Don’t Bother Me, I Can’t Cope
As per the given case, the work flow diagram can be made as follows:
There are 2 assembly lines, namely, Line A & Line B.
The below given information is provided about the assembly line A:
Activity Activity time (Seconds) Immediate Predecessor
1 30 None
2 50 None
3 40 1
4 50 1
5 20 2
6 10 3
7 10 4,5
8 20 2
9 10 6
10 40 9
11 20 7
12 30 7
13 50 9
14 50 10
15 10 11
16 40 8,12
Worker Number Activity Activity Time Total Time
1 1,3 30+40 70
2 2,5 50+20 70
3 4,8 50+20 70
4 6,9,13 10+10+50 70
5 7,10,11 10+40+20 70
6 14,15 50+10 60
7 12,16 30+40 70
From the above tables, it can be inferred that the cycle time of Line A is 70 secs.
Again, doing the same for Line B:
Activity Activity time (Seconds) Immediate Predecessor
a 40 None
b 50 None
c 70 a
d 20 a
e 50 a
f 40 b,c
g 60 e
h 30 d,f,g
Worker Number Activity Activity Time Total Time
1 a,b,c,d 40+50+70+20 180
2 e,f,g,h 50+40+60+30 180
From the above tables, it can be inferred that the cycle time of Line B is 180 secs.
Total working time = (8*60*60) secs – (4*15*60) secs = 25200 secs
Q1) Find out the current capacities of the both lines. Indentify the bottlenecks
Ans1) Daily capacity of Line A = Available time/Cycle time = 25200/70 = 360 units
Daily capacity of Line B = Available time/Cycle time = 25200/180 = 140 units
Bottlenecks in Line A are worker 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 & 7.
For Line B, both workers1 & 2 are bottlenecks.
Q2) What are the options available to Sane and Uma to meet new
requirements?
Ans2) Options available with Sane and Uma are as follows:
• The workstations can be redesigned, if possible, to meet the required
demands in such a way that the new cycle time is met.
• The workers can be asked to do overtime in order to fulfill the demands.
• New workers can be hired to meet the required cycle time.
• Subcontracting and outsourcing can also be done in order to meet the
required cycle time.
Q3) What plan would you suggest to meet the new requirements of both sub-
assemblies A and B within the given constraints? Show all calculations with
cost data and cost implications to company.
Ans3) For the options mentioned in answer 2, required calculations are shown
below:
Option A:
For Line A:
Current Capacity of Line A = 360 units
New requirement from Line A = 420 units
Daily running cost of Line A = 8 hrs * 7 workers * Rs18/worker.hour = Rs 1008
Daily capacity = Available working time/Cycle time
420 units/day = 25200 secs/ Cycle Time
Therefore, Cycle time = 25200/420 = 60 sec
Or,
With the current workforce, 420 units can be produced in 8.16 hours
Daily cost of Line A, if workers work for 8.16 hours = (7 workers*8 hours*Rs
18/worker.hour) + (7 workers*1.16 hours*Rs 30/worker.hour) = Rs 1251.6
One of the many possible new designs for the assembly line is shown below:
Worker Number Activity Activity Time Total Time
1 2 50 50
2 1,5 30+20 50
3 3,6 40+10 50
4 4,7 50+10 60
5 11,12 20+30 50
6 9,13 10+50 60
7 8,10 20+40 60
8 14 50 50
9 15,16 10+40 50
From the above table, we see that with 2 new workers Line A will be able to meet
the new demands within its working hours.
Daily cost of 9 workers = 9 workers*8 hours*Rs18/worker.hour = Rs 1296
For Line B:
Current Capacity of Line A = 140 units
New requirement from Line A = 210 units
Daily running cost of Line A = 8 hrs * 2 workers * Rs18/worker.hour = Rs 288
Daily capacity = Available working time/Cycle time
210 units/day = 25200 secs/ Cycle Time
Therefore, Cycle time = 25200/210 = 120 sec
Or,
With the current workforce, 210 units can be produced in 10.5 hours
Daily cost of Line A, if workers work for 10.5 hours = (2 workers*8 hours*Rs
18/worker.hour) + (2 workers*3.5 hours*Rs 30/worker.hour) = Rs 498
To the above cost of labour, we need to add the rejection cost of 1% too. Hence
actual cost to company for the work being done in Line B will be = Rs 498 + (1% of
210)*Rs 420 = Rs 1380
One of the many possible new designs for the assembly line is shown below:
Worker Number Activity Activity Time Total Time
1 b,c 70+50 120
2 a, d, e 40+20+50 110
3 f, g 40+60 100
4 h 30 30
From the above table, we see that with 2 new workers Line B will be able to meet
the new demands within its working hours.
Daily cost of 9 workers = 4 workers*8 hours*Rs18/worker.hour = Rs 576
Difference in daily operational costs = Rs 1380 - Rs 576 = Rs 804
Cost of training 2 additional workers for Line B= 2 * Rs6000= Rs 12000
Hence, the cost of training will be recovered in Rs12000/Rs804 = 14.92 days = 15
days
Hence, the new demands can be met by making Line A workers do an overtime of
1.16 hours and hiring 2 new workers for Line B.
