Question

The following represents the process the Rebel Alliance uses to make Y-wing fighters. Stations A, B, and C make one arm of the Y. Stations J, K, and L make the other arm of the Y (the two arms are technically different, and thus have different processing times). Station X is where the two subassemblies are brought together; and some final tasks are completed in stations Y and Z. One employee works at each of the stages. The line is paced (each station is synchronized) so that inventory accumulates only briefly between the stages (all the stages work at the same pace).

Given the following amount of work in seconds required at each station:

A 48 J 42 X 32
B 44 K 40 Y 28
C 47 L 44 Z 30
a. What is the possible daily output of this process if 6 hours of processing time are available each day?

Daily output = ___ units

Answer 1

The possible daily output for the process is 450 units, given 6 hours of processing time each day and a cycle time determined by the longest station, which is station A at 48 seconds.

Step-by-step explanation:

To calculate the possible daily output of the process for making Y-wing fighters with the given processing times at each station and 6 hours of available processing time per day, we first determine the cycle time, which is the time taken for the process to complete one cycle and produce one unit. The cycle time is dictated by the slowest station (bottleneck), as all stages must work at the same pace in a paced line.

Reviewing the processing times for each station: A (48 seconds), B (44 seconds), C (47 seconds), J (42 seconds), K (40 seconds), L (44 seconds), X (32 seconds), Y (28 seconds), and Z (30 seconds), we can see that station A has the longest processing time at 48 seconds. Therefore, the cycle time for the process is 48 seconds.

To find out how many units can be produced in 6 hours, we convert 6 hours to seconds (6 hours * 60 minutes/hour * 60 seconds/minute = 21,600 seconds) and divide this by the cycle time:

Daily output = Total available seconds / Cycle time
Daily output = 21,600 seconds / 48 seconds/cycle
Daily output = 450 cycles (units)

Thus, the possible daily output of this process is 450 units.