Solved Problem 10.
1: Measuring Theoretical Capacity
An automobile transmission-assembly factory operates two shifts per day, five days per
week. During each shift, with ideal operating conditions, 400 transmissions can be
completed. What is the theoretical monthly capacity of this factory?
Solution:
The number of shifts/month is calculated as:
Therefore, the theoretical monthly capacity is:
Solved Problem 10.2: Computing Capacity Requirements for Work Orders
A typical dentist’s office has a complicated mix of dental procedures and significant setup
times; thus, it is similar to a job shop. Suppose a dentist works a nine-hour day with one
hour for lunch and breaks. During the first six months the practice is open, he does all the
work, including cleaning and setting up for the next dental procedure. Setup and processing
times for three procedures are shown in Exhibit 10.3. Also shown are the number of
appointments and demand for each type.
Exhibit 10.3
Eq. 10.2: Capacity = [S + P] x Q
Single Tooth Crown: (15 + 90) x 2 = 210
(10 + 30) x 1 = 40
Tooth Whitening: (5 + 30) x 4 = 140
Partial Denture: (20 + 30) x 3 = 150
(5 + 30) x 2 = 70
TOTAL = 610 mins.
Dentist’s Workday: 8 hrs x 60 mins/hr = 480 mins./day
Difference: 610 mins – 480 mins = 130 mins.
Conclusion:
Dentist will have to work overtime to accommodate all patients OR
reschedule some patients.
Total Setup Time = 130 mins >> can this still be reduced? or would hiring an
assistant/technician be cost effective?
Solved Problem 10.3: Capacity Measurement with Known Service Rates
A college of business has an IT support staff in its computer lab. Consultants receive
numerous requests for questions and help. Each request takes an average of five minutes,
and there are an average of 25 requests per hour.
1. Suppose that there are three consultants. How many students can the support staff
handle each hour?
2. If the lab is expanded, and the college anticipates 120 requests per hour, how many
consultants will be needed?
Known: each consultant can complete 12 requests/hour (60 mins/5 mins = 12)
Capacity= Service Rate x No. of Servers
1. Capacity (requests/hour) = (12 requests/hour/consultant) x 3 consultants
= 36 requests/hour
2. 120 requests/hour = 12 requests/hour/consultant x number of consultants
Number of Consultants = ____120 requests/hour_____
12 requests/hour/consultant
= 10 consultants
10-2a: Using Capacity Measures for Operations Planning
Fast Burger Inc. is building a new restaurant near a college
football stadium. The restaurant will be open 16 hours per day,
360 days per year. Managers have concluded that the restaurant
should have the capacity to handle a peak hourly demand of 100
customers. This peak hour of demand happens two hours before
every home football game. The average customer purchase is
1 burger (4-ounce hamburger or cheeseburger)
1 bag of french fries (4 ounces)
1 soft drink (12 ounces)
Consequently, management would like to determine how many
grills, deep fryers, and soft drink spouts are needed. Observe
how Equation 10.4 is used throughout this example.
A 36 × 36-inch grill cooks 48 ounces of burgers every 10
minutes, and a single-basket deep fryer cooks 2 pounds of
french fries in 6 minutes, or 20 pounds per hour. Finally, one
soft drink spout dispenses 20 ounces of soft drink per minute,
or 1,200 ounces per hour. These effective capacity estimates are
based on the equipment manufacturer’s studies of actual use
under normal operating conditions.
To determine the equipment needed to meet peak hourly
demand, Fast Burger must translate expected demand in terms
of customers per hour into needs for grills, deep fryers, and soft
drink spouts. First note that the peak hourly demand for
burgers, french fries, and soft drinks are as follow:
Product Peak Hourly Demand (ounces)
Burgers 400
French fries 400
Soft drinks 1,200
Because the capacity of a grill is ,
the number of grills needed to satisfy a peak hourly demand of
400 ounces of burgers is
To determine the number of single-basket deep fryers needed
to meet a peak hourly demand of 400 ounces of french fries, we
must first compute the hourly capacity of the deep fryer.
Hence, the number of single-basket deep fryers needed is
.
Finally, the number of soft drink spouts needed to satisfy peak
demand of 1,200 ounces is
Decision:
Grills: 2
Fryers: 2
Softdrink Spout: 2
Excess Justification: need for Safety Capacity
The managers of Fast Burger Inc. must also staff the new
restaurant for peak demand of 100 customers/hour. Assume
front-counter service personnel can take and assemble orders
at the service rate of 15 customers per hour. The minimum
number of front-service counter people that should be assigned
to this peak demand period is . To provide additional safety
capacity to account for variations in order sizes, for example,
Fast Burger management decides to assign eight people to the
front-service counter during this peak demand period.
The management at Fast Burger now has an equipment and
labor capacity plan for this peak-demand period. Notice that
equipment capacity, which is difficult to increase in the short-
term, is high, whereas labor is more easily changed. This
equipment and labor capacity strategy must also be coupled
with good forecasting of demand.