Table 5.1
A company makes four products that have the following characteristics: Product A sells for $50 but needs $10 of materials and $15 of labor to produce; Product B sells for $75 but needs $30 of materials and $15 of labor to produce; Product C sells for $100 but needs $50 of materials and $30 of labor to produce; Product D sells for $150 but needs $75 of materials and $40 of labor to produce. The processing requirements for each product on each of the four machines are shown in the table.

Work centers W, X, Y, and Z are available for 40 hours per week and have no setup time when switching between products. Market demand for each product is 80 units per week. In the questions that follow, the traditional method refers to maximizing the contribution margin per unit for each product, and the bottleneck method refers to maximizing the contribution margin per minute at the bottleneck for each product.
-Use the information in Table 5.1. Which work center is of greatest concern to the operations manager?
A) Work Center W
B) Work Center X
C) Work Center Y
D) Work Center Z

Question

Table 5.1
A company makes four products that have the following characteristics: Product A sells for $50 but needs $10 of materials and $15 of labor to produce; Product B sells for $75 but needs $30 of materials and $15 of labor to produce; Product C sells for $100 but needs $50 of materials and $30 of labor to produce; Product D sells for $150 but needs $75 of materials and $40 of labor to produce. The processing requirements for each product on each of the four machines are shown in the table.
  
Work centers W, X, Y, and Z are available for 40 hours per week and have no setup time when switching between products. Market demand for each product is 80 units per week. In the questions that follow, the traditional method refers to maximizing the contribution margin per unit for each product, and the bottleneck method refers to maximizing the contribution margin per minute at the bottleneck for each product.
-Use the information in Table 5.1. Which work center is of greatest concern to the operations manager?
A) Work Center W 
B) Work Center X 
C) Work Center Y 
D) Work Center Z

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Work center X has the smallest total capacity (240 minutes) compared to the other work centers, which have a total capacity of 960 minutes each. This makes it the bottleneck and therefore of greatest concern to the operations manager. Maximizing the contribution margin per minute at the bottleneck (i.e. using the bottleneck method) can help maximize profits.

Table 5.1 A Company Makes Four Products That Have the Following Characteristics