3 1. A manufacturer's average work-in-process inventory for a certain part is 1,000 units. The workstation produces this part at the rate of 20 units per day. What is the average time a unit spends at this workstation (Hint: Use Little's Law). Answer: 1000 units / 20 units per day = 50 days 2. The Westin is an upscale hotel that caters to business customers. On average, 150 guests check into the hotel every night, and generally stay for 2 nights. The average customer pays a rate of $275 per night. Assume a month has 30 days. a. On average, how many guests are in the hotel on any given day (Little's Law). Inventory = Throughput Rate * Flow Time 150 * 2 = 300 guests are in the hotel on any given day b. How many times Inventory turns= does 1 Flow Time ) Inventory turns - 1 / 150 the hotel turn over its inventory? ( 3. Consider the case of a large retailer, such as Kohls. For the FY ending Jan 30 th, 2016, Kohl's had an inventory of $4.038B, while the Cost of Goods Sold (also called Cost of Revenue) was $12.265B/year. Calculate the days of inventory and inventory turns. (Little's Law). (Note: These numbers can be obtained from the financial statement of Kohl's: https://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3AKSS&fstype=ii&ei=FyKSWICIJ5b2jAGKtJ-gBg ) 4. Consider the case of the call center that can serve 200 customers per hour, and operates between the hours 8am-5pm (all customers are aware of the call center's working hours). During the periods of low demand, the call center receives about 100 customers per hour, while in periods of high demand, the call center receives 400 customers per hour. Assume that the period of high demand (i.e., 400 customers per hour) occurs between 12noon-1pm (this could be because customers like to call during their lunch break), and the demand is low (i.e., 100 customers per hour) during the rest of the hours of operation. Assume customers are put on hold and wait until they are served by an agent. Draw the inventory buildup diagram for such a call center