Use this scenario for the following questions.
The process design team at a manufacturer has broken an assembly process into eight basic steps, each with a required time, and predecessor as shown in the table. There are 7.5 productive hours available in a day and the manufacturer wishes to produce 400 units. Balance the line by assigning tasks to workstations to fill up as much takt time as possible. Break ties by assigning the longest task first.

-Refer to the scenario above.How many workers must be added to increase the output rate to one unit per minute?
A) 1
B) 2
C) 3
D) 4

Question

Use this scenario for the following questions.
The process design team at a manufacturer has broken an assembly process into eight basic steps, each with a required time, and predecessor as shown in the table. There are 7.5 productive hours available in a day and the manufacturer wishes to produce 400 units. Balance the line by assigning tasks to workstations to fill up as much takt time as possible. Break ties by assigning the longest task first.
 
-Refer to the scenario above.How many workers must be added to increase the output rate to one unit per minute?
A) 1 
B) 2 
C) 3 
D) 4

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

In this scenario, the takt time is calculated as 7.5 hours (or 450 minutes) divided by the desired output rate of 400 units, which is 1.125 minutes per unit. To balance the line, tasks should be assigned to workstations in a way that ensures each workstation has a workload that can be completed in 1.125 minutes or less. By using the longest task first rule to break ties, the best choice of workstations is: 
Station 1: Task 1 (60 seconds) 
Station 2: Task 2 (90 seconds) + Task 3 (45 seconds) 
Station 3: Task 8 (60 seconds) 
Station 4: Task 6 (75 seconds) + Task 7 (45 seconds) 
Station 5: Task 4 (90 seconds) + Task 5 (60 seconds)

This results in a cycle time of 1.125 minutes, which meets the desired output rate. Therefore, no additional workers need to be added to increase the output rate to one unit per minute.

Use This Scenario for the Following Questions