Table 917
the Pennsylvania Appliance Company Is Installing an Assembly Line

Table 9.17
The Pennsylvania Appliance company is installing an assembly line to produce vacuum cleaners, and you, as an operations manager, are responsible for balancing the line. The work elements to be performed are listed, along with their items and immediate predecessors.
$$\begin{array} { | c | c | c | } \begin{array} { c } \text { Work } \\\text { Element }\end{array} & \text { Time (sec) } & \begin{array} { c } \text { Immediate } \\\text { Predecessor(s) }\end{array} \\\hline \mathrm { A } & 60 & - - \\\mathrm { B } & 40 & \mathrm {~A} \\\mathrm { C } & 30 & \mathrm {~B} \\\mathrm { D } & 20 & \mathrm {~B} \\\mathrm { E } & 40 & \mathrm {~B} \\\mathrm {~F} & 60 & \mathrm { C } \\\mathrm { G } & 70 & \mathrm { D } \\\mathrm { H } & 50 & \mathrm {~F} , \mathrm { G } \\\mathrm { I } & 20 & \mathrm { E } \\\mathrm { J } & 60 & \mathrm { H } , \mathrm { I } \\\hline\end{array}$$
-Use the information in Table 9.17.What is the theoretical minimum number of stations (TM) for the line? If you are using the longest work-element time rule,how many workstations do you need?

A) TM = 3; solution = 3 stations
B) TM = 3; solution = 4 stations
C) TM = 4; solution = 4 stations
D) TM = 4; solution = 5 stations