BUS351: Bike-sharing Companies Like SG Bike and Anywheel Operate in Singapore: Operations Management Assignment, SUSS, Singapore

Question 1

• Bike-sharing companies like SG Bike and Anywheel operate in Singapore. Bikes need to be deployed and parked at the designated parking stations. Land Transportation Authority (LTA) needs to decide the locations of the parking stations and plans to use the Factor Rating Method to evaluate the candidates of parking stations. Propose three(3) most important factors for the decision on the location of parking stations. Elaborate on the type of data that can be used to evaluate these factors and how LTA should plan to collect the data.
• Given that each bike-sharing company can only operate a limited fleet of bikes, the geographical area a bike-sharing company can cover is restricted. For example, the bike-sharing company SG Bike only deploys its bikes in the areas of Tampines, East Coast, and Yishun. Assume that SG Bike is allowed to deploy some bikes to a few parking stations in Central Business District and the company needs to set up a working station to service these bikes, including maintenance, repair, relocation, and replacement.

Evaluate if the Centre of Gravity Method is a good method for the company to decide the location of the service station. You must first answer “Yes” or “No”, and then justify your answer with relevant arguments and evidence. If your answer is “Yes”, please briefly describe how you would like to collect data to execute this method.

Question 2

Table 2.1 below is the prototype assembly process sheet for a new notebook computer.

Table 2.1 Notebook Computer Assembly Process Sheet

Production of the new notebook model is scheduled to begin in 10 days. The initial production target for the new model is to be 150 units per day, increasing to 250 units per day the following week. The ultimate production target is to reach 300 units per day. The line normally operates for 7.5 hours a day (employees work from 8:15 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. and regular hours includes one hour of unpaid lunch and 15 minutes of scheduled breaks).

• Draw a precedence diagram of this operation. Given the daily working hours, what is the cycle time for each production target?
• With respect to the ultimate production target, recommend the theoretical minimum number of workstations. Is the theoretical minimum achievable? Please explain in detail.

Show the minimum number of workstations (which may not be the theoretical minimum) and the assignment of tasks to these stations. You can use a diagram or table to show the assignment.

• What is the efficiency of the assembly line with the recommended assignment of tasks to workstations in (b)? How much idle time is present in each cycle? Show your calculation in detail.