(Production constraints) Promotional Products produces commercial calendars in a two department operation: Department 1 is labor intensive and Department 2 is automated. The average output of Department 1 is 45 units per hour. Units from Department 1 are transferred to Department 2 to be completed by a robot. The robot can finish a maximum of 45 units per hour. The company needs to complete 180 units this afternoon for an order that has been backlogged for 4 months. The production manager has informed the people in Department 1 that they are to work on nothing else except this order from 1:00 p.m. until 5:00 p.m. The supervisor in Department 2 has scheduled the same times for the robot to work on the order. Department 1’s activity for each hour of the afternoon is as follows:
|
Time |
1:00–2:00 P.M. |
2:00–3:00 P.M. |
3:00–4:00 P.M. |
4:00–4:58 P.M. |
|
Production |
40 units |
44 units |
50 units |
46 units |
Each unit moves directly from Department 1 to Department 2 with no lag time. Did Promotional Products complete the 180 units by 5:00 p.m.? If not, explain and provide detailed computations.