Managing Operations Across the Supply Chain 1st Edition by Morgan Swink,Steven Melnyk,Bixby Cooper, Janet Hartley

Exercise 29

New Time Videos (NTV)is a new on-line video rental service.In the field, it is trying to compete by offering its customers access to all of the major new video releases in one business day.That is, if you order a video from NTV, you can expect it in one business day from the time when you placed the order.When you are done with the video, you simply drop it in the prepaid mailing and return it.All videos arrive in a sorting facility located in the Midwest where envelopes with the videos are opened, checked (right video with the right sleeve, no scratches, no cracks, no dirt on the videos), and made ready to be sent out again.As the manager of this facility, your goal is to turn the returned videos around in 6 hours (a shift is 8 hours long).You have the following information: Inventory of videos: 450,000 per shift Throughput: 325,000 per shift
a.Calculate the expected average flow time (hint: Use Little's Law).
b.What changes would you recommend to meet the goal of processing a returned video within 6 hours?