9.13 Sue Helms Appliances wants to establish an assembly
line to manufacture its new product, the Micro Popcorn
Popper. The goal is to produce five poppers per hour. The tasks,
task times, and immediate predecessors for producing one Micro
Popcorn Popper are as follows:
Task Time Immediate Predecessors
A 10 –
B 12 A
C 8 A,B
D 6 B,C
E 6 C
F 6 D,E
a) What is the theoretical minimum for the smallest number of
workstations that Helms can achieve in this assembly line?
b) Graph the assembly line and assign workers to workstations.
Can you assign them with the theoretical minimum?
c) What is the efficiency of your assignment?