Hickory Manufacturing Company forecasts the following demand for a product (in thousands of units) over the next five years. Currently the manufacturer has seven machines that operate on a two-shift (eight hours each) basis. Twenty days per year are available for scheduled maintenance of equipment with no process output. Assume there are 250 workdays in a year. Each manufactured good takes 25 minutes to produce. a. What is the effective capacity of the factory? b. Given the five-year forecast, how much extra capacity is needed each year? c. Does the firm need to buy more machines? If so, how many? When?

Hickory Manufacturing Company forecasts the following demand for a product (in thousands of units) over the next five years. Currently the manufacturer has seven machines that operate on a two-shift (eight hours each) basis. Twenty days per year are available for scheduled maintenance of equipment with no process output. Assume there are 250 workdays in a year. Each manufactured good takes 25 minutes to produce. a. What is the effective capacity of the factory? b. Given the five-year forecast, how much extra capacity is needed each year? c. Does the firm need to buy more machines? If so, how many? When