Faculty of Engineering
Production Engineering Department
PED 351 – Facilities Planning and Material Handling
Summer 2023
Assignment 3: Schedule Design (2)
Notations
Symbol Meaning
a Concurrent activity time (loading and unloading machine)
b Independent operator activity time (walking, inspecting, packing, …)
t Independent machine activity time (automatic machining time, …)
n' Ideal number of identical machines to assign an operator
m Actual number of identical machines assigned to an operator
Tc Repeating cycle time
Io Idle operator time during a repeating cycle
Im Idle machine time during a repeating cycle
Co Cost of operator / hr.
Cm Cost of machine / hr.
TC(m) Cost per unit produced based on an assignment of m machines per operator
Equations
Machine cyble time a+t
n′ = =
Operator time per machine a+b
a+t m ≤ n′ 0 m ≤ n′
Tc = { Im = {
m(a + b) m > n′ Tc − (a + t) m > n′
T − m(a + b) m ≤ n′ (Co + mCm )(a + t)/m m ≤ n′
Io = { c TC(m) = {
0 m > n′ (Co + mCm )(a + b) m > n′
Co TC(n) ε+n n′
ε= ∅= = ( )( )
Cm TC(n + 1) ε+n+1 n
Tutorial Problems
1. If one operator can tend to machines A, B, and C according to the following data:
• Loading/Unloading times are aA = 2 min, aB = 2.5 min and aC = 3 minutes
• Machining times are tA = 8 min, tB = 10 min, and tC = 12 minutes
• Inspection times are bA = 1 min, bB = 1.5 min, and bC = 2 minutes
What is the total time needed by an operator during the repeating cycle and the machine cycle
time?
Facilities Planning Page 1 of 2
2. It takes 3 minutes to load and 2 minutes to unload a machine. Inspection, packing, and travel
between machines totals 1 minute. Machines run automatically for 20 minutes. Operators cost
L.E.12 per hour; machines cost L.E.30 per hour.
a. What is the maximum number of machines that can be assigned to an operator without
creating machine idle time during a repeating cycle?
b. What assignment minimizes the cost per unit produced?
c. If four machines are assigned an operator, what will be the cost per unit produced?
Practice Problems
3. To produce a certain product, semiautomatic machines are used. It takes 4 minutes to load and 3
minutes to unload a machine. A machine runs automatically for 25 minutes in producing one unit
of the product. Travel time between machines is 20 seconds. While machines are automatically
running, the operator inspects the unit previously produced; 75 seconds are required to inspect
one unit. An operator costs $15 per hour and machine costs $40 per hour. Determine the number
of machines assigned to an operator to minimize the cost per unit produced.
4. Suppose four identical machines are to be used to produce two different products. The operating
parameters for the two products are as follows:
Product a (mins) b (mins) t (mins)
1 2 1 6
2 2.5 1.5 8
The cost parameters are the same for each operator-machine combination: Co= L.E.15 per hour
and Cm= L.E.50 per hour. Determine the method of assigning operators to machines that minimize
the cost per unit produced.
5. Cases of a product are conveyed to automatic palletizers for palletizing. Depending on the
particular product and carton dimensions, the palletizer has to be reprogrammed by an operator.
Typically, 25 pallet loads are completed before reprogramming is needed. The reprogramming
requires 4 minutes. The palletizer operates automatically for 40 minutes. The palletizer operator
also must restock the machine with empty pallets; this can be done at any time during the last 10
minutes of the palletizer’s automatic run time; restocking pallets requires 5 minutes. Travel time
between palletizers, plus data entry in the computer system by the operator, requires 3 minutes.
What is the maximum number of palletizers one operator can tend without creating idle time for
the palletizer?
Final Answers
1. 12 and 15 minutes.
2. a, b) 4 machines and c) $13.75/unit.
3. 3 machines.
4. Only 2 machines are needed for each product.
5. 3 palletizers.
Facilities Planning Page 2 of 2
