A Missouri job shop has four departments machining (M), dipping in a chemical bath (D), finishing (f), and plating (P) ––assigned to four areas. The operations manager, Mary Marrs, has gathered the following data for this job shop as it is currently laid out (Plan A).

100s of Work pieces Moved Between Work Areas Each Year

Distances Between Work Areas (Departments) in Feet

It costs $0.50 to move 1 work piece 1 foot in the job shop. Marrs’s goal is to find a layout that has the lowest material handling cost.
(a) Determine cost of the current layout, Plan A, from the data above.
(b) One alternative is to switch those departments with the high loads, namely, finishing (F) and plating (P), which alters the distance between them and machining (M) and dipping (D), as follows:
Distances Between Work Areas (Departments) in Feet

What is the cost of this layout?
(c) Mars now wants you to evaluate Plan C, which also switches milling (M) and drilling (D), below.
Distances Between Work Areas (Departments) in Feet

What is the cost of this layout?
(d) Which layout is best from a costperspective?

Transcribed Image Text:

Plan A 18 18 P-804 F-26 20 MDFP P-804 F-26 MDFP P-624 8