Assignment Task
CoLittle’s Laces Company, the premier manufacturer of footballs for the Big Ten, receives fully assembled footballs, save for the vital lacing step. Unlaced footballs arrive at the plant with exponentially distributed interarrival times averaging 6 minutes. Upon arrival, they undergo lacing by a Football Lacing Machine (FLM) with exponentially distributed processing times averaging 10 minutes. The FLM can process only one football at a time.
Following lacing, footballs proceed to an inspector responsible for ensuring correct lacing. Inspection times are uniformly distributed between 2 and 3 minutes, with the inspector evaluating one football at a time. Historical data suggests an 0.85 probability of laced footballs passing inspection.
Upon successful inspection, a football is deemed good for exit from the plant. Otherwise, it undergoes lace removal by a Lace Removal Machine (LRM), after which the unlaced football returns to the FLM for relacing. The LRM processes one football at a time, with unlace times following a triangular distribution (min: 2 minutes, mode: 5 minutes, max: 7 minutes). Implement this system in ProModel and simulate for 10 hours.
Questions
How many good footballs exit the system within the 10-hour period?
What are the utilizations of the FLM, inspector, and LRM?
What is the average length (e.g., average contents) of each queue?
