Question

On average, each unit produced by the Kantor Company takes 0.90 worker hours and 0.02 hours of machine time. Furthermore, each worker and machine is available 160 hours a month. Use these planning values and the following sales order forecast to estimate

a) The number of worker hours and machine hours needed each month

b) The number of actual workers and machines needed each month (rounded to the nearest whole number)

Month Sales Forecast

October 44,000

November 52,000  

December 68,000

January 69,000

February 58,000

March 46,000

Answer 1

Given:

Worker hour per unit = 0.90 hours

Machine hour per unit = 0.02 hours

Total worker and machine hours available per month = 160 hours

(a)

One unit requires 0.90 worker hours. In the month of October, 44,000 units are forecasted. So the number of worker hours for 44,000 units will be 44,000*0.90. Similarly, for each month the calculation is done. For machine-hours, we will multiply by 0.02, as for each unit, 0.02 machine hours are required.

Month	Sales Forecast	Worker hours needed	Machine hours needed
October	44,000	44,000*0.90=39,600	44,000*0.02=880
November	52,000	52,000*0.90=46,800	52,000*0.02=1,040
December	68,000	68,000*0.90=61,200	68,000*0.02=1,360
January	69,000	69,000*0.90=62,100	69,000*0.02=1,380
February	58,000	58,000*0.90=52,200	58,000*0.02=1,160
March	46,000	46,000*0.90=41,400	46,000*0.02=920

(b)

The total worker and machine hours available are 160. So we need to divide available working hours by 160 to find out the number of workers and machines required per month.

Month	Sales Forecast	Number of Workers needed	Number of Machines needed
October	44,000	39,600/160=247.5=248	880/160=5.5=6
November	52,000	46,800/160=292.5=293	1,040/160=6.5=7
December	68,000	61,200/160=382.5=383	1,360/160=8.5=9
January	69,000	62,100/160=388.125=389	1,380/160=8.625=9
February	58,000	52,200/160=326.25=327	1,160/160=7.25=8
March	46,000	41,400/160=258.75=259	920/160=5.75=6