Case Study Old Oregon Wood Store In 1992, George Brown started the Old Oregon Wood Store to manufacture Old Oregon tables. Each table is carefully con structed by hand using the highest-quality oak. Old Oregon tables can support more than 500 pounds, and since the start of the Old Oregon Wood Store, not one table has been returned because of faulty workmanship or structural problems. In addi- tion to being rugged, each table is beautifully finished using a urethane varnish that George developed over 20 years of work ing with Wood-nishing materials. The manufacturing process consists of four steps: prepara- tion. assembly. nishing, and packaging. Each step is per- formed by one person. In addition to overseeing the entire operation. George does all of the nishing. Tom Surowslo' per- forms the preparation step, which involves cutting and forming the basic components of the tables. Leon Davis is in charge of the assembly, and Cathy Stark performs the packaging. Although each person is responsible for only one step in the manufacturing process, everyone can perform any one of the steps. It is George's policy that occasionally everyone should complete several tables on his or her own without any help or assistance. A small competition is used to see who can complete an entire table in the least amount of time. George maintains average total and intermediate completion times. The data are shown in Figure 9.5+ It takes Cathy longer than the other employees to construct an Old Oregon table. in addition to being slower than the other employees, Cathy is also unhappy about her current responsi- bility of packaging, which leaves her idle most of the day. Her rst preference is nishing, and her second preference is preparation. In addition to quality, George is concerned with costs and efciency. When one of the employees misses a day, it causes major scheduling problems. In some cases, George assigns an- other employee overtime to complete the necessary work. At other times, George simply waits until the employee returns to work to complete his or her step in the manufacturing process. Both solutions cause problems. Overtime is expensive, and waiting causes delays and sometimes stops the entire manufac- turing prooess. To overcome some of these problems, Randy Lane was hired. Randy's major duties are to perform miscellaneous jobs and to help out if one of the employees is absent. George has given Randy training in all phases of the manufacturing process, and he is pleased with the speed at which Randy has been able to learn how to completely assemble Old Oregon tables. Total and intermediate completion times are given in Figure 9.6. FIGURE 9.5 Manufacturing Time 10 190 250 275 in Minutes I Preparation | assembly I nishing I Packaging I {Turn} so 150 220 can I Frailnitration I Asssny I Finishihg' I Packaging I (George) 110 200 290 | Preparatlon I Asseny I Finishlng I Packaging | (Leon) 120 '90 290 315 Preparation Assorrmly nishing Packaging {CWJ FIGURE 9.6 Randy's Completion 110 190 290 300 Times in Minutes I Preparation I Amnbly I Finishing I Pma'gmg. |