Question 1

Explain what the purpose of assembly line balancing is. Describe briefly how it is done. Explain how assembly line balancing supports the needs of product layout.

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Question 2

An assembly line has been designed to make battery-powered beverage mixers. Task details are shown in the table below:
  a. What is the assigned cycle time (in minutes)?
b. What is the maximum output rate of this line in mixers per hour?
c. What is the total idle time per cycle?
d. What is the assembly line's efficiency?

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Question 3

What is cross-docking? Why is it appropriate for some forms of warehouse layout?

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Question 4

What is a servicescape? How is it related to the retail layout problem? What are the three elements of servicescape for dealing with these human issues?

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Question 5

What is the role of heuristics in solving layout problems? Provide a brief example, drawing from manufacturing situations, retailing situations, or other service situations.

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Question 6

A facilities manager at a company headquarters once said, "I'd like to use Muther's office relationship chart or the load-distance model to solve our layout problems, but neither tool can optimize. I want the best layout possible." Discuss.

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Question 7

Define the following terms that occur in assembly line balancing: cycle time, minimum number of workstations, and efficiency.

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Question 8

Identify the four requirements for cellular production.

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Question 9

Assembly line balancing has just been used to solve a product layout problem. Two solutions look especially attractive to the plant managers. Both solutions make the same output per day, and both have the same number of workstations. The managers were going to break the tie by looking at line efficiency, but discovered that both lines had the same efficiency as well. Should they have been surprised at this? Explain.

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Question 10

Develop a solution for the following line balancing problem, allowing a cycle time of 5 minutes.
a. Draw the precedence diagram for the set of tasks.
b. Calculate the theoretical minimum number of workstations.
c. Balance this line using the longest task time heuristic.
d. What tasks are assigned to which stations?
e. Does the solution have the minimum number of stations? Explain.
f. How much idle time is there, summed over all workstations?
g. What is the efficiency of this line?

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Question 11

Departments A, B, C, and D need to be assigned to four rooms 1, 2, 3, and 4. These rooms are arranged in a row, in that order, with 20 meters between each. The departmental work flows are contained in the table below.
a. What is the material handling total of assigning A-1, B-2, C-3, D-4?
b. What is the material handling total of assigning A-1, B-3, C-4, D-2?

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Question 12

Consider the five ideas for determining the overall arrangement of most retail stores. How are these ideas implemented (a) in a supermarket, and (b) in a fine department store? (Please consider the entire store--not just the areas where merchandise is displayed.)

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Question 13

Briefly explain what "slotting" is. Why is slotting considered a "controversial" practice? What ethical issues might arise with regard to slotting?

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Question 14

"Having a focused work center is like having a factory within a factory." Discuss. Include in your discussion what conditions make focused work centers appropriate.

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Question 15

What design guidelines help retail layouts to maximize customer exposure to products?

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Question 16

What are the advantages and disadvantages of product layouts?

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Question 17

Explain how a load-distance model helps solve problems in process layout.

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Question 18

What are the advantages of focused factories?

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Question 19

Why do work cells increase the use of equipment and machinery?

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Question 20

What are the two basic types of product layouts? Explain how they are alike, and how they are different.

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Quiz 9: Layout Strategies