Q1. Suzan has a part-time “cottage-industry” producing seasonal plywood yard ornaments for resale at local craft fairs and bazaars. She currently works a total of 4 hours per day to produce 10 ornaments. a. What is her productivity? b. She thinks that by redesigning the ornaments and switching from use of a wood glue to a hot-glue gun she can increase her production to 20 ornaments per day. What is her new productivity? c. What is her percentage increase (or decrease) in productivity?
Q2. Ahmet grows domatoes in his 100 by 100 meters garden. He then sells the crop at the local farmer’s market. Two summers ago, he was able to produce and sell 1200 kgs of tomatoes. Last summer, he tried a new fertilizer that promised a 20% increase in yield. He harvested 1350 kgs. Did the fertilizer live up to its promise?
Q3. A company has asked YOU to evaluate the firm’s productivity by comparing this year’s performance with last year’s. The following data are available:
______________Last Year This Year OUTPUT 10 500 units 12 100 units Labour Hours 12 000 13 200 Utilities 7 600 MU 8 250 MU Capital 83 000 MU 88 000 MU Has the company improved its PRODUCTIVITY during the past year?
Q4. A firm cleans chemical tank cars in the Bay Gazimagusa area. With standard equipment, the firm typically cleaned 60 chemical tank cars per month. They utilized 10 gallons of solvent, and two employees worked 20 days per month, 6 hours a day. The company decided to switch to a larger cleaning machine. Last February, they cleaned 60 tank cars in only 15 days. They utilized 12 gallons of solvent, and two employees worked 6 hours a day. a. What was their productivity with the standard equipment? b. What is their productivity with the larger machine? c. What is the change in productivity?
Q5. Serra’s Ceramics spent 3 000 MU on a new kiln last year, in the belief that it would cut energy usage 25 % over the old kiln. This kiln is an oven that turns “greenware” into finished pottery. Serra is concerned that the new kiln requires extra labour hours for its operation. Serra wants to check the energy saving of the new oven, and also to look over other measures of their productivity to see if the change really was beneficial. Serra has the following data to work with: Last Year This Year Production (finished units) 4000 4000 Greenware (pounds) 5000 5000 Labour (hrs) 350 375 Capital (MU) 15000 18000 Energy (kWh) 3000 2600 Were the modifications BENEFICIAL?
Q6. Ahmet Uslu makes wooden boxes in which to ship motorcycles. Ahmet and his three employees invest 40 hours per day making the 120 boxes. a. What is their productivity? b. Ahmet and his employees have discussed redesigning the process to improve efficiency. If they can increase the rate to 125 per day, what would be their new productivity? c. What would be their increase in productivity?
Q7. Magusa Metal Works produces cast bronze valves on an assembly line. On a recent day, 160 valves were produced during an 8-hour shift. Calculate the productivity of the line.
Q8. Kleen Karpet cleaned 65 rugs in April, consuming the following resources: Labour: 520 hours at 13 MU/hour Solvent: 110 litres at 5 MU/litre Machine Rental: 20 days at 50 MU/day a. What is the labour productivity? b. What is the multifactor productivity?