Question

Carousel conveyors are used for storage and order picking for small parts. The conveyorsrotate clockwise or counterclockwise, as necessary, to position storage bins at the storageand retrieval point. The conveyors are closely spaced, such that the operators travel timebetween conveyors is negligible. The conveyor rotation time for each item equals 1 minute;the time required for the operator to retrieve an item after the conveyor stops rotatingequals 0.25 minute. How many carousel conveyors can one operator tend without creatingidle time on the part of the conveyors

Answer 1

the number of carousel conveyors that an operator can operate without any idle time is 5

Step-by-step explanation:

Given the data in the question;

first we express the equation for number of carousel conveyors that can be operated by an operator;

n' =
`((a + t))/(( a + b))`

where a is the concurrent activity time ( 0.25 minute )

b is the independent operator activity time

t is the independent machine activity time( 1 )

Now independent activity time is zero as the operator is not performing any inspection or packaging tasks.

So time taken for the operator to retrieve the finished item at the end of the process is the concurrent activity and independent machine activity time, the conveyor rotation time of each item

so

we substitute

0.25min for a, 1 for t and 0min for b

n' =
`((0.25min + 1min))/(( 0.25min+ 0 min))`

n' = 1.25 min / 0.25

n' - 5

Therefore, the number of carousel conveyors that an operator can operate without any idle time is 5