A steel product is manufactured by starting with raw material (carbon steel wire) and then processing it sequentially through five operations using machines A to E, respectively (see following table). This is the only use that the five machines are put to. The hourly rates for each machine are given in the table.

Operation: 1 2 3 4 5 Machine: A B C D E Hourly unit output rate: 100 80 40 60 90 Consider the following questions:

a. What is the maximum output per hour of the steel product?

b. By how much would the output be improved if the output of B was increased to 90 per hour?

c. By how much would the output be improved if the output for C was increased to 50 per hour?

d. By how much would the output be improved if the output for C was increased to 70 per hour?

e. What is the effect on the system if machine A can only manage an output of 90 in one hour?

f. What is the effect on the system if machine C can only manage an output of 30 in one hour?

g. What is the effect on the system if machine B is allowed to drop to an output of 30 in one hour?

WT-202