Smooth Chin Device Company

The Smooth Chin Device Company is a manufacturer of high-end electric razors. These razors are produced using a machine-paced process. For each razor, a tray with components enters the process at the beginning of a conveyor belt. The tray then passes through the six steps (consisting of various tasks) explained in the table below. Workers perform the assembly operations on the moving tray. The last step consists of an inspection of the then fully assembled razor. The activity times of the process are as follows:

Station A, Preparation:

1. Lay out chassis [12 sec]

2. Lay out screws [15 sec]

3. Lay out all other components [17 sec]

Total time for A: 44 sec

Station B, Assembly 1:

4. Perform task AS1 [10 sec]

5. Perform task AS2 [10 sec]

6. Perform task AS3 [20 sec]

Total time for B: 40 sec

Station C, Assembly 2:

7. Perform task AS4 [14 sec]

8. Perform task AS5 [16 sec]

9. Perform task AS6 [20 sec]

10. Perform task AS7 [5 sec]

Total time for C: 55 sec

Station D Assembly 3:

11. Perform task AS8 [30 sec]

12. Perform task AS9 [30 sec]

Total time for D: 60 sec

Station E Assembly 4:

13. Perform task AS10 [11 sec]

14. Perform task AS11 [19 sec]

15. Perform task AS12 [20 sec]

Total time for E: 50 sec

Station F Inspection

16. Inspect electrics [20 sec]

17. Inspect aesthetics [20 sec]

Total time for F: 40 sec

There are six workers, one at each of the six stations (A-F). They begin their workday at 8:00 am and work steadily until 4:00 pm. (They are replaced with other workers for breaks and lunches, but the production is not slowed or stopped during these times.) Their hourly wage rate is $25 per hour. You can assume unlimited demand.

Questions:

SC1. Which station is the bottleneck of the process?

a. A

b. B

c. C

d. D

e. E

f. F

SC2. What is the process capacity (you can ignore any start-up or empty system effects), in razors/hour?

SC3. What are the direct labor costs (you can ignore any start-up or empty system effects) associated with producing one razor, in dollars?

SC4. What is the average labor utilization (you can ignore any start-up or empty system effects) of the six workers? Please give your answer in decimal form (e.g. 0.5 for 50% utilization).