Brown and Pickens manufactures a variety of battery-operated hand tools, including a cordless screwdriver, drill, and hand saw. The company produces these items in a plant organized in a process-oriented layout in two separate buildings. Batteries are outsourced to a dependable, high-quality supplier who makes deliveries to Brown and Pickens on a daily basis.

The main components of the tools are a motor, gears, and a casing. The company winds motors in one area of the plant, using coil-winding machines. The casings are manufactured in another area of the plant, using an injection molding machine. The gears are milled in the machine shop, using computer-controlled milling machines. All of the component parts are moved to the assembly area, where they are combined to form a finished product. Setup time on these machines is significant. To change any of these machines from one product to another takes over an hour.

The manufactured motors are moved to the assembly area by forklift every other day. The casings are produced in large batches and stored in a warehouse adjacent to the assembly area. The gears are manufactured in a separate building, across the street, and are held in that building until needed by assembly. The assembly area maintains just enough gears to meet production needs for a single day. Gears are delivered to the assembly department in small batches as needed to keep production flowing.

\section*{Required}
A. How would having a manufacturing cell for each of the products differ from the current plant layout? What changes would this create in the product flow? How would work-in-process inventory be affected?
B. How could changes in the plant layout improve material handling and storage practices at Brown and Pickens? What effect would a change in plant layout have on the value of work-in-process? Explain your answer.
C. The gears are delivered in small batches just as needed by production. Would you consider this proper use of JIT? Why or why not?