Case 3 -- Line Balancing Quality Technology (QT), Inc. was founded by two first-year college students to produce a knockoff real estate board game similar to the popular Parker Brothers game Monopoly. Initially, the partners started the company to produce a board game based on popular local landmarks in their small college town to help pay for their college expenses. However, the game was a huge success and, because they enjoyed running their own business, they decided to pursue the business full-time after graduation. QT has grown rapidly over the last couple of years, designing and producing custom real estate trading games for universities, municipalities, chambers of commerce, and some businesses in recent years. Orders range from a couple of hundred games to an occasional order for several thousand. QT's orders are either for a new game board that has not been produced before or repeat orders for a previously produced game. If the order is for a new game, the client first meets with a graphic designer from QT's art department, and the actual game board is designed. Depending on how much the client has thought about the game before the meeting, the board design can take anywhere from a few hours to several weeks. All design work is done on personal computers. After the client approves the design, a copy of the design's computer file is transferred electronically to the printing department. The printing department workers load the file onto their own personal computers and print the board design on special decals, 19.25 by 19.25 inches, using high-quality color inkjet printers. The decal side that is printed on is usually light gray, and the other side contains an adhesive covered by a removable backing. The printing department is also responsible for printing property cards, game cards, and money. The money is printed on colored paper using standard laser printers. Ten copies of a particular denomination are printed on each 8.5-inch by 11-inch piece of paper. Money is then moved to the cutting department, where it is cut into individual bills. The property cards and the game cards are produced. Similarly, the major difference is that they are printed on a material resembling a poster board. In addition to cutting money, game cards, and property cards, the cutting department also cuts cardboard that serves as the actual game board substrate. The game board consists of two boards created by cutting a single 19-inch by 19.25-inch piece of cardboard in half, yielding two boards, each measuring 19.25 inches by 19.5 inches. After being cut, the game boards, money, and cards are stored in totes in a work-in-process area and delivered to the appropriate assembly line station as needed. Because of its explosive growth, QT's assembly line was never formally planned. It merely evolved into the 19 stations shown in Table 1.

1 Get box bottom and place plastic money tray in box bottom. Take 10 seconds -- two dice bin and place in box bottom in area not take up by tray. 2 Count out 35 plastic houses and place in box bottom. 35 seconds 1 3 Count out 15 plastic hotels and place in box bottom. 15 seconds 1