Problem $1.$ An existing warehouse will be used for the storage of eight product families. The warehouse

consists of storage bays of size $20$ by $20.$ Dock $1$ has been designated as the receiving dock, while dock

$2$ is used as the shipping dock. Docks $1$ and $2$ are being used with probability $40\%$ and $60\%$ respectively.

Assume each product is equally likely to travel between the docks. The area requirement and monthly

load rate for each product family are shown in the following table:

a$.$ Formulate the problem using the model discussed in Section $10\mathrm{.}3($Quantitative warehouse model$).$

b$.$ Determine the layout that will minimize the total expected travel distance.

Product

Family

Area $($ft$2)$ Load Rate

$12,800800$

$23,600600$

$31,600800$

$44,800900$

$54,000450$

$63,200800$

$72,4001000$

$81,600350$

Problem $2.$ What is a flexible manufacturing system? Develop a set of criteria for comparing transfer lines

and flexible manufacturing system.