Topic 5 tutorial questions

Discussion questions

1. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of flow line layouts.

2. Explain the factors that determine the cycle time of a flow line and discuss how the
production rate of a flow line can be increased.
3. By way of an example, explain why it is not desirable to have a long flow line with many
workstations, and how a long flow line can be avoided.
4. By way of an example, explain how buffers may be used to increase line efficiency in flow
line layout
Problems

1 In the operation of a certain 15-station transfer line, the ideal cycle time is 0.58 min.
Breakdowns occur at a rate of once every 10 cycles, and the average downtime per
breakdown ranges between 2 and 9 min, with an average of 4.2 min. The plant in which
the transfer line is located works an 8-h day, 5 days per week. How many parts will the
line be capable of producing during an average week?

2 The following data apply to a 12-station in-line transfer machine:

p = 0.01 (all stations have an equal probability of failure)
Tc = 0.3 min
Td = 3.0 min
Using the upper-bound approach, compute the following for the transfer
machine:

a) F, the frequency of line stops.

b) Rp, the average production rate.
c) E, the line efficiency.

3 Solve Problem 2 using the lower-bound approach. What proportion of workparts are
removed from the transfer line?

4 A circular indexing machine performs 10 assembly operations at 10 separate stations.

The total cycle time, including transfer time between stations, is 10 s. Stations break
down with a probability p = 0.007, which can be considered equal for all 10 stations.
When these work stoppages occur, it takes an average of 2 min to correct the fault.
Parts are not normally removed from the machine when these stops occur. Compute
the proportion of downtime, the efficiency, and the production rate of this circular
indexing machine.

5 A transfer machine has six stations as follows:

_______________________________________________________________________
Station Operation Pi Process time (min)
_______________________________________________________________________
_
1 Load part 0 0.78
2 Drill three holes 0.02 1.25
3 Ream two holes 0.01 0.90
4 Tap two holes 0.04 1.42
5 Mill flats 0.01 1.42
6 Unload part 0 0.45
_______________________________________________________________________

The time to transfer between stations = 0.28 min. If the part stops due to a jam in the
line, it is removed as defective. It takes an average of 8 min to determine the fault and

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 correct the problem and remove the part. Also, there is a scheduled tool change every
40 parts which takes 6 min to complete. There are 20,000 parts to be started onto the
transfer machine.
a) How many defective parts will be removed from the line?
b) How many total hours will be consumed in the manufacturing process?
c) Find the proportion of downtime.
d) Find the rate of production of acceptable parts.

6 In Problem 5 the cost of operating the transfer machine is $60/h, as estimated by the
accounting department of the company. It is proposed that a computer and sensors be
installed to aid in diagnosing breakdowns when they occur. The anticipated savings are
2 min off the 8 min to identify and correct the fault when it occurs. The computer will
have no effect on tool changes. The estimated cost of installing the monitoring system
is $11,000. How many units must the system produce to pay for the computer?

7 An eight-station transfer line has the following operations at each station; also given are
the processing time and the frequency of line stops for each station. During the
observation period there were 2000 parts completed.
____________________________________________________________________
____
Station Process Process time (min) Breakdown
____________________________________________________________________
____
1 Load part 0.40 0
2 Mill top 0.85 22
3 Mill sides 1.10 31
4 Drill two holes 0.60 47
5 Ream two holes 0.40 8
6 Drill six holes 0.90 58
7 Tap six holes 0.75 84
8 Unload part 0.50 0
____________________________________________________________________
____

Also influencing the cycle time is the operation of the transfer mechanism, which takes
0.15 min each cycle. When breakdowns occur, it takes an average of 7.00 min to
make repairs and get the line operating again. Assume that the upper-bound
approach is operative in your analysis for the following:

a) Determine the average production time per piece and the hourly
production rate for the transfer line.
b) What is the uptime efficiency of the line and the proportion downtime?
c) How many hours were required to produce the 2000 parts?

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8 In Problem 8, if the lower-bound approach were used instead of the upper-bound
approach, and if the frequency of breakdowns in the lower-bound approach F = 0.10,
determine the following (assuming that the process times, transfer time, and average
downtime per occurrence are the same in Problem 8).

a) How many raw workparts would have started on the line to complete the
2000 parts?
b) How many parts would have been removed from the line as damaged due
to breakdown if 2000 parts were completed?
c) How many hours would have been required to produce the 2000
completed parts?

9 The APSCIM Machine & Foundry operates an automated transfer line with 12 stations.
The line is considered to have an efficiency that is unacceptably low. Below is a report
of a study on the current line operations. APSCIM would like to improve the efficiency
by making the following changes in the line:

First, change over from the current electromechanical relay-type controls to a

programmable controller. In addition to controlling the line in the same way as before,
the new controller would reduce the average downtime by diagnosing the malfunction,
thus allowing repairs to be made more quickly. It is expected that the average
downtime occurrence will be reduced by 25% using this diagnostic system.

APSCIM Machine & Foundry, Inc.

Technology Laboratory Report

Report No. 572, prepared by: John B Olderfella

This will document our two-week study of the APSCIM transfer line. The transfer
line was observed for a total of 80 hours (one shift per day). During this period, the
line was down for a total of 42 hours, and a total of 1689 parts were machined. The
following table lists the operation, the process time (in minutes), and the number of
downtime occurrences for each stations.
__________________________________________________________________________
Station Operation Process time (min) Number of downtimes
___________________________________________________________________________
1 Load (manual) 0.50 0
2 Rough mill top 1.10 15
3 Finish mill top 1.25 18
4 Rough mill sides 0.65 23
5 Finish mill sides 1.05 31
6 Mill surfaces for drill 0.80 9
7 Drill two holes 0.75 27

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 8 Tap two holes 0.40 47
9 Drill three holes 0.85 30
10 Ream three holes 0.70 21
11 Tap three holes 0.45 25
12 Unload and inspect 0.90 0
_____ _____
9.40 246
___________________________________________________________________________
The transfer time required to move parts from one station to the next is 6 seconds
___________________________________________________________________________

Second, divide the current line consisting of 12 stations into two stages, each
consisting of six stations. An in-process storage buffer would be used between the
stages so that each stage could operate as an independent transfer line. This is
expected to improve the overall production rate and line efficiency.
Determine the following:

a) The parameters of the line performance as it currently operates (without the improvements).
These should include the ideal cycle time, the frequency of line stops, the line efficiency,
and the average hourly production rate.
b) The effect of the two changes in the line operation described above. Determine the effect of
both changes together rather than each change separately. Your analysis should result in
an assessment of the line performance for each stage (ideal cycle time, the frequency of line
stops, the line efficiency, and the average hourly production rate). Also, determine the overall
performance of the two-stage system. In your analysis, assume the upper-bound approach.
Make any other additional assumptions necessary to solve the problem.

10 A partially automated flow line has a mixture of mechanized and manual workstations.
There are a total of six stations and the overall theoretical cycle time is 1.0 min. This
includes a transfer time of 6 s. The six stations possess characteristics as follows:
_______________________________________________________________________
Station Type Process time (s) Pi
_______________________________________________________________________
_
1 Manual 30 0
2 Automatic 15 0.01
3 Automatic 20 0.02
4 Automatic 25 0.01
5 Manual 54 0
6 Manual 30 0
____________________________________________________________________

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 Cost of the transfer mechanism is $0.10/min to operate. Cost to run each of the
automatic workheads is figured at $0.12/min for each of the three automatic stations.
Labour cost to operate each of the manual stations is $0.15/min for each of stations
1,5 and 6. It has been proposed to substitute an automatic workhead for the current
manual station 5. The cost of this workhead will be $0.25/min and its breakdown rate
p will be 0.02, but its process time will be only 30 s compared to 54 s for the current
line. The average downtime per breakdown of the current and proposed configuration
is 3.0 min. Should the proposal be accepted?

11 A manual assembly line is to be designed with a production rate of 100 completed

assemblies per hour. The line will have eight stations and the length of each station
is 1.0m the minimum allowable tolerance time is to be 2.0 min. If the line is figured to
have an uptime efficiency of 97% (estimated from previous similar lines), determine
the following parameters for the line:

a) Ideal cycle time Tc

b) Conveyor speed Vc
c) Feed rate Fp
d) Part spacing Sp along the belt

12 The total work content time of a certain assembly job is 7.8 min. The estimated
downtime of the line is D = 5%, and the required production rate of Rp = 80 units/h.

a) Determine the theoretical minimum number of workstations required to optimize

the balance delay.
b) For the number of stations determined in part a), compute the balance delay d.
c) What feed rate should be specified if a moving belt line is to be used?

13 A moving belt assembly line is to be designed for an assembly job that has a total
work content of 21 min. From consideration of human factors, the length of each
station will be 6.0ft. The belt speed is variable and can be set between 1.1 and 2.0
ft./min. The required production rate for the line must be 30,000 units/yr. (assume
2000 h of operation per year). From past experience on similar lines, the uptime
proportion of this assembly line (line efficiency), E is expected to be 95%. Production
management demands that the line be designed so that the balance delay d is
between 0.06 and 0.10, and the line must be designed for a balance delay within this
range.

a) Determine the number of stations that should be designed on the assembly line.
b) With good design practice in mind, determine the belt speed, spacing between
parts on the line, and the tolerance time to be used.

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14 The following list defines the precedence relationships and element times for a new
model toy:

Work element Te (min) Immediate predecessors

1 0.5 -
2 0.3 1
3 0.8 1
4 0.2 2
5 0.1 2
6 0.6 3
7 0.4 4,5
8 0.5 3,5
9 0.3 7,8
10 0.6 6,9

a) Construct the precedence diagram for this job.

b) If the ideal cycle time = 1.1 min. repositioning time = 0.1 min, and uptime proportion is
assumed to be 1.0, what is the theoretical minimum number of workstations required to
minimize the balance delay under the assumption that there will be one worker per
station?
c) Use the largest candidate rule to assign work elements to stations.
d) Compute the balance delay for your solution.

15 Solve Problem 14 using the Kilbridge and Wester method in part (c).

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