The Wet Wellies Corporation produces waterproof boots and assembles them with optional linings and other features on an assembly line. Due to global warming, the demand for wellies has increased and the company would like to be able to produce 1200 boots in an 8-hour day. The table below contains work elements involved in the production process, as well as time and precedence requirements.

a. Calculate the desired cycle time for boot production.

b. Calculate the theoretical minimum number of workstations.

c. Draw a precedence diagram and balance the line.

d. Calculate the efficiency of the line.

e. Customer feedback and returns indicate there are problems with the outer sole of the boot. The QIT (quality improvement team) recommends either taking more time prepping the outer sole or taking more time assembling the outer sole to the boot. They estimate increasing the time of either work element I or J by 0.1 minutes would help fix the issue. Does it matter which work element time is increased? Why or why not?

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WORK ELEMENT REQUIREMENT (MINS) PRECEDENCE TIME DESCRIPTION 0.5 Cut vinyl R side A Cut sheepskin R side B 0.6 Sew R sides together A, B 1.0 0.5 Cut vinyl L side D Cut sheepskin L side 0.4 D, E Sew L sides together 1.0 Prep back strip 0.4 C, F, G Sew sides w/strip Н 1.5 Prep outer sole /heel I 0.4 Н. I Assemble boot 0.6 Place insole inside K 0.3