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Bottleneck process (Kaplan 240.2)

AAynur10mo ago
Hello dear tutor, I have a long question. Even though I try every time, I cannot understand the process. Could you please explain it to me in a simple way? I would really appreciate it. Sweet Treats Bakery makes three types of cake: brownies, muffins and cupcakes. The costs, revenues and demand for each of the three cakes are as follows: .............................................Brownies ..............Muffins .............Cupcakes Batch size (units) .................... 40........................30.......................20 Selling price ($ per unit) ....... 1,5 ...................... 1,4 .......................2 Material cost ($ per unit) ..... 0,25 .................... 0,15 ................... 0,25 Labour cost ($ per unit) ....... 0,40 .................... 0,45 ................... 0,50 Overheads ($ per unit) ........ 0,15 ..................... 0,20 ................... 0,30 Minimum daily demand (units)..30....................20........................10 Maximum daily demand (units)..140..................90.......................100 The minimum daily demand is required for a long-term contract with a local café and must be met. The cakes are made in batches using three sequential processes: weighing, mixing and baking. The products must be produced in their batch sizes but are sold as individual units. Each batch of cakes requires the following amount of time for each process: .............................................Brownies ..........Muffins .............Cupcakes Weighing (minutes) .............. 15.....................15.......................20 Mixing (minutes) .................... 20.................... 16.......................12 Baking (minutes) .................. 120.................... 110................... 120 The baking stage of the process is done in three ovens which can each be used for eight hours a day, a total of 1,440 available minutes. Ovens have a capacity of one batch per bake, regardless of product type. Sweet Treats Bakery uses throughput accounting and considers all costs, other than material, to be ‘factory costs’ which do not vary with production. QUESTION: On Wednesday, the mixing process is identified as the bottleneck process. On this day, only 120 minutes in the mixing process are available. Assuming that Sweet Treats Bakery wants to maximise profit, what is the optimal production plan for Wednesday? A) 80 brownies, 30 muffins and 100 cupcakes B) 0 brownies, 90 muffins and 100 cupcakes C) 120 brownies, 0 muffins and 100 cupcakes D) 40 brownies, 60 muffins and 100 cupcakes
IIanTutor10mo ago#1
Why are you spending so much time on 2 mark questions?
IIanTutor10mo ago#2
The mixing process is the bottleneck with only 120 minutes available, we need to analyse the throughput of each product and the time required for mixing. Follow a process with throughput: 1. Batch Sizes & Mixing Time 2. Throughput Calculation 3. Throughput per Minute 4. Ranking by Throughput per Minute 5. Production Plan 6. Maximising Remaining Time 7. Final Optimal Production Plan Thus, the optimal production plan for Wednesday is A) 80 brownies, 30 muffins, and 100 cupcakes.
IIanTutor10mo ago#3
Batch Sizes and Mixing Times: B take 20 m per b of 40 units M 16 m per b 30 u C 12 m per b 20 u Throughput Calculation: B 1.50 - (0.25 + 0.40 + 0.15) = 0.70 M 1.40 - (0.15 + 0.45 + 0.20) = 0.60 C 2.00 - (0.25 + 0.50 + 0.30) = 0.95 Throughput per Minute: B 0.70 / 20 = 0.035 M 0.60 / 16 = 0.0375 C 0.95 / 12 = 0.0792 Ranking by Throughput per Minute: * C, M, B Production Plan: To maximise profit, we should first meet the minimum demand: 1 batch of C (20 units) = 12 minutes 1 batch of M (30 units) = 16 minutes 1 batch of B (40 units) = 20 minutes This totals 48 minutes, leaving 72 minutes available. After fulfilling minimum demand, we can produce more Cupcakes and Muffins: Produce 5 batches of C (100 units) = 60 minutes Then 1 batch of M (30 units) = 16 minutes This totals 76 minutes, which exceeds the available 72 minutes. The best combination that fits within the 120 minutes while maximizing profit is: 80 B (2 batches) = 40 minutes 30 M (1 batch) = 16 minutes 100 C (5 batches) = 60 minutes Total = 40 + 16 + 60 = 116 minutes. Thus, the optimal production plan for Wednesday is A) 80 brownies, 30 muffins, and 100 cupcakes
AAynur10mo ago#4
If I face this question in the exam, I’ll probably ignore :D but still, I got it from your explanation. Thank you so much, you’re a hero
IIanTutor10mo ago#5
Your most welcome
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