Economics In Action

The
manager of Quality Parts Company has been contemplating installing an automated
ordering system to help control inventories and to "keep the skids
filled." (She feels that two days of work in front of a workstation
motivates the worker to produce at top speed.) She is also planning to add
three inspectors to clean up the quality problem. Further, she is thinking
about setting up a rework line to speed repairs. Although she is pleased with
the high utilization of most of her equipment and labor, she is concerned about
the idle time of the milling machine. Finally, she has asked the industrial
engineering department to look into high-rise shelving to store parts
coming off machine 4.