Reference no: EM132227971
- A chocolate company has a machine that can produce both milk and dark chocolate. The machine is used to make either milk chocolate, or dark chocolate batches, for 24 hours per day.
- The batches of milk chocolate and dark chocolate are alternated, and between each batch the operations team needs 1 hour to switch out materials and to clean the equipment. A single full production cycle includes 1 batch of milk chocolate and 1 batch of dark chocolate, and 2 setups (one for each product type).
- This machine requires 10 hours to process 600kg of milk chocolate, and 10 hours to process 600 kgs of dark chocolate.
- Total demand is 675 kg/day for each type of chocolate, or 1350 kg/day in total.
a. How should the chocolate making company schedule production to meet demand (what is the optimal batch size)?
b. What is the primary challenge that the company will face if they pursue this batch size?
c. The chocolate company executives are considering shifting their production approach to make 2 batches of milk chocolate, followed by 2 batches of dark chocolate, rather than alternating one-to-one. This changes the production cycle to now be: 2 batches milk chocolate + setup + 2 batches of dark chocolate + setup. As an operations consultant, would you recommend this change? Make sure to justify your recommendations using appropriate equations and performance measures.