Exam 5: Constraint Management

Lanny discovers that the bottleneck is the riveting machine so he schedules all production around when that machine is available. This is an example of elevating the constraint in the five-step constraint management process.

The fifth step in Theory of Constraints application, "do not let inertia set in," means that the analyst should:

Describe a process from your own personal experience at home or work that suffers from a lack of sufficient throughput. Apply the first four TOC steps to address the situation, assuming you have complete authority to do so.

Balance the line in order to achieve maximum output for this ten activity product. Determine the number of units produced in a seven hour work day and the total idle time in hours.

Consider consecutive processes A-B-C, where process A has a capacity of 20 units per hour, process B has a capacity of 25 units per hour, and process C has a capacity of 30 units per hour. Where would an operations manager want any inventory?

An assembly line has to perform 10 work elements, whose time requirements follow. An operations analyst has found a solution using some heuristics, as shown in the table. If the cycle time of the line is 90 seconds, what is the efficiency of the assembly line?

Table 5.1 A company makes four products that have the following characteristics: Product A sells for $50 but needs $10 of materials and $15 of labor to produce; Product B sells for $75 but needs $30 of materials and $15 of labor to produce; Product C sells for $100 but needs $50 of materials and $30 of labor to produce; Product D sells for $150 but needs $75 of materials and $40 of labor to produce. The processing requirements for each product on each of the four machines are shown in the table. Work centers W, X, Y, and Z are available for 40 hours per week and have no setup time when switching between products. Market demand for each product is 80 units per week. In the questions that follow, the traditional method refers to maximizing the contribution margin per unit for each product, and the bottleneck method refers to maximizing the contribution margin per minute at the bottleneck for each product. -Use the information in Table 5.1. Using the bottleneck method, in what sequence should products be scheduled for production?

Table 5.7 The Terminal Company is attempting to balance its assembly line of high-voltage electrical connectors. The desired output for the line is 50 connectors per hour, and the information on the work elements for this assembly line is as follows. -Use the information from Table 5.7 to balance this line. What is the most efficient solution?

Table 5.5 Balance the following line for an output rate of 3 units per minute. -Use the information in Table 5.5. What is the balance delay for your solution?

Balance the assembly line using the following task information contained in the table. The desired output is 360 units per day. Available production time per day is 480 minutes. What is the efficiency for the balanced assembly line?

What is the definition of "theoretical maximum efficiency"?

Table 5.4 The Superior Management Company assembles muffalettas in The Big Easy. The steps to making a world class sandwich and the time required (in seconds) for each step are shown in the table. -Customers demand muffalettas at the rate of 20 sandwiches per hour. Use the information in Table 5.4 to determine how many workstations are needed to balance this line to maximum efficiency.

What are five of the seven key principles of the Theory of Constraints?

Table 5.3 King Supply makes four different types of plumbing fixtures: W, X, Y and Z. The contribution margins for these products are: $70 for Product W, $60 for Product X, $90 for Product Y and $100 for Product Z. Fixed overhead is estimated at $5,500 per week. The manufacture of each fixture requires four machines, Machines #1, 2, 3 and 4. Each of the machines is available for 40 hours a week and there is no setup time required when shifting from the production of one product to any other. The processing requirements to make one unit of each product are shown in the table. Weekly product demand for the next planning period has been forecasted as follows: 70 Ws, 60 Xs, 50 Ys and 30 Zs. In the questions that follow, the traditional method refers to maximizing the contribution margin per unit for each product, and the bottleneck method refers to maximizing the contribution margin per minute at the bottleneck for each product. -Use the information in Table 5.3. Using the traditional method, in what sequence should the fixtures be scheduled for production?

Table 5.1 A company makes four products that have the following characteristics: Product A sells for $50 but needs $10 of materials and $15 of labor to produce; Product B sells for $75 but needs $30 of materials and $15 of labor to produce; Product C sells for $100 but needs $50 of materials and $30 of labor to produce; Product D sells for $150 but needs $75 of materials and $40 of labor to produce. The processing requirements for each product on each of the four machines are shown in the table. Work centers W, X, Y, and Z are available for 40 hours per week and have no setup time when switching between products. Market demand for each product is 80 units per week. In the questions that follow, the traditional method refers to maximizing the contribution margin per unit for each product, and the bottleneck method refers to maximizing the contribution margin per minute at the bottleneck for each product. -Use the information in Table 5.1. Using the traditional method, which product should be scheduled first?

A line that produces several items belonging to the same family is called a: