Question

The question is: If the company adds an additional worker in the finishing department, what will happen?

Beach Boys Surfers is a small manufacturer of two types of popular low- tide surfboards, the Graystone and the Lava models. The manufacturing process consists of two departments: fabrication and finishing. The fabrication department has 8 skilled workers, each of whom works 9.25 hours per day. The finishing department has 5 workers, each of whom works a 6-hour shift per day. Each pair of Graystone surfboards requires 2.5 labor hours in the fabrication department and 2 labor hours in finishing. The Lava model requires 4.2 labor-hours in fabrication and 3.6 labor-hours in finishing. It makes a per unit profit of $40 on the Graystone model and $60 on the Lava model. The Solver Sensitivity Report for the optimal daily production is given below. Variable Cells Cell Name SBS14 Quantity Produced Graystone $C$14 Quantity Produced Lava Final Reduced Objective Allowable Value Cost Coefficient Increase 15 0 4 01E+30 0 -12 6012 Allowable Decrease 6.666666667 1E+30 Constraints Cell Allowable Decrease Name SD$15 Fabrication Hours Used SD$16 Finishing Hours Used Final Shadow Constraint Allowable Value PriceR .H. Side Increase 37.5 74 1E+30 30 20 3 0 29.2 If the company adds an additional worker in the finishing department, what will happen?

The question is: If the company adds an additional worker in the finishing department, what will happen?

Multiple choice answer options are below. The answer is either A, B, C or D.

A.) profit will increase by $120

B.) profit will increase by $20

C.) the optimal solution will not change

D.) the company will produce 20 additional surfboards

Answer 1

A Part is correct. If an additional worker is employed in the finishing department, then the profit will increase by $120.

As can be seen from the Sensitivity report, the extra 6 hours available in the finishing department will all be utilised for Finishing of Graystone products as the company is more efficient and profitable there. The Fabrication hours are already in excess to the company. So the fabrication work can be increased for 3 additional units of Graystone and with the help of an extra labour in finishing, their finishing can also take place. Hence, the profit on each Graystone unit being $40, the profit increases by $120 in total.