BIRLA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCE, PILANI

MF F219: OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT

Mid Semester Examination: Closed Book
Max Marks: 60 Duration: 90 minutes Date: 11/3/2024

Note: Justify each answer. Partial marks will not be awarded if justification is incorrect or multiple answers
are written.

Q1.
Consider the layout shown in Figure, and the From-To Chart is presented in Table. The AGVS includes load
station 1 where raw parts enter the system for delivery to any of three production stations 2, 3, and 4. Unload
station 5 receives finished parts from the production stations. Load and unload times at stations 1 and 5 are each
0.75 min. Production rates for each workstation are indicated by the delivery requirements in Table. Some parts
must be transshipped between stations 3 and 4. Vehicles move in the direction indicated by the arrows in the
figure. The AGVs travel at a speed of 0.5 m/sec, and the traffic factor = 0.90. Assume reliability = 90%.
i) If the vehicles operate according to the following scheduling rules: (a) vehicles delivering raw work parts from
station 1 to stations 2, 3, and 4 must return empty to station 5; and (b) vehicles picking up finished parts at
stations 2, 3, and 4 for delivery to station 5 must travel empty from station 1, then how many automated guided
vehicles will be required to operate the system. [10]
ii) If vehicles delivering raw work parts from station 1 to stations 2, 3, and 4 must pick up finished parts at these
respective stations for delivery to station 5, then how many automated guided vehicles will be required to
operate the system. [4]

To 1 2 3 4 5
From 1 0 7/30 7/85 6/155 0
2 0 0 0 0 7/60
3 0 0 0 4/70 3/125
4 0 0 0 0 10/55
5 0 0 0 0 0

Q2.
Print-for-All is a family-owned print shop that has grown from a three-press two-color operation to a full-
service facility capable of performing a range of jobs from simple copying to four-color printing, scanning,
binding, and more. The company is moving into a new facility and would like some help arranging its
processes into an efficient, cellular layout. A list of most popular jobs, and the processes associated with them
is shown in the table below. Jobs are identified by letters and processes are identified numerically. Arrange the
processes into cells to ensure an efficient and flexible operation.
i) Identify logical part families and machine groups using the rank order clustering technique. [6]
ii) If you found that overlap exists in the processing requirements between machine groups, then what
alternatives you will suggest to the print shop. [4]
Jobs Print for All Jobs Print for All
Processes processes
A 2–4–7 F 3–8
B 2–4–6–8 G 2–3
C 1–5–7 H 2–3–6–8
D 1–4–7
I 2–6–8
E 1–5

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Q3. A roller conveyor follows a pathway 45 m long between a production department and an assembly department.
Velocity of the conveyor is 0.5 m/sec. Parts are loaded into large tote pans, which are placed onto the conveyor
at the load station in the production department. Two operators work at the loading station. The first worker
loads parts into tote pans, which takes 15 sec. Each tote pan holds 10 parts. The second worker loads tote pans
onto the conveyor, which takes only 30 sec. Determine
i) Flow rate in parts/min. [2]
ii) The maximum time allowed to unload the tote pan in the assembly department. [2]
iii) By how much must conveyor speed be increased in order to increase flow rate to 1500 parts/hr? [4]
iv) Number of tote pans on the conveyor at one time [2]
Q4.
i) A XYZ company wants to revamp its assembly lines to improve the efficiency. Given that one worker is
assigned to each workstation, which line balancing algorithm you will recommend the company to improve
their efficiency and balance the assembly lines. Justify your selection in comparison to other algorithms. [3]
ii) How does a cellular layout combine a product and process layout? Justify your answer with a suitable
example. Highlight the two major drawbacks of cellular layout. [5]
iii) Mohit working in a XYZ steel plant is asked to increase the productivity of plant. Recommend the four
strategies to him to improve the productivity of the plant. Explain each strategy with a suitable example with
reference to operations management. [4]
Q5.
A paper manufacturing company has been trying to avoid the expense of installing air pollution equipment in
its facility. The environmental protection agency (EPA) has recently given the manufacturer 16 weeks to
install an air filter system. Company has been warned that it may be forced to close the facility unless the
device is installed in the allotted period. Jessy, the plant manager wants to make sure that installation of the
filtering system progresses smoothly and on time. Given the following information.

Normal Crash Normal Crash

Time Immediate
Activity Description Time Time Cost Cost
(Weeks) Predecessors
(Weeks) (Weeks) ($) ($)
A Build internal components 2 — 2 1 22,000 22,500
B Modify roof and floor 3 — 3 1 30,000 34,000
C Construct collection stack 2 A 2 1 26,000 27,000
D Pour concrete and install frame 4 A, B 4 3 48,000 49,000
E Build high-temperature burner 4 C 4 2 56,000 58,400
F Install pollution control system 7 C 7 2 30,000 30,750
G Install air pollution device 5 D, E 5 2 80,000 84,500
H Inspect and test 2 F, G 2 1 16,000 19,000

i) Draw the AON network diagram and determine which activities have shared slack, independent slack and how
much using the CPM? [4]
ii) Suppose the company has been given only 10 weeks to install the new pollution control equipment or face a
court order shutdown. Jessy wanted to know how much extra cost would be incurred to install the equipment
by this time. [4]
iii) Find the minimum time in which the project can be completed at the least cost. Determine the least cost and
savings also. [6]

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