DQ 1: How is process selection related to product design and capacity determination?
DQ 2: Read Problem 6: The "Monique Food Processing Company" in Chapter 8 of your text.
Monique Food Processing Company produces light snacks that can be heated in a microwave. The following steps are included in the process:
|
Steps
|
Description
|
Capacity (Units/Hour)
|
|
1
|
Prepare food
|
200
|
|
2
|
Measure and place in plastic pouch
|
175
|
|
3
|
Prepare cardboard box
|
200
|
|
4
|
Insert pouch into box
|
300
|
|
5
|
Shrink-wrap box
|
200
|
a. What is the system capacity, and which is the bottleneck department?
b. How much slack (unused capacity) is available in other departments?
c. How much system capacity can be gained by adding capacity to the bottleneck?
d. What are the key factors that determine when to add capacity?
e. Why would an organization want to reduce its capacity?