Q4.Read the below case and answer the questions. There is no word limit for the answers so explain your point in detail. (10)

The case is about Boeing, the airplane manufacturer. In 2015, after releasing the Boeing 777x airplane, an update to the widely popular 777, they announced plans to redevelop their production process. Boeing hoped to extend the extremely successful process known as "Lean Production" to include robotics and standardise production further, leading to what Boeing calls "Advanced Manufacturing".

Lean manufacturing was pioneered by Toyota Motors and is based the practice of having parts arrive at the factory just when they are needed for production. This reduces the amount of parts a company holds in inventory as well as the amount of factory floor/space needed for production. To help move from lean production to advanced manufacturing Boeing has turned to Toyota, hiring some of their top engineers.

Boeing first adopted lean manufacturing in 1999 in the manufacture of its 737, the most popular commercial airplane. By 2005, after constant refinement, it achieved a 50% reduction in the time it takes to produce a plane and a nearly 60% reduction in parts inventory. An important feature is a continuously moving assembly line (production line), moving products from one assembly team to the next at a steady pace and eliminating the need for workers to move across the factory floor from task to task or in search of tools and parts.

Toyota's lean production techniques have been the most widely adopted, revolutionising manufacturing worldwide. In simple terms, lean production is focused on organisation and communication. Workers and parts are organised so as to ensure a smooth and consistent workflow that minimises wasted effort and materials. Lean production is also designed to be highly responsive to changes in the desired mix of output - for example, quickly producing more family cars and fewer minicars depending on changes in customer demand.

Toyota's methods were so successful that they transformed the global auto industry and severely threatened American auto makers. Until 1980s, the "Big 3" automobile companies namely Chrysler, Ford, and General Motors dominated the American auto industry, with virtually no foreign-made cars sold in the U.S. in the 1980s, however, Toyota cars became increasingly popular due to their high quality and relatively low price - so popular that the Big 3 depended upon the U.S. government to protect them by restricting sales of Japanese auto mobiles in the U.S. Over time, Toyota responded by building assembly plants in the U.S. bringing along its lean production techniques, which then spread throughout American manufacturing.

Qa. What is the opportunity cost associated with having a worker move across the factory floor from task to task or in search of tools and parts?

Qb. Before lean manufacturing innovations, Japan mostly sold consumer electronics to the U.S. How did lean manufacturing innovations change Japan's comparative advantage against the U.S.