Consider a production line consisting of two single$-$machine stations. The

operational characteristics of these two stations are as follows:

Attribute Station $1$ Station $2$

t$011$min $11$min

c$00\mathrm{.}50\mathrm{.}5$

MTTF $7$hrs $5$hrs

MTTR $1\mathrm{.}5$hrs $0\mathrm{.}5$hrs

cr $0\mathrm{.}750\mathrm{.}5$

Answer the following questions:

i$.$ Which station is the effective bottleneck of the line?

ii$.$ Can the line sustain a production rate of $35$ parts over an eight$-$hour shift?

iii. Suppose that parts are released to the line in a deterministic manner, with

constant inter$-$release times, and the resulting mean cycle time at Station $1,$

CT$1,$ is equal to $2$ hours and $7\mathrm{.}815$ minutes. What is the length of the inter$-$release

intervals?

i