A company manufactures hair dryers. It buys some of the components, but it makes the heating element, which it can produce at the rate of 850 per day. Hair dryers are assembled daily, 250 days a year, at a rate of 325 per day. Because of the disparity between the production and usage rates, the heating elements are periodically produced in batches of 2,400 units.

a. Approximately how many batches of heating elements are produced annually? (Round your answer to 2 decimal places.)

Number of batches             

b. If production on a batch begins when there is no inventory of heating elements on hand, how much inventory will be on hand 2 days later?

Number of inventory             

c. What is the average inventory of elements, assuming each production cycle begins when there are none on hand? (Do not round intermediate calculations. Round your answer to the nearest whole number.)

Average inventory             

d. The same equipment that is used to make the heating elements could also be used to make a component for another of the firm’s products. That job would require 4 days, including setup. Setup time for making a batch of the heating elements is a half day. Is there enough time to do this job between production of batches of heating elements?

No

Yes