A family of 6-part styles in equal quantities is processed by a GT cell of 4 machines. Each part takes an average 32 min to come out from the cell and total 180 parts are produced in 8 hr shift. All six-part styles are processed through all four machines in the same order. One machine is the key machine which is utilized 100%. The other three machines have utilizations ranging between 60% and 85%. Five of the parts in the family require no changeover time on any machine, but the sixth part requires a changeover time of 4 min on the key machine. The six parts are currently produced consecutively, so a disproportionate amount of the time of the key machine is spent processing the sixth part. 

(a) What is the average work-in-process (number of parts) in the cell at any moment? A proposal has been made to process the sixth part in batches, so the 4-min changeover time would be spread over the number of units in the batch. How many hours would be required to process the same 180 parts if the sixth part were processed in batch sizes of

(b) 10 parts and 

(c) 30 parts?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

a What is the average work in process number of parts in the cell at any moment ANS WER The average ... View the full answer