Lead Time

iSounds Inc. manufactures electronic stereo equipment. The manufacturing process includes printed circuit $($PC$)$ board assembly, final assembly, testing, and shipping. In the PC board assembly operation, a number of individuals are responsible for assembling electronic components into printed circuit boards. Each operator is responsible for soldering components according to a given set of instructions. Operators work on batches of $50$ printed circuit boards. Each board requires $4$ minutes of board assembly time. After each batch is completed, the operator moves the assembled boards to the final assembly area. This move takes $10$ minutes to complete.

The final assembly for each stereo unit requires $19$ minutes and is also done in batches of $50$ units. A batch of $50$ stereos is moved into the test building, which is across the street. The move takes $20$ minutes. Before conducting the test, the test equipment must be set up for the particular stereo model. The test setup requires $30$ minutes. The units wait while the setup is performed. In the final test, the $50-$unit batch is tested one at a time. Each test requires $12$ minutes. The completed batch, after all testing, is sent to shipping for packaging and final shipment to customers. A complete batch of $50$ units is sent from testing to shipping. The Shipping Department is located next to testing. Thus, there is no move time between these two operations. Packaging and labeling requires $9$ minutes per unit.

Required:

$1.$ Determine the amount of value$-$added and non$-$value$-$added lead time and the value$-$added ratio in this process for an average stereo unit in a batch of $50$ units. Categorize the non$-$value$-$added time into wait and move time. Round the percentage to one decimal place.

Line Item Description Answer Answer

Value$-$added lead time fill in the blank $1$ min.

Non$-$value$-$added lead time:

Wait time lead time fill in the blank $2$ min.

Move time lead time fill in the blank $3$ min.

Total non$-$value$-$added lead time fill in the blank $4$ min.

Total lead time fill in the blank $5$ min.

Value$-$added ratio $($as a percent$)$ fill in the blank $6\%$

$2.$ Move time in this process could best be reduced by:

a$.$ Doing nothing.

b$.$ Changing the layout from a process orientation to a product orientation.

c$.$ Increasing batch sizes.

d$.$ Eliminating the testing step.

e$.$ Hiring more workers.