Question

In an effort to improve the efficiency in a large shop floor operation, three different workspace designs and two different storage/retrieval systems were tested. Process flow time (in days) was measured for three randomly selected operations through each combination of workspace design and storage/retrieval systems. Two-way ANOVA was used to analyze the data with the following results. At the .05 level of significance, the ANOVA results indicate

ANOVA: Flow Time versus Workspace Design, Storage System

Factor Type Levels Values
Workspace Design fixed 3 1, 2, 3
Storage System fixed 2 1, 2


Analysis of Variance for Flow Time

Source DF SS MS F P
Workspace Design 2 0.3087 0.1543 1.56 0.230
Storage System 1 0.0750 0.0750 0.76 0.392
Workspace Design*Storage System 2 4.8780 2.4390 24.72 0.000
Error 24 2.3680 0.0987
Total 29 7.6297


S = 0.314113 R-Sq = 68.96% R-Sq(adj) = 62.50%

Select one:

a. Workspace design has a significant effect on process flow time.

b. Storage/retrieval system has a significant effect on process flow time.

c. There is a significant interaction effect on process flow time.

d. Both A can B.

e. All of the above.

Answer 1

8Final answer:

The correct answer is c. There is a significant interaction effect on process flow time, as the two-way ANOVA indicates a statistically significant interaction between workspace design and storage/retrieval system (p<0.001) on process flow time at the 0.05 significance level.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question is regarding the results of a two-way ANOVA which was conducted to analyze how different workspace designs and storage/retrieval systems affect the process flow time in a large shop floor operation. According to the p-values in the ANOVA results, at the .05 level of significance, workspace design does not significantly affect process flow time (p=0.230), and neither does the storage/retrieval system (p=0.392). However, a significant interaction effect between workspace design and storage/retrieval system on process flow time is indicated (p<0.001).

Therefore, the correct answer is:

• c. There is a significant interaction effect on process flow time.

This outcome suggests that the combination of workspace design and storage system has a significant influence on the process flow time, and it would be beneficial to investigate further which specific combination yields the best efficiency improvements.