throughput of the firm pls help !!!!.

The Manager of a Process Plant has requested you to assist him in improving the economic performance of the facility. He has found that he is not meeting the full market demand and wishes to configure his production facility so as to maximise the throughput of the firm.

The production operation has four resources: A, B, C, and D each manned by one operator. Each of these resources has 2400 minutes of operating time available per week from 8am to 4pm per day and can be used on only one operation at a time. There are three products: P, Q and R. Product P sells for 90 per unit and has a maximum demand of 100 units per week. Product Q sells for 120 per unit and has a maximum demand of 90 units per week. Product R sells for 80 per unit and has a maximum demand of 80 units per week. The operating expense for the entire facility is 8,000 per week, exclusive of material costs. 15,000 of capital resources and raw materials are maintained in stock at all times.

The products require production time on the resources and raw materials according to the process flow chart shown on Figure 1.

Raw Material 1 is purchased for 10 per unit, Raw Material 2 costs 15 per unit, and Raw Material 3 costs 20 per unit.

Producing a unit of Product P requires one unit of Raw Material 1, processed on at Resource A for 15 minutes, then by Resource C for 10 minutes. It also requires one unit of Raw Material 2, processed on at Resource B for 15 minutes, then at Resource C for 5 minutes. One each of these parts is then assembled together with Purchased Part PP1 at Resource D in an operation that takes 15 minutes, after which it is ready for sale as Product P.

Producing a unit of Product Q requires one unit of Raw Material 2, processed on at Resource B for 15 minutes, then at Resource C for 5 minutes. It also requires one unit of Raw Material 3, processed on at Resource A for 10 minutes and then at Resource B for 15 minutes. Then one unit of the part from Resource C and one unit of the part from Resource B are assembled together at Resource D in an operation that takes 5 minutes, after which it is ready for sale as Product Q.

Producing a unit of Product R requires one unit of Raw Material 3, and can be processed on Resource B (5 mins) or Resource A (10 mins). The relevant process engineer recommends using Resource B instead of Resource A since it only takes half the time.

1. How many units of P, Q, R should be produced in order to maximise the profits from the facility? Compute the expected Return on Investment for this facility, providing a full rationale for your answer. Confirm and justify which resource should be used for producing Product R.(20 marks)

1. Recommend an alternate work practice that would improve the economic performance and compute the consequential marginal economic benefit for the entire facility.

Weekly OE - 58000 1 each of resources A B,C.& D 2400 min/week Product P $90/unit 100 units/week Product Q $120/unit 90 units/week Product R $80/unit 80 units/week Purchased Part $15/unit Resource D 15 min/unit Resource D 5 min/unit Resource B 5 min/unit Resource A 10 min/unit or Resource C 10 min/unit Resource 5 min/unit Resource B 15 min/unit Resource A 15 min/unit Resource B 15 min/unit Resource A 10 min/unit RM 1 $10/unit RM2 $15/unit RM3 $20/unit RM3 $20/unit Figure 1 - Product Resource Flow Chart| Weekly OE - 58000 1 each of resources A B,C.& D 2400 min/week Product P $90/unit 100 units/week Product Q $120/unit 90 units/week Product R $80/unit 80 units/week Purchased Part $15/unit Resource D 15 min/unit Resource D 5 min/unit Resource B 5 min/unit Resource A 10 min/unit or Resource C 10 min/unit Resource 5 min/unit Resource B 15 min/unit Resource A 15 min/unit Resource B 15 min/unit Resource A 10 min/unit RM 1 $10/unit RM2 $15/unit RM3 $20/unit RM3 $20/unit Figure 1 - Product Resource Flow Chart|