A small furniture maker has just received an order to deliver 250 chairs at the beginning of week 6. The production/purchase planner needs to arrange for the assembly of subassemblies and purchase of parts required for the order. The product structure tree for the chair is displayed below. The chairs, leg assemblies, and back assemblies are to be assembled by one worker each. During an eight-hour day, 25 chairs and 25 legs assemblies can be assembled, whereas 50 back assemblies can be assembled. The company operates five days a week. The seats, spindles, tops, legs, and rails are purchased from another company. Purchase lead time for this size order for each part is one week. The company has some inventory of parts from previous productions: 40 seats, 100 rails, 150 legs, 30 tops, and 80 spindles.
a. Calculate assembly lead times for chairs, leg assemblies, and back assemblies required for this order. Assume that chair assembly will start only after the whole batch of its components is available.
b. Develop material requirements plans for this order. Use lot-for-lot ordering. What action should you take now?