1. Sadie works as an electronics design engineer in a major corporation. Sadie's average work queue (including the job she is currently working on) averages 10 design projects. Her average time to complete an individual job is one week. Management, realizing Sadie represents very expensive and rare talent, monitors her utilization very closely and assigns her work as necessary to keep her utilization at 95%. What is Sadie's average lead time (time in queue plus processing time)?
2. Concerned project lead time is too high, management is considering the purchase of a new electronic design software package they believe will enhance Sadie's productivity. Suppose they purchase the new software and find Sadie's average time to complete an individual job drops from 1 week to 0.8 work (4 days). Assume the new software has no impact on the variability of the time it takes Sadie to complete an individual job. Suppose management does not increase the number of jobs (arrival rate) Sadie has to do. After adopting the software, what will be Sadie's new average lead time?
3. Suppose management, realizing Sadie is underutilized, increases the number of jobs she has to do until the 95% utilization rate is restored. What will be Sadie's average lead time now?