Question

AlwaysRain Irrigation, Inc., would like to determine capacity requirements for the next four years. Currently two production lines are in place for making bronze and plastic sprinklers. Three types of sprinklers are available in both bronze and plastic: 90-degree nozzle sprinklers, 180-degree nozzle sprinklers, and 360-degree nozzle sprinklers.

  

Suppose that AlwaysRain Irrigation's marketing department will undertake an intense ad campaign for the bronze sprinklers, which are more expensive but also more durable than the plastic ones. Forecast demand for the next four years is

  

	YEARLY DEMAND
	1 (in 000s)		2 (in 000s)		3 (in 000s)		4 (in 000s)
Plastic 90	32		44		55		56
Plastic 180	15		16		17		18
Plastic 360	50		55		64		67
Bronze 90	11		15		18		23
Bronze 180	6		5		6		9
Bronze 360	15		16		17		20

  

Both production lines can produce all the different types of nozzles. The bronze machines needed for the bronze sprinklers require two operators per machine and can produce up to 12,000 sprinklers per machine. The plastic injection molding machine needed for the plastic sprinklers requires four operators per machine and can produce up to 200,000 sprinklers per machine. Three bronze machines and only one injection molding machine are available. In anticipation of the ad campaign, AlwaysRain bought a bronze machine in addition to the existing machines.

  

a.	What are the capacity implications of the marketing campaign (assume no learning)? (Enter the demand values in thousands. Round your answers to 2 decimal places.)

  

	Year 1		Year 2		Year 3		Year 4
Plastic
Demand for plastic sprinklers
Percentage of capacity used		%		%		%		%
Machine requirements
Labor requirements
Bronze
Demand for bronze sprinklers
Percentage of capacity used		%		%		%		%
Machine requirements
Labor requirements

  

b.

Will this be enough to ensure that enough capacity is available?

	Yes
	No

Answer 1

b)

NO

There is no enoug capacity to meet the demand of bronze sprinklers in year 3 and year 4