Abbott Manufacturing produces plastic cases for solar photovoltaic panels and has decided to combine orders from customers to increase work order size, and thereby make one large production run per model type. Plastic injection melding machines are used to make these parts and it is time consuming to clean and re-setup the machines between production runs. Each melding machine and operator works one nine-hour shift with a one-hour lunch break and one-half hour for operator breaks.
Consolidated Work Orders Work Order Quantity Setup (Changeover) Time per Work Order (Minutes) Processing Time per Panel (Seconds)
Model XVT-5 Case 11,500
panels 90 2.15
Model UYT-3 Case 6,500 60 1.78
Model KLY-6 Case 8,800 150 3.31
What is the total workload (demand) in hours for this work order mix? How many machines will it take to do this work in one, two, or three days?
How might this process be improved?