In a machine shop, the machines breakdown as per uniform distribution with an inter breakdown time of 4 ± 1 hours. The service time of the breakdown machines also follows uniform distribution with an average service time of 5 ± 3 hour. The daily wage of the maintenance mechanic is ! 400. The cost of machine downtime hour is estimated with ! 125 per hour.

Simulate the system for 6 days, assuming one shift per day and 8 hours/shift and determine the optimal size of the maintenance crew such that the sum of the labour cost and the machine breakdown cost is minimized.

AppendixLO1