
Station 4: G
Station 5: H, J
Station 6: I, K

Question 23

Which of the following is NOT an objective of ergonomics?

A) To increase speed and accuracy
B) To reduce fatigue
C) To improve customer interaction
D) To increase the cost of doing the job

Question 24

Consider the following assembly line information for manufacturing the latest cell phone in Table 2. The firm wants to produce 80 cell phones per hour.
Table 2
$\begin{array}{ccc}\text { Task } & \text { Time (n minutes) } & \text { Predecessor(s) } \\\text { A } & 0.5 & \text { none } \\\text { B } & 0.4 & \text { A } \\\text { C } & 0.6 & \text { A } \\\text { D } & 0.2 & \text { B, C } \\\text { E } & 0.3 & \text { B } \\\text { F } & 0.7 & \text { E, D } \\\text { G } & 0.4 & \text { F C }\end{array}$

-Using the longest-task-time rule, the efficiency of an assembly-line balance is _____.

A) Less than 65%
B) more than 65% but less than 75%
C) more than 75% but less than 85%
D) more than 85% but less than 95%

Question 25

An assembly line with 28 activities is to be balanced. The total amount of time required for all 28 activities is 39 minutes. The line will operate for 300 minutes per day. What must the cycle time be to achieve an output rate of 250 units/day?

A) 1.39 minutes
B) 11.2 minutes
C) 1.2 minutes
D) 0.89 minutes

Question 26

Consider the following assembly line information for manufacturing the latest cell phone in Table 2. The firm wants to produce 80 cell phones per hour.
Table 2
$\begin{array}{ccc}\text { Task } & \text { Time (n minutes) } & \text { Predecessor(s) } \\\text { A } & 0.5 & \text { none } \\\text { B } & 0.4 & \text { A } \\\text { C } & 0.6 & \text { A } \\\text { D } & 0.2 & \text { B, C } \\\text { E } & 0.3 & \text { B } \\\text { F } & 0.7 & \text { E, D } \\\text { G } & 0.4 & \text { F C }\end{array}$

-The cycle time is _____ seconds.

A) 45
B) 60
C) 75
D) 100

Question 27

Assembly-Line Balancing Problem-Table 1 below
The Florida Appliance Company is installing an assembly line to produce vacuum cleaners, and Patrick, as an operations manager, is responsible for balancing the line. The work elements to be performed are listed, along with their items and immediate predecessors.
$\begin{array}{|l|l|l|}\hline\text { Work } && \text { Immediate } \\ \text { Element } & \text { Time }(s e c) & \text { Predecessor (s) }\\\hline\text { A } & 60 & -- \\B & 40 & \text { A } \\\text { C } & 30 & \text { B } \\\text { D } & 20 & \text { B } \\\text { E } & 40 & \text { B } \\\text { F } & 60 & \text { C } \\G & 70 & \text { D } \\H & 50 & \text { F, G } \\\text { I } & 20 & \text { E } \\J & 60 & \text { H, I }\\\hline\end{array}$

-Use the information in Table 1. Total idle time is _____ seconds using the longest-task-time rule.

A) 10
B) 15
C) 30
D) 25

Question 28

A line-balancing solution has been developed for the assembly line for fertilizer spreaders at Green Grass, Inc. The desired output rate of 30 spreaders per hour will be achieved. The sum of times for all tasks performed on the line is 1200 seconds for each spreader assembled. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A) The cycle time is 30 seconds per spreader.
B) The theoretical minimum number of workstations is 10.
C) If the solution calls for 12 stations, the efficiency is 90%.
D) If the solution calls for 11 stations, the efficiency is 80%.

Question 29

The eleven tasks necessary to assemble an MP3 player along with their time (in seconds) and immediate predecessor(s) is given below:
$\begin{array}{ccc}\text { Task } & \text { Time (n minutes) } & \text { Predecessor(s) } \\\text { A } & 40 & \text { none } \\\text { B } & 15 & \text { none } \\\text { C } & 35 & \text { none } \\\text { D } & 12 & \text { A, B } \\\text { E } & 27 & \text { B, C } \\\text { F } & 29 & \text { D } \\\text { G } & 60 & \text { D, E } \\\text { H } & 30 & \text { E } \\\text { I } & 14 & \text { F, G } \\\text { J } & 22 & \text { G, H } \\\text { K } & 43 & \text { I, J }\\\text { Total }&327\end{array}$ The company wants to produce 600 units in a 9-hour day.

-The minimum number of workstations required is _____.

A) 5
B) 6
C) 7
D) 8

Question 30

An assembly line with 28 activities is to be balanced. The total amount of time required for all 28 activities is 88 minutes. The longest activity is 2.2 minutes and the shortest is 0.8 minutes. The line will operate for 450 minutes per day. Using a cycle time of 60 seconds, determine an assembly-line balance by selecting the longest-processing-time task available. Compute the total idle time and assembly-line efficiency.
The total idle time is _____ seconds.

A) less than or equal to 20
B) more than 20 but less than or equal to 30
C) more than 30 but less than or equal to 40
D) more than 40 but less than or equal to 50

Question 31

A(n) _____ team performs entire jobs rather than specialized, assembly-line work.

A) virtual
B) self-managed
C) natural work
D) ergonomic

Question 32

For a given cycle time in line balancing, assembly-line efficiency can be increased by _____.

A) speeding the assembly line
B) slowing the assembly line
C) decreasing the number of workstations
D) increasing the number of workstations

Question 33

Which of the following statements is NOT true about assembly lines?

A) They are low cost.
B) They are a type of cellular layout.
C) They make goods and services affordable to mass markets.
D) They are important in service operations.

Question 34

An assembly line with 28 activities is to be balanced. The total amount of time required for all 28 activities is 88 minutes. The longest activity is 2.2 minutes and the shortest is 0.8 minutes. The line will operate for 450 minutes per day. Using a cycle time of 60 seconds, determine an assembly-line balance by selecting the longest-processing-time task available. Compute the total idle time and assembly-line efficiency.
Using the longest-task-time rule, the efficiency of the assembly-line balance is _____.

A) less than 65%
B) more than 65% but less than 75%
C) more than 75% but less than 85%
D) more than 85% but less than 95%

Question 35

_____ is vertical expansion of job duties to give a worker more responsibility.

A) Job enlargement
B) Job rotation
C) Job enrichment
D) Job design

Question 36

In designing _____ layouts, one is concerned with the arrangement of departments or work centers relative to each other.

A) product
B) cellular
C) process
D) fixed-position

Question 37

Assembly-Line Balancing Problem-Table 1 below
The Florida Appliance Company is installing an assembly line to produce vacuum cleaners, and Patrick, as an operations manager, is responsible for balancing the line. The work elements to be performed are listed, along with their items and immediate predecessors.
$\begin{array}{|l|l|l|}\hline\text { Work } && \text { Immediate } \\ \text { Element } & \text { Time }(s e c) & \text { Predecessor (s) }\\\hline\text { A } & 60 & -- \\B & 40 & \text { A } \\\text { C } & 30 & \text { B } \\\text { D } & 20 & \text { B } \\\text { E } & 40 & \text { B } \\\text { F } & 60 & \text { C } \\G & 70 & \text { D } \\H & 50 & \text { F, G } \\\text { I } & 20 & \text { E } \\J & 60 & \text { H, I }\\\hline\end{array}$

-Use the information in Table 1. What is the efficiency using the longest-task-time rule?

A) Less than 85%
B) More than 85% but less than 91%
C) More than 91% but less than 93%
D) More than 93% but less than 95%

Question 38

Consider the following assembly line information for manufacturing the latest cell phone in Table 2. The firm wants to produce 80 cell phones per hour.
Table 2

Is this a good assembly-line balancing solution? Explain. What do you recommend?

Question 39

An assembly line with 28 activities is to be balanced. The total amount of time required for all 28 activities is 39 minutes. The longest activity is 2.2 minutes and the shortest is 0.8 minutes. The line will operate for 450 minutes per day. What is the assembly-line efficiency with 11 stations and a product produced every 5 minutes?

A) Less than 65%
B) More than 65% but less than 75%
C) More than 75% but less than 85%
D) More than 85% but less than 95%

Question 40

The eleven tasks necessary to assemble an MP3 player along with their time (in seconds) and immediate predecessor(s) is given below:
$\begin{array}{ccc}\text { Task } & \text { Time (n minutes) } & \text { Predecessor(s) } \\\text { A } & 40 & \text { none } \\\text { B } & 15 & \text { none } \\\text { C } & 35 & \text { none } \\\text { D } & 12 & \text { A, B } \\\text { E } & 27 & \text { B, C } \\\text { F } & 29 & \text { D } \\\text { G } & 60 & \text { D, E } \\\text { H } & 30 & \text { E } \\\text { I } & 14 & \text { F, G } \\\text { J } & 22 & \text { G, H } \\\text { K } & 43 & \text { I, J }\\\text { Total }&327\end{array}$ The company wants to produce 600 units in a 9-hour day.

-The cycle time is _____ seconds.

A) 45
B) 54
C) 63
D) 71

Question 41

Flow-blocking and lack-of-work delays can be reduced by assigning an appropriate level of capacity at each workstation.

Question 42

The facility layout in a library would most likely be a process layout.

Question 43

In a perfectly balanced assembly line, no bottlenecks exist.

Question 44

_____ is the horizontal expansion of a job to give a worker more variety-although not necessarily more responsibility.

A) Job design
B) Ergonomics
C) Job enlargement
D) Job enrichment

Question 45

Process layouts generally require less investment in equipment than product layouts because the equipment is less specialized.

Question 46

Changes in goods and services for a firm's customer benefit package do not impact facility layouts.

Question 47

The objective of assembly-line balancing is to group tasks among workstations so that the amount of work assigned to each workstation is highly variable, thus maximizing flexibility.

Question 48

A fixed-position layout is based on the sequence of operations that is performed during the manufacturing of a good or delivery of a service.

Question 49

In a product layout, flow-blocking delay occurs whenever one stage completes work and no units from the previous stage are awaiting processing.

Question 50

In a product layout, a breakdown of one piece of equipment will not cause the entire process to shut down.

Question 51

The predominant layout type used in hospitals is the fixed-position layout.

Question 52

In a _____ team, members communicate by computer, take turns as leaders, and join and leave the team as necessary.

A) self-managed
B) virtual
C) natural work
D) cross-functional

Question 53

Services such as legal and medical specialties employ cellular layouts.

Question 54

The determination of specific job tasks and responsibilities is called _____.

A) job design
B) ergonomics
C) job enlargement
D) job enrichment

Question 55

The volume of demand in product layout is low, while it is high in process layout.

Question 56

An assembly line is a type of product layout.

Question 57

Cellular layouts are designed according to the functional characteristics of equipment much in the same fashion as process layouts.

Question 58

Product layouts are less flexible than process layouts.

Question 59

Facility layout is not only concerned with the arrangement of physical facilities, but also the material handling capabilities within the facility.

Question 60

Workers in cellular layouts generally have greater responsibilities than those who work in product or process layouts.

Question 61

In a process layout technique, improvement is done on a current solution by exchanging two or three departments at a time to determine if total materials handling costs have been reduced.

Question 62

Explain assembly-line balancing. Discuss the three types of information needed to balance an assembly line.

Question 63

Differentiate between a flow-blocking delay and lack-of-work delay. How can each be reduced?

Question 64

Assembly-line balancing problems involving many distinct products (mixed-model line balancing) are generally easier to solve than single-model balancing problems because there are more alternatives available to assign tasks to workstations.

Question 65

Cycle time should be smaller than the largest operation time.

Question 66

Job enlargement approaches give workers more variety of work, but not necessarily more responsibility.

Question 67

Ergonomics is the science that is concerned with determining specific job tasks and responsibilities.

Question 68

A Gallup study showed that workers who are allowed to personalize their workplaces were no more productive than those who are not allowed.

Question 69

Because of precedence relationships in a network, assembly-line efficiencies will generally be very high.

Question 70

Cycle time is related to the output rate and the available time to produce output.

Question 71

Cycle time in assembly-line balancing is the maximum amount of time it takes to process a part at some workstation along the line.

Question 72

Virtual teams are empowered work teams that assume many traditional management responsibilities.

Question 73

In designing process layouts, arrangement of departments or work centers relative to each other is a primary concern.

Question 74

Which one of the following statements is TRUE regarding the BankUSA: Cash Movement case study?

A) The cycle time for the outgoing wire process was less than 2.0 minutes per wire.
B) Commercial (business) outgoing wires used a separate process different from the one for individual customer tractions.
C) Outgoing wire error rate data was not available in the case study.
D) The current assembly line for outgoing wires was understaffed based on assembly-line balancing (ALB) analysis.

Question 75

Self-managed teams perform entire jobs, rather than specialized, assembly-line work.

Question 76

Discuss four reasons for conducting a facility layout study.

Question 77

An assembly-line balancing minimizes the number of workstations for a given production rate or maximizes the production rate for a given number of workstations.

Question 78

Describe approaches used for process layout design.

Question 79

Differentiate between product layout, process layout, cellular layout, and fixed-position layout. State the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Question 80

Teams are a way of accomplishing job enrichment.