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CMA Intermediate · Operations Management and Strategic Management · Control Measures - Time and Motion Study, Method Study, Work Study

A multiple activity chart for a Pune workshop shows that in a 10-minute cycle, the operator works for 6 minutes and is idle for 4 minutes, while the machine works for 5 minutes and is idle for 5 minutes. If a changed method makes the cycle 8 minutes by overlapping 2 minutes of the operator's idle time with the machine's run time, with the operator's working time and the machine's running time staying unchanged, what is the new machine utilisation and operator utilisation?

Machine utilisation becomes 62.5% and operator utilisation becomes 75%. Both are calculated by dividing the unchanged working times, 5 minutes for the machine and 6 minutes for the operator, by the new 8-minute cycle time.

  1. AMachine 62.5%; operator 75%Correct
  2. BMachine 50%; operator 60%
  3. CMachine 62.5%; operator 60%
  4. DMachine 75%; operator 62.5%

Explanation

With the new 8-minute cycle, machine utilisation = 5/8 = 62.5%. Operator utilisation = 6/8 = 75%. Check: the operator idle time becomes 2 minutes and the machine idle time becomes 3 minutes, which sum correctly with the working times to the 8-minute cycle. The 50% and 60% option pair uses the old 10-minute cycle.

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