Reference no: EM132221937

Purchase included the equipment needed to produce the wine from the grapes. Ernest and Julie used three picking teams in the Winery 7 vineyard and could count on each team picking enough grapes on a typical day to yield 540 gallons of wine substance for fermentation. The teams begin picking at 5:00 am and finished by 2:00 pm. They bring their yield to the winery to store in containers until the grapes are sent to the wine preparation process. The process description is as follows: The first processing step is the crushing machine. The crushing machine can process 40 gallons per hour. The filtration machine can separate the liquid from the solids at a rate of 60 gallons per hour. However, after 3 hours, the filter in the filtration machine requires cleaning. This cleaning takes one hour to complete. Finally, the yeast inoculation step can process 60 gallons of juice per hour. Ernest and Julie need two workers in the winery when the grapes are being prepared for fermentation – one worker at the crushing machine and one worker at the filtration machine. Either Ernest or Julie actually add the yeast to the liquid, since this step requires the skills of a “wine master”. The workers are paid $15 per hour for the first 8 hours, then receive overtime pay of $20 per hour for every additional hour per day. All grapes received must be processed within 24 hours, or the grapes spoil. Assume the plant is producing 12 hours daily. When answering the following questions, assume that the filter is clean at the start of each day and except for the containers in the store and the fermentation barrels acting as buffers , no buffers separate the stages of the process.

1. What is the average process capacity of the entire preparation process per hour? a. 30 gallons per hour b. 45 gallons per hour c. 50 gallons per hour d. 55.50 gallons per hour e. 60 gallons per hour

2. Suppose that a new integrated machine could be purchased that could crush and filter at a rate of 80 gallons per hour, with only one worker required. However, the machine’s filter must be cleaned after 90 minutes. Cleaning the filter takes 30 minutes. The new process capacity per hour of the entire preparation process would be: a. 37.50 gallons per hour b. 45 gallons per hour c. 50 gallons per hour d. 55.50 gallons per hour e. 60 gallons per hour.