ISE453 DESIGN OF PRODUCTION, LOGISTICS AND SERVICE SYSTEMS!

SPRING 2014 - Dr. Reha Uzsoy!

FINAL EXAMINATION!
180 minutes - Closed Book and Notes!

INSTRUCTIONS!

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1)

NO QUESTIONS OF ANY KIND WILL BE ANSWERED DURING THE

EXAMINATION. IF YOU THINK SOMETHING IS UNCLEAR, MAKE AN
APPROPRIATE ASSUMPTION, WRITE IT DOWN AND PROCEED WITH THE

SOLUTION.!

2) YOU ARE ALLOWED A CALCULATOR AND ONE DOUBLE-SIDED LETTER SIZE

SHEET FOR FORMULAE. THE FORMULA SHEET MUST BE TURNED IN WITH
YOUR EXAMINATION.!

3) ANY DRAWINGS OR DIAGRAMS NEED TO BE LEGIBLE, BUT DETAILED,

PRECISE ENGINEERING DRAWING IS NOT REQUIRED.!

4) THE EXAMINATION IS OUT OF 120 POINTS, 20 OF WHICH ARE EXTRA CREDIT. !

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Problem 1: The following part-incidence matrix has been derived for a particular
manufacturing shop:!

a) Identify modules using the Production Flow Analysis approach of Burbidge (5 points)

b) Perform two iterations of the Rank Order Clustering approach for identifying cells. (5
points) !

THE MATRIX IS REPRODUCED BELOW FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE!

c) Defining the similarity coefficient between two parts i and j as N(i,j)/[N(i)+N[(j)]. where
N(i,j) denotes the number of machines that process both parts and N(i) the number of
machines required to process part i, determine the machine that is most similar to
machine A in terms of parts processed. (5 points)!
THE MATRIX IS REPRODUCED BELOW FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE!

Problem 2: A childrens museum serves three different types of customers whose

arrival rates and service times are summarized in the table below:!
Customer Class

Arrival rate

Effective service time

3/hr

0.1 hrs

6/hr

0.05 hrs

1/hr

0.3 hrs

Assume the system is in steady state, that interarrival times are exponentially
distributed and that the variability of the effective service times is negligible. !
a) Compute the probabilities of a randomly selected customer belonging to each class.

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(5 points)!

b) Compute the utilization of the server at the ticket window (5 points)!

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c) Compute the expected value and variance of the processing time at the ticket window

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(Hint: V[X] = E[X2] - E2[X], where E[.] denotes the expected value operator) (5 points)!

d) Now compute the mean and variance of the processing time at this station if the
customers from Class 3 are sent to a separate window, with the arrival rates of
Classes 2 and 3 remaining the same. (5 points)

Problem 3: A production facility is to manufacture three products in six departments.

The departments visited by each product and the monthly production volume are given
below:!
Product

Depts. Visited

Monthly Volume !

A-C-D-F

500!

B-A-C-D-F

1000!

E-B-C-A-F

300!

a) Represent this information using a from-to chart. (5 points)!

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b) Convert this into a flow-between chart. (5 points)!

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c) Draw the relationship chart for these departments based on the volume of
flow between them.(5 points)!

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d) Draw the Relationship Diagram for this facility based on the REL Chart
from part d). (5 points)!

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e) Assuming that all departments must have the same area, construct a block
diagram of a satisfactory layout for this facility (5 points)

Problem 4: A particular process for processing an insurance claim requires

seven separate processes whose processing times are given in the table
below. Assume all employes are available for the full 60 minutes in the hour.!
Process

Time
(mins)

4.0

3.4

5.4

7.6

1.8

3.7

2.5

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a) What is the maximum number of claims that can be processed each hour if
one employee is dedicated to each processing step? (3 points)!

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b) How many workers are needed to process six claims an hour if a worker is allowed to
process more than one consecutive step of the process, e.g., Worker 1 may perform
processes 1 and 2, but not 1 and 3. Make sure to show a detailed assignments of taks
to workers, and justify that your proposed allocation can in fact meet the production
goal.(5 points) !

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c) What is the minimum number of workers needed to process six claims per hour
under the most idea conditions, assuming tasks can be split between workers with no
loss of efficiency? (2 points)!

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d) How many workers are needed if the tasks are organized in a U-line, with a separate
station devoted to each process and the employees moving between stations such that
their paths do not cross? (5 points)!

Problem 5: It is desired to locate a warehouse to serve four existing

plants. The coordinates of the plants and the number of parts shipped per
month are given below. Assume rectilinear travel.!

Plant

xi

yi

wi !

10

450!

1200!

300!

16

1500!

a) Where should the warehouse be located to minimize total weighted

travel distance? (5 points)!

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b) What should the weight of plant 2 be for the optimal location to be at

plant 2? (5 points)!

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Problem 7: Consider a production line where a product must be processed through the
following four operations in the order given:!
Operation

Machine

Setup Time
(mins/batch)

Process Time
(mins/part)

Bench

10

VTL

180

17

Deburr

10

VTL

120

26

You are also given the following information on the equipment, based on data collected
over a period of two years:!
Machine

No. of Machines

Mean Time
between Failures
(hrs)

Mean Time to
Repair (hrs)

Bench

160

VTL

160

16

Deburr

80

a) Assuming a batch size of 40 units, calculate the bottleneck rate rb at the VTL station
(You are given that the VTL is the bottleneck!) (5 points)

b) Compute the critical WIP level W0 for this system (5 points)!

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c) Calculate the worst-case throughput of the line with a batch size of 40 units and a
WIP of 8 batches. (5 points)

Problem 7: Short answers; be brief and to the point!!

a)

Your company has hired a consultant to solve the problem of locating new facilities
to minimize the sum of fixed costs and transportation costs relative to 23 existing
customers. The model does NOT consider capacity limitations at the new facilities.
The consulting firm you have hired has presented you with a solution in which new
facilities are located at candidate locations 3, 4 and 5. In this solution 25% of
customer 3s demand is served from the new facility located at candidate site 3,
and the remainder from the new facility at candidate site 5. Comment on the validity

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of this solution. !

b) A particular part is processed on two machines in sequence requiring a processing

time of P1 = 10 mins on the first machine and p2 = 15 minutes on the second. The part
is produced in batches of 100 parts. How long will it take to complete a batch if all parts
in a batch must be completed on Machine 1 before the batch can move to Machine 2?
How long will it take if a part can move to machine 2 as soon as it is completed on
Machine 1 without having to wait for the full batch to be completed? (4 points)

c) Is it possible for a cellular layout to require fews machines than a process layout,
assuming the same quantity and mix of parts is to be processed? Explain why or why
not. (4 points)!

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d) A piece of industrial equipment requires an initial investment of $100,000, is

estimated to have a useful life of ten years, after which it can be salvaged for $10,000.
The machine costs $1000/year to operate, and will save the company $5000/year over
the current technology. If the firms corporate tax rate is 30%, compute the firms net
annual after tax cash flow assuming straight-line depreciation; do NOT annualize the
initial investment! (4 points)

e) Under what market conditions is a product layout preferable to a process layout? (4

points)