13-45 Theory of Constraints: Strategy Colton Furniture Co. is a small but fast-growing manufacturer of living room furniture. Its two principal products are end tables and sofas. The flow diagram for the manufacturing at Colton follows. Colton's manufacturing involves five processes: cutting the lum- ber, cutting the fabric, sanding, staining, and assembly. One employee cuts fabric and two do the staining. These are relatively skilled workers who could be replaced only with some difficulty. Two workers cut the lumber, and two others perform the sanding operation. There some skill to these operations, but it is less critical than for staining and fabric cutting. Assembly requires the lowest skill level and is currently done by one full-time employee and a group of part timers who provide a total of 175 hours of working time per week. The other employees work a 40-hour week, with 5 hours off for breaks, training, and personal time. Assume a four-week month and that, by prior agreement, none of the employees can be switched from one task to another. The current demand for Colton's products and sales prices are as follows, although Colton expects demand to increase sig. nificantly in the coming months if it is able to successfully negotiate an order from a motel chain. End Tables Sofas Price Current demand (units per month) $250 400 $450 150 Lumber Price $100 Lumber Price $75 Fabric rice-5175 Cut and Trim Cut 30 minutes Cut 12 minutes 48 minutes Assemble 45 minutes Sand 30 minutes Sand Stain 19 min 30/ min Tunes THE Assemble Stain 48 Mivl Stain 48 minutes Assemble 1.5 hours 15 hours End Table Required: Requirements are on the provided Excel solution worksheet. ......... P 13-45 Theory of Constraints - SUBMIT THIS Homework Collected Solution Worksheet Colton Furniture problem is in another file. Requirements are: Part 1: What is the most profitable production plan for Colton? Specifically, how many end tables and how many sofas should Colton produce? Include complete supporting computations. Part 2: Assume the constraint is staining. What would you recommend for how Colton can elevate the constraint? Be specific. General statements like Colton should do a study to improve operations are worse than useless, because they waste the reader's time providing nothing of value in return. Part 1 Most profitable product mix Step 1: Identify the Constraint - Use either Hours of Minutes and leave the other blank. Computations Hour Hours Slack HOURS Table Sofa Needed Available (Shortage) Cut lumber 280 Sand 280 | Assemble 700 Stain 280 Cut Fabric 140 .... . Computations Minutes Needed Table Sofa MINUTES Cut lumber Sand Assemble Stain Cut Fabric Minutes Slack Available (Shortage) 16,800 16,800 42,000 16,800 8,400 . Specifically state the constraint here: Step 2: Determine the Most Profitable Product
