Fresh Applesauce, Inc.

Fresh Applesauce, Inc. produces fresh applesauce. The production operation is completely cleaned out every night, in preparation for the next morning's fresh start. There is a plentiful supply of fresh picked apples (and no shortage of storage space) before they enter the continuous flow process. The first process step is coring, to remove apple stems and seeds, which can process as much as 200 lbs. of apples an hour. By weight, 25% of the whole apple is discarded. Therefore, the maximum hourly output from the coring step is 150 lbs. cored apples. Next, the cored apples go through mashing, during which cored apples are converted into delicious applesauce; mashing can process no more than 50 lbs. per hour. Mashing produces no waste, and the input weight is the same as the output weight. There is a storage bin capable of holding 400 lbs. of cored apples between the coring and mashing operations.

Assume that the time taken by setting up the system at the start of the day is negligible. Coring runs one shift, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Mashing starts from 8:00 a.m. and runs until all cored apples are mashed. After that, the equipment is shut down and cleaned.

Both steps run at full capacity whenever possible. When it is not possible to run a step at its full capacity due to some constraints in the process (for example, the storage bin of the cored apples is full), the step runs at its highest possible output rate at the time.

To help your analysis, please draw a process flow diagram for this operation.

Process Flow Diagram:

Question:

1. Given the current setup and schedule, what is the daily applesauce production?

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2.At what time does the mashing step finish its work of the day?

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3.The utilization of the coring step might change during the day.

3 (a). What is the utilization of the coring step between 9:00am and 10:00am?

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3 (b). What is the utilization of the coring step between 1:00pm and 2:00pm?

Answer:

3 (c). During the entire 8:00am to 4:00pm shift, what is the average utilization of the coring step?

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4 (a). What is the utilization of the mashing step during the 8:00am to 4:00pm regular hour?

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4 (b). What is the implied utilization of the mashing step during the 8:00am to 4:00pm regular hour?

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5. Plot the inventory of cored apples (in the storage bin between the coring step and the mashing step) over the course of a day. Use the vertical axis to show inventory of cored apples, measured in pounds. Use the horizontal axis to show time of the day, from 8:00 a.m. till 2:00 a.m. (of the next day). Mark clearly the turning points, if there is any.

Answer:

For the following, assume now the company has another storage bin holding the cored apples. The second bin has the same capacity of holding 400 lbs. maximum.

6 (a). How much applesauce can be produced per hour (the capacity rate of the process)?

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6 (b). What is the daily applesauce production?

Answer:

7. At what time are there 200 lbs of cored apple held in the storage bin?