Assignment:
The local YMCA is going to issue new membership cards to all members. They are going to set up a sequential, production line type of process to make the cards. The processing steps required are as follows:
Interview the member, taking personal information and entering it into a computer, which then prints a membership card. This takes approximately 30 seconds per person.
Take the member's photograph using a Polaroid camera. This takes about 20 seconds per person.
Let the photo develop. The pictures develop automatically, and development takes about 90 seconds.
Attach the photograph to the card, and run the card through a laminating machine. Step (4) takes approximately 10 seconds per card.
Allow the card to cool down. This takes approximately 60 seconds. The card is then available to be taken by the member.
Assume there is only one person and one computer available to do step (1), one person and one camera available to do step (2), and one person with one laminating machine available to do step (4). Steps (3) and (5) do not require the time or attention of any personnel. Moreover, there is plenty of table space for any number of pictures to be developing and cards to be cooling simultaneously.
What is the bottleneck?
What is the (nominal) hourly production capacity? (Ignore the time it takes for the first customer to get through the system. Once the process is "up to speed", it will be capable of processing how many customers per hour?)
This has been answered before, but I don't understand some of the work.
Why isn't step 1 the bottleneck?
Is this considered set-up so it's not counted as processing time?
When figuring the hourly production capacity, why do you subtract 60 seconds from the hour total (3600 secs) and why do you only add steps 1-4 and not step 5? Is it because step 5 is inventory - just wait time?
What other information is needed?