A manufacturing cell makes two components, X and Y$,$ that are sent to a small assembly area where the two components are then assembled together with a third assembly Z $($sourced externally$)$ to produce one end item. The cell can only make one of the components at a time. Each end item requires one of component X$,$ two of component Y$,$ and one of the assembly Z$.$

The final assembly area has storage areas to hold X$,$ Y$,$ and Z that for all practical purposes has no limit to how much it can hold. Purchasing makes sure to have sufficient quantities of Assembly Z on hand at all times to assure that the final assembly area is never starved for Assembly Z$.$ The final assembly area is dedicated to this one end item. Once end items are complete, they are moved by automated conveyor belt to the packaging department.

The manufacturing cell requires some non$-$productive setup time to changeover from making X to making Y$,$ and again when switching back to making X again. Because of this, the cell produces X and Y in batches to minimize the effect of non$-$productive setup time on the productivity of the operation. Currently the cell produces a batch of $100$ of component X$,$ followed by $200$ of component Y$,$ and then the cycle repeats itself. Once complete, X and Y are sent to the final assembly area.

Following are data on the processing times for the two components and the end item:

Item Setup Time Run Time per Unit

Component X $10$ minutes $\mathrm{.}25$ minutes

Component Y $15$ minutes $\mathrm{.}10$ minutes

End Item N$/$A $\mathrm{.}50$ minutes

There is an Excel template at Canvas for your use on this assignment.

a$)$ Draw a flow chart of this process on the first tab. Make it as detailed as you see fit. Label it as needed. Please use the Insert Shapes tools in Excel to make this easier $($see video in Canvas on how to do this$).(5$ points$)$

b$)$ What is the maximum hourly output of the system in the long run? What is the bottleneck of the process? Use the second tab of the template for this purpose. $(5$ points$)$

c$)$ Perform a WIP inventory analysis of both component X and component Y$,$ taking into consideration the final assembly operation. Use the third and fourth tabs of the template for this purpose. Perform the analysis under the following two scenarios. In each case, Components X and Y are considered WIP as soon as they are made in the cell until they are consumed in the final assembly process. It does not matter whether it is stored at the cell or final assembly. $(15$ points$)$

$1)$ Batch Flow: Components X and Y are not moved to the final assembly area until a full batch is complete. $($WIP is stored both in the cell and in the assembly area.$)$

$2)$ Unit Flow: Components X and Y are automatically moved to the final assembly area as soon as each unit is completed by the cell. $($WIP is stored in the assembly area only.$)$

Good inventory analyses will have an inventory level graph for one full processing cycle and a computation of the average WIP levels for X and Y$.$ You do not need to differentiate between WIP in the cell and WIP in the assembly area. For both scenarios, ignore the transit time from the cell to the assembly area.

State any assumptions you make in your analysis. Don't forget the setup times in your analysis.