The process flow chart for Trojan Gadgets (TG) is presented below. TG makes two products—Basic and Funky. The molding workshop A only molds parts for Basic items. A worker in the molding workshop A can mold parts for a Basic item in 5 minutes. The molding workshop B only molds parts for Funky items. A worker in the molding workshop B can mold parts for a Funky item in 10 minutes. There is 1 worker in the Molding Workshop A, and there are 2 workers in the Molding Workshop B. Assembly Workshop C has 2 workers and assembles only Basic items; it takes 5 minutes for a worker to assemble a Basic item. Assembly Workshop D has 4 workers and assembles only Funky products; it takes 6 minutes per worker. In the Packing Workshop, there is one packing machine that can pack an item in 1.5 minutes, regardless of type. The demand for Basic items is 10 items/hour and the demand for Funky items is 20 items/hour.
a) What are the capacities (in items per hour) and implied utilization rates of each workstation?
b) Which workstation is the bottleneck? What is the capacity of Trojan Gadgets in items per hour, assuming the same product mix ratio?
TG’s manager learns about the value of flexibility from his intern who is a student at Marshall. He decides to cross train the workers in molding workshop A and molding workshop B, so that they are capable of producing both products. It still takes 5 minutes for a worker to mold parts of a Basic item and it takes 10 minutes per worker to assemble a Funky item. There are 3 workers in the molding workshop. Here is the new process diagram.
What are the capacities (in items per hour) and utilization rates of the molding workstation when molding workers are cross trained?
After assembly workers are cross-trained, which workstation will be the bottleneck? What is the capacity of Trojan Gadgets in items per hour, assuming the same product mix?