The value of Lead Time

Question

A CIF processess approximately 100 Soldiers per day. The value-add time for a Soldier is 30 minutes. This process is conducted over an 8 hour day.  What is the lead time for any given Soldier to be processed through the CIF? How many Soldiers should be in process at any given time?

Answer 1

Your question likely hasn't been answered yet because of the vocabulary you're using. Most tutors (including me) aren't familiar with "value-add time" and "lead time," so most tutors will skip your question instead of making (possibly incorrect) assumptions about those terms. I'll make an assumption about the problem's situation and answer the question based on that:

 

It sounds like a facility processes 100 soldiers each day. It takes one soldier 30 minutes to be fully processed, and all 100 soldiers are fully processed in 8 hours. We're wondering how much time goes by between starting one soldier's process and starting the next soldier's process. We're also wondering approximately how many soldiers are in process at any given time.

 

 

 

The last soldier of the day must begin processing 30 minutes (0.5 hour) before the end of the 8-hour day. So, we'd like to begin 100 soldiers' processes over the course of 8 - 0.5 = 7.5 hours. Divide 7.5 by 100 to figure out how much time goes by between soldiers' start times:

 

7.5/100 = 3/40 hours

3/40 hours × 60 minutes/1 hour = (3×60)/40 minutes = 4.5 minutes

 

The lead time for a given soldier is approximately 4.5 minutes.

 

 

 

 

Divide the 30-minute processing time for a soldier by 4.5 to figure out how many soldiers are started over the course of one 30-minute period. This is equivalent to how many soldiers are in process at a given time:

 

30/4.5 = 20/3 ≈ 6.67

 

Either 6 or 7 soldiers are in process at a given time. You're most likely to see 7 soldiers in process.