Reference no: EM13888755

Problem 1: Arsenal Electronics is going to construct a new $1.2 billion semiconductor plant and has selected four towns in the Midwest as potential sites. The important location factors and ratings for each town are as follows:

	Scores (0 to 100)
Location Factor	Weight	Abbeton	Bayside	Cane Creek	Dunnville
Work ethics	0.18	80	90	70	75
Quality of life	0.16	75	85	95	90
Labor laws/unionization	0.12	90	60	60	70
Infrastructure	0.10	60	50	60	70
Education	0.08	80	90	85	95
Labor skill and education	0.07	75	65	70	80
Cost of living	0.06	70	80	85	75
Taxes	0.05	65	70	55	60
Incentive package	0.05	90	95	70	80
Government regulations	0.03	40	50	65	55
Environmental regulations	0.03	65	60	70	80
Transportation	0.03	90	80	95	80
Space for expansion	0.02	90	95	90	90
Urban proximity	0.02	60	90	70	80

Recommend a site based on these location factors and ratings.

Problem 2: Sawyer Furniture is one of the few remaining domestic manufacturers of wood furniture. In the current competitive environment, cost containment is the key to its continued survival. Demand for furniture follows a seasonal demand pattern with increased sales in the summer and fall months, culminating with peak demand in November.

The cost of production is $16 per unit for regular production, $24 for overtime, and $33 for subcontracting. Hiring and firing costs are $500 per worker. Inventory holding costs are $20 per unit per month. There is no beginning inventory. Ten workers are currently employed. Each worker can produce 50 pieces of furniture per month. Overtime cannot exceed regular production. Given the following demand data, use Excel Solver to design an aggregate production plan for Sawyer Furniture that will meet demand at the lowest possible cost.

Input:			Beg. Wkrs		10			Regular		$16		Hiring		$500
			Units/wkr		50			Overtime		$24		Firing		$500
			Beg. Inv.		0			Subk		$33		Inventory		$20
	Month	Demand		Reg		OT	Subk		Inv		#Wkrs		#Hired		#Fired
	Jan	500		500		0	0		0		10		0		0
	Feb	500		500		0	0		0		10		0		0
	Mar	1000		1,000		0	0		0		20		10		0
	Apr	1200		1,000		200	0		0		20		0		0
	May	2000		1,000		1,000	0		0		20		0		0
	Jun	400		400		0	0		0		8		0		12
	Jul	400		400		0	0		0		8		0		0
	Aug	1000		1,000		0	0		0		20		12		0
	Sep	1000		1,000		0	0		0		20		0		0
	Oct	1500		1,500		0	0		0		30		10		0
	Nov	7000		3,500		3,500	0		0		70		40		0
	Dec	500		500		0	0		0		10		0		60
	Total	17,000		12,300		4,700	0		0		246		72		72

Problem 3: A retailer experiences a seasonal demand pattern for its services. Labor requirements over a typical six-month period follow.

Period	1	2	3	4	5	6
Requirement	12	10	12	8	9	8

Costs associated with operations are as follows:

Wages = $1,500 per worker per month

Hiring cost = $1,500 per worker

Layoff cost = $1,500 per worker

The current workforce level is 11 workers. Use the spreadsheet approach and the preceding data to answer the following questions.

a. What is the total cost of the staffing plan, including the cost of regular wages, hiring, and layoffs using a chase strategy with hiring and layoffs, but no overtime?

b. What is the total cost of the staffing plan, including the cost of regular wages, hiring, and layoffs using a level strategy with hiring and layoffs, with overtime of up to 25% of the regular-time capacity, and that overtime wages are 150% of the regular-time rate.

a) CHASE Strategy

	1	2	3	4	5	6	Total
INPUTS
Forecasted demand	12	10	12	8	9	8	59
Workforce level
Undertime
Overtime
Utilized time
Hires
Layoffs
CALCULATED
Utilized time cost
Undertime cost
Overtime cost
Hiring cost
Layoff cost
Total Cost

b) LEVEL Strategy

	1	2	3	4	5	6	Total
INPUTS
Forecasted demand	12	10	12	8	9	8	59
Workforce level
Undertime
Overtime
Utilized time
Hires
Layoffs
CALCULATED
Utilized time cost
Undertime cost
Overtime cost
Hiring cost
Layoff cost
Total Cost

Don't forget to figure out the required number of employees for the Level Strategy

Problem 4: The Union Manufacturing Company is producing two types of products: A and B. The demand forecast, batch size, and time standards for the Mark I operation follow:

	Product A	Product B
Demand forecast (units/yr.)	1,000	4,000
Batch size (units/batch)	20	10
Process time (hr./unit)	3.2	4.5
Setup time (hr./batch)	10	20

The company works 250 days per year and operates 2 shifts, each covering 8 hours. If a 20 percent capacity cushion is maintained, how many Mark I machines are required if Union does not resort to any short-term capacity options?

Problem 5: A firm of four departments has the following trip matrix and current block plan of all departments:

 Trips Between Departments

Dept. Name	A	B	C	D
A	....	14	6	9
B		....	7	16
C			....	2
D				....

A	B
D	C

 

a. What is the weighted-distance score for the current layout? (Assume rectilinear distance and that the distance between departments A and B is one unit of distance.)

b. What would be the weighted-distance score for the following layout?

A	C
D	B