A Company Can Produce a Part It Uses in an Assembly

question 54

Essay

A company can produce a part it uses in an assembly operation at the rate of 50 an hour. The company operates eight hours a day, 300 days a year. Daily usage of the part is 300 parts. The company uses the part every day. The run size is 6,000 parts. The annual holding cost is $2 per unit, and setup cost is $100.
(A) How many runs per year will there be?
(B) While production is occurring, how many parts per day are being added to inventory?
(C) Assuming that production begins when there are no parts on hand, what is the maximum number of parts in inventory?
(D) The machine is dedicated to this product. Every so often, preventive maintenance, which requires six working days, must be performed on it. Does this interrupt production cycles, or is there enough time between cycles to perform the maintenance? Explain.

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Definitions:

Secondary Reinforcement

A process in which a neutral stimulus becomes reinforcing through its association with a primary reinforcer.

Fixed-ratio Scheduling

A type of reinforcement schedule in behaviorism where a response is reinforced only after a specified number of responses.

Negative Reinforcement

A behavior modification technique that involves the removal of an unpleasant stimulus to increase the likelihood of a behavior being repeated.

Primary Reinforcers

Innate reinforcing qualities like food, water, or rest that do not need to be learned because they are naturally satisfying.