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than one element could be chosen. Two heuristic rules have been found to be particularly
useful in deciding this:
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Chapter 7 Layout and flow 199
Simply choose the largest that will ‘fit’ into the time remaining at the stage.
Choose the element with the most ‘followers’: that is the highest number of elements
which can only be allocated when that element has been allocated.
Worked example
Karlstad Kakes (KK) is a manufacturer of speciality cakes, which has recently obtained a
contract to supply a major supermarket chain with a speciality cake in the shape of a space
rocket. It has been decided that the volumes required by the supermarket warrant a special
production line to perform the finishing, decorating and packing of the cake. This line
would have to carry out the elements shown in Figure 7.18, which also shows the precedence
diagram for the total job. The initial order from the supermarket is for 5,000 cakes a
week and the number of hours worked by the factory is 40 per week. From this:
The required cycle time =
The required number of stages =
This means four stages.
40 hrs × 60 mins
5,000
= 0.48 min
1.68 min (the total work content)
0.48 min (the required cycle time)
= 3.5 stages
Figure 7.18 Element listing and precedence diagram for Karlstad Kakes
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