Slim-Quick Inc. produces a variety of nutritional diet products. Management wants to evaluate the performance of Work Center 10, the bottleneck in the packaging line. They are particularly worried about the backlogging problem in the work center. The following input/output report is given.

The initial backlog was 100 hours. Based on the above information, calculate the backlog hours of Work Center 10 at the end of period 3.

Question

Slim-Quick Inc. produces a variety of nutritional diet products. Management wants to evaluate the performance of Work Center 10, the bottleneck in the packaging line. They are particularly worried about the backlogging problem in the work center. The following input/output report is given.

The initial backlog was 100 hours. Based on the above information, calculate the backlog hours of Work Center 10 at the end of period 3.

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

To calculate the backlog hours at the end of period 3, we need to calculate the cumulative net input and output for Work Center 10 for the first three periods:

Cumulative net input = 200 + 225 + 175 = 600 
Cumulative net output = 150 + 180 + 120 = 450

The backlog at the end of period 3 is the difference between the cumulative net input and output, minus the initial backlog:

Backlog = Cumulative net input - Cumulative net output - Initial backlog 
Backlog = 600 - 450 - 100 = 50

Therefore, the backlog at the end of period 3 is 50 hours. However, we need to be careful in interpreting the result since the question specifically mentions that management is worried about the backlogging problem in Work Center 10. A backlog of 50 hours may still be a cause for concern, even if it has decreased from the initial backlog of 100 hours.