A bread manufacturing firm has recently implemented a Kanban system for tracking the consumption of raw materials, especially wheat flour. The average daily demand for wheat is 2,500 kg. The firm's records show that it takes around 4 hours for the flour to be transformed into bread and another 4 hours in material handling and waiting time during the manufacturing cycle. Due to uncertain demand, the firm has a safety stock of 25 percent.
Each container can hold 250 kg of wheat flour.
a. Calculate the number of containers required by the firm.
b. Management is planning to reduce the number of containers used. A reliable supplier has been identified, which eliminates the need for additional stock.
Determine the required reduction in waiting time if one container is removed.