Problem 1: Arsenal Electronics is going to construct a new $1.2 billion semiconductor plant and has selected four towns in the Midwest as potential sites. The important location factors and ratings for each town are as follows:

Recommend a site based on these location factors and ratings.

Problem 2: Sawyer Furniture is one of the few remaining domestic manufacturers of wood furniture. In the current competitive environment, cost containment is the key to its continued survival. Demand for furniture follows a seasonal demand pattern with increased sales in the summer and fall months, culminating with peak demand in November.

The cost of production is $16 per unit for regular production, $24 for overtime, and $33 for subcontracting. Hiring and firing costs are $500 per worker. Inventory holding costs are $20 per unit per month. There is no beginning inventory. Ten workers are currently employed. Each worker can produce 50 pieces of furniture per month. Overtime cannot exceed regular production. Given the following demand data, use Excel Solver to design an aggregate production plan for Sawyer Furniture that will meet demand at the lowest possible cost.

Problem 3: A retailer experiences a seasonal demand pattern for its services. Labor requirements over a typical six-month period follow.

Costs associated with operations are as follows:

Wages = $1,500 per worker per month

Hiring cost = $1,500 per worker

Layoff cost = $1,500 per worker

The current workforce level is 11 workers. Use the spreadsheet approach and the preceding data to answer the following questions.

a. What is the total cost of the staffing plan, including the cost of regular wages, hiring, and layoffs using a chase strategy with hiring and layoffs, but no overtime?

b. What is the total cost of the staffing plan, including the cost of regular wages, hiring, and layoffs using a level strategy with hiring and layoffs, with overtime of up to 25% of the regular-time capacity, and that overtime wages are 150% of the regular-time rate.

a) CHASE Strategy

b) LEVEL Strategy

Don't forget to figure out the required number of employees for the Level Strategy

Problem 4: The Union Manufacturing Company is producing two types of products: A and B. The demand forecast, batch size, and time standards for the Mark I operation follow:

The company works 250 days per year and operates 2 shifts, each covering 8 hours. If a 20 percent capacity cushion is maintained, how many Mark I machines are required if Union does not resort to any short-term capacity options?

Problem 5: A firm of four departments has the following trip matrix and current block plan of all departments:

 Trips Between Departments

a. What is the weighted-distance score for the current layout? (Assume rectilinear distance and that the distance between departments A and B is one unit of distance.)

b. What would be the weighted-distance score for the following layout?