2) Consider the following two-step process: Processing time (minutes) 4 Setup Time (minutes) 24 Step A Step B 6 No need for Setup Step A has a processing time of 4 minutes per unit and a setup time of 24 minutes. Step B has a processing time of 6 minutes per unit, but no setup time is required. a) Suppose units are produced in batches of 20. Which step is a bottleneck, and what is the capacity of the process (in units per minute)? b) What is the batch size that maximizes the flow rate of this process with minimal inventory? Assume there is significant demand. (Round up your final answer to the nearest integer) Q5.5 (JCL Inc.) JCL Inc. is a major chip manufacturing firm that sells its products to com- puter manufacturers like Dell, HP, and others. In simplified terms, chip making at JCL Inc. involves three basic operations: depositing, patterning, and etching. Depositing: Using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technology, an insulating mate- rial is deposited on the wafer surface, forming a thin layer of solid material on the chip. Patterning: Photolithography projects a microscopic circuit pattern on the wafer sur- face, which has a light-sensitive chemical like the emulsion on photographic film. It is repeated many times as each layer of the chip is built. Etching: Etching removes selected material from the chip surface to create the device structures. The following table lists the required processing times and setup times at each of the steps. Assume that the unit of production is a wafer, from which individual chips are cut at a later stage. Note: A setup can only begin once the batch has arrived at the machine. Process Step Setup time Processing time 1 Depositing 45 min. 0.15 min./unit 2 Patterning 3 Etching 30 min. 0.25 min./unit 20 min. 0.20 min./unit a. What is the process capacity in units per hour with a batch size of 100 wafers? [5.1] b. For what batch size is step 3 (etching) the bottleneck? [5.6] c. Suppose JCL Inc. came up with a new technology that eliminated the setup time for step 1 (deposition), but increased the processing time to 0.45 minute/unit. What would be the batch size you would choose so as to maximize the overall capacity of the pro- cess? [5.6] For the current batch size of 100 wafers, how long would it take to produce 60 wafers (The customer ordered and waiting for her products)? Assume that the batch needs to stay together during deposition and patterning (the firm does not work with transfer batches less than the production batch). However, the 60 wafers can leave the process when all 60 wafers have passed through the etching stage. Recall that a setup can only be started upon the arrival of the batch at the machine.