An integrated electronic-chip manufacturer has a demand for a specific component of 800 parts per 8-hour day. The manufacturer wants to design a lean system using containers. The containers the manufacturer used for this component held 20 parts. It takes about 4 hours to round-trip a container from one work center to the next and back again. The manufacturer also wants to hold 10% of safety stock of this part in its system.
-How many containers should the lean system be using?
A)5
B)10
C)20
D)22
E)30

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The correct answer is D.The manufacturer needs to hold 10% of safety stock, which is 80 parts. The manufacturer also needs to hold enough parts to cover the 4-hour round-trip time, which is 160 parts. The total number of parts that the manufacturer needs to hold is 80 + 160 = 240 parts. The manufacturer is using containers that hold 20 parts each, so the manufacturer needs 240 parts / 20 parts per container = 12 containers. The manufacturer also wants to hold 10% of safety stock in its system, so the manufacturer needs 12 containers + 10% = 13.2 containers. The manufacturer should round up to the nearest whole number, which is 14 containers.

An Integrated Electronic-Chip Manufacturer Has a Demand for a Specific