MBA 280 Fall 2017 Homework 1 Due: 5:00pm, Oct 5th Submit to SacCT/Content/Homework Each sub-question is 0.5 points, with a total of 8 points. You may show detailed analysis for quantitative questions to gain partial credit if you are not certain your answer is correct. You may hand-write the analysis and submit a scanned copy of your work. This assignment is an individual assignment. Discussion among classmates is disallowed. All questions or concerns should be directed to the instructor. Any violation results in a zero grade for this assignment, and may result in an F grade for the course. Process Analysis_Quantitative Assignment 2017 Harvard Business Publishing. All rights reserved. This material is authorized for use at HE OTHER, 2017. Unauthorized duplication, distribution or posting is prohibited. 1 Problem 1. Process Flow Diagram for Making a Shirt Consider the following process flow diagram for making a shirt. All steps (A, B, C, D, and E) are necessary to create each finished unit (shirt). Each step employs a single worker. Exact task times, in minutes/unit, are shown at each step. For example, it takes exactly 4 minutes to stitch the front and back of the shirt. a. Refer to the Process Flow Diagram for Making a Shirt. Consider the entire system (all steps). What is the entire system's cycle time? A. 4 minutes/unit B. 12 minutes/unit C. 5 minutes/unit D. 10 minutes/unit b. Refer to the Process Flow Diagram for Making a Shirt. What is the minimum throughput time, that is, the fastest a rush order for one unit can go through the process? Process Analysis_Quantitative Assignment 2017 Harvard Business Publishing. All rights reserved. This material is authorized for use at HE OTHER, 2017. Unauthorized duplication, distribution or posting is prohibited. 2 A. 12 minutes B. 26 minutes C. 31 minutes D. 36 minutes E. None of these answers are correct. c. Refer to the Process Flow Diagram for Making a Shirt. Assume that the process operates eight hours a day. What is its daily system capacity, in units per day? A. 13 units/day B. 40 units/day C. 48 units/day D. 96 units/day E. None of these answers are correct. d. Refer to the Process Flow Diagram for Making a Shirt. Assume that the entire process is running at bottleneck pacing. Consider only the task of preparing the front, task A, in isolation from the rest of the process. What is the approximate capacity utilization at task A? A. 5% B. 33% C. 42% D. 83% E. 100% e. Refer to the Process Flow Diagram for Making a Shirt. During the day, what is the average labor utilization of all five workers? Process Analysis_Quantitative Assignment 2017 Harvard Business Publishing. All rights reserved. This material is authorized for use at HE OTHER, 2017. Unauthorized duplication, distribution or posting is prohibited. 3 A. 60% B. 78% C. 92% D. 100% E. None of these answers are correct. Problem 2. Process Flow Diagram for Making a Shirt, with an Additional Worker All steps (A, B, C, D, and E) in the below process are necessary to create each finished unit. Task times are shown for each step. A second worker has been hired to duplicate task D. Now shirts that have been through task C go to any one of the two workers on task D. The product still requires the five steps (A, B, C, D, E). a. Refer to the Process Flow Diagram for Making a Shirt, with an Additional Worker. If the entire system (all processes) is operating at full capacity, what is the system cycle time? Process Analysis_Quantitative Assignment 2017 Harvard Business Publishing. All rights reserved. This material is authorized for use at HE OTHER, 2017. Unauthorized duplication, distribution or posting is prohibited. 4 A. 4 minutes/unit B. 12 minutes/unit C. 5 minutes/unit D. 10 minutes/unit b. Refer to the Process Flow Diagram for Making a Shirt, with an Additional Worker. Assume the entire process is running at the pace of the bottleneck. Consider only task B. What is the capacity utilization for preparing the back? A. 100% B. 60% C. 50% D. 40% c. Refer to the Process Flow Diagram for Making a Shirt, with an Additional Worker. Assume the entire process is running at the pace of the bottleneck. Consider only task D, with both workers ironing shirts. What is the capacity utilization for ironing? A. 100% B. 60% C. 50% D. 40% Process Analysis_Quantitative Assignment 2017 Harvard Business Publishing. All rights reserved. This material is authorized for use at HE OTHER, 2017. Unauthorized duplication, distribution or posting is prohibited. 5 Problem 3. Three-Step Line with Batch Processing Consider the following three-step process with setup times and task times: Each step employs a single worker who is not cross-trained for any other step. The setup represents the amount of time each separate worker spends setting up the machine for each order. No units can be processed on a machine while it is being set up. The runtime represents the amount of time it takes the worker to process a single unit. Assume the batch size is 5. At each station, the worker sets up the machine, runs 5 units through the process, then sets up the machine for the next batch. At the beginning, the worker at step 1 sets up the machine, runs 5 units, and then delivers those 5 units to the worker at step 2, and so on. If all three workers start at the same time and there is no current inventory in the system. a. What is the minimum throughput time for a batch of 5 units to be produced? b. Which step is the bottleneck? A. Step 1 B. Step 2 C. Step 3 Problem 4. IRS Process Analysis_Quantitative Assignment 2017 Harvard Business Publishing. All rights reserved. This material is authorized for use at HE OTHER, 2017. Unauthorized duplication, distribution or posting is prohibited. 6 The Internal Revenue Service Department of Tax Regulations writes regulations in accord with laws passed by Congress. On average, the department completes 300 projects per year. On average, the number of projects waiting to be completed is 588. Nevertheless, the department head claims that average time to complete a project is under six months. Please use Little's Law to decide whether you would believe this under six months response time claim. Explain your answer. Problem 5. Discuss the pros and cons of the appointment system in a doctor's office from the operations point of view. Problem 6. Please list 2 situations when the line pooling strategy is not effective in managing customers' waiting experience, and briefly explain why. Problem 7. Optimal scheduling a. Please use the service time information provided in the table below to prioritize the 5 tasks that minimizes the average waiting time. Process Analysis_Quantitative Assignment 2017 Harvard Business Publishing. All rights reserved. This material is authorized for use at HE OTHER, 2017. Unauthorized duplication, distribution or posting is prohibited. 7 Tasks Service time A B C E D 2 hours 2.5 hours 45 mins 1 hour 1.5 hours b. Please use the service time and unit waiting cost information provided in the table below to prioritize the 5 tasks that minimizes the total waiting cost. Tasks Service time Unit waiting cost ($/hour) A 2 hours B 2.5 hours C 45 mins E 1 hour D 1.5 hours 3 1 2 2 4 Problem 8. Please provide one example for any of the 8 psychology of waiting principles. Note: your example should be different from the ones on the lecture 4 slides. Process Analysis_Quantitative Assignment 2017 Harvard Business Publishing. All rights reserved. This material is authorized for use at HE OTHER, 2017. Unauthorized duplication, distribution or posting is prohibited. 8