Question

The Korlebu Teaching Hospital is modernising its operations with the introduction of a new ID system following its experiences from the COVID-19 pandemic. Starting 2021, all staff and patients of the hospital shall be required to carry a chip and pin card called the ‘Master Card’. This will be a smart card bearing information such as the bearer’s personal details, department, assigned unit, health insurance records, medical conditions, medications and prescriptions, and emergency contacts. The Master Card can also be used as a debit card to make payments anywhere within the hospital for services used or products purchased. Hospital administrators and staff are excited about the new ID system and the security it will provide as well as the revenue potential it will generate from patients. They have however, not carefully thought about the process of issuing approximately 100,000 cards covering all staff and patients. Granted that 120 applicants can be processed in a 5-hour day, the entire 100,000 staff and patients could be issued with the cards within the estimated time.

The activities covered within the process and approximate activity times are given as follows: activity 1 must be completed before activities 2 and 3. Activities 4 and 5 are preceded by activities 2 and 3 respectively. Activity 6 follows the completion of activities 4 and 5. The predecessor activities for activity 7 and 8 are activities 6 and 7 respectively. A description of the activities and durations are presented in the table below.

Activity Number	Activity Description	Activity Duration (minutes)
1	Pick application forms to complete	1
2	Review application for errors	0.5
3	Verify information on the application	1
4	Process and record payment	2
5	Take picture of applicant	0.5
6	Attach picture unto the soft card	0.5
7	Magnetize and generate pin	1
8	Issue master card to applicant	0.5

a. Draw the precedence diagram for the processes

b. Design a process layout with minimum number of workstations that would achieve the daily production target without violating the precedence constraints .

c. Is it possible to issue a card per applicant every 5 minutes and why? .

d. How efficient is your line? .

e. Determine the balance delay

Answer 1

(a)

(b) Available time per day = 5 hrs = 300 minutes

Demand per day = 120

So, required cycle time = 300 / 120 = 2.5 minutes

The theoretical minimum number of stations = Sum of all task times / Required cycle time = (1+0.5+1+2+0.5+0.5+1+0.5) / 2.5 = 2.8 i.e. 3 stations.

Station	Remaining time	Eligibles	Was fit	Assigned time	Time remains	Idle time
1	2.5	Act-1	Act-1	1.0	1.5
	1.5	Act-2, 3	Act-3	1.0	0.5
	0.5	Act-2, 5	Act-2	0.5	0.0
	0.0	Act-4, 5	-	-	0.0	0.0
2	2.5	Act-4, 5	Act-4	2.0	0.5
	0.5	Act-5	Act-5	0.5	0.0
	0.0	Act-6	-	-	0.0	0.0
3	2.5	Act-6	Act-6	0.5	2.0
	2.0	Act-7	Act-7	1.0	1.0
	1.0	Act-8	Act-8	0.5	0.5	0.5
Totals				7.0		0.5

(c) Yes, because the actual cycle time is equal to the target which was 2.5 minutes.

(d) Efficiency = Sum of all task times / (No. of stations * cycle time) = 7 / (3*2.5) = 93.33%

(e) Balance delay = Total ideal time per cycle / (No. of stations * cycle time) = 0.5 / (3*2.5) = 6.67%