It is desired to design and manufacture continuous and aligned glass fiber- reinforced epoxy having a tensile strength of at least 1250 MPa in the longitudinal direction. The maximum possible specific gravity is 1.50. Using the following data, determine whether such a composite is possible. Justify your decision. Assume a value of 20 MPa for the stress on the matrix at fiber failure.S

Question 2 ‘Smoothtools’ manufacturing company want to enter the ‘woodworking tools’ market and one of the first products it has decided to manufacture is a general purpose smoothing plane. (See Figure Q2- parts view). After ‘reverse engineering’ the wood plane, the planning department have arrived at a build sequence and timings for each task which is shown in Table Q2(a). Furthermore, the marketing department at ‘Smoothtools’ have produced a sales forecast for the new planes which is given in Table Q2(b). The plant is expected to have a work pattern of 40 hours week, 48 weeks per year. Assuming a Product layout (Long thin) arrangement, determine the following information for the 1st quarter of production: a) The required cycle time and the theoretical minimum number of people required to assemble the products (5 Marks) b) The ‘line design’. (5 Marks) c) The actual number of people required to manufacture/assemble the product based on your design and what would be the balance loss and estimated output for this arrangement? (6 Marks) d) If a ‘short fat’ layout is used in the 1st quarter, how many people would be required to assemble the products? What is the balance loss and potential output for this arrangement? (6 Marks) e) Considering the two options. Which layout is best suited to meet the demand in 4th quarter and why? (12 Marks) f) What are the advantages and disadvantages of both ‘long thin’ and ‘short fat’ layouts?

Question 1 a) Define JIT and Lean Manufacturing and contrast the similarities and differences between the two. Discuss why the 'Traditional approach' is more intuitive and what approaches are needed to move toward a JIT scenario? b) Critically appraise five of the nine Just in Time (JIT) techniques e.g. reduction of set up time, TPM etc. highlighting what they are and how they would be implemented c) Describe a tool or technique which can be used to analyse and improve the performance of manufacturing systems e.g. Rank-order clustering, Ishikawa diagrams, Value Stream Mapping Root cause analysis, Pareto Analysis etc. Explain the basic principle behind the technique, how it would be applied and the potential benefits/inhibitors to implementation.

Question 2 'Smoothtools' manufacturing company want to enter the 'woodworking tools' market and one of the first products it has decided to manufacture is a general purpose smoothing plane. (See Figure Q2- parts view). After 'reverse engineering' the wood plane, the planning department have arrived at a build sequence and timings for each task which is shown in Table Q2(a). Furthermore, the marketing department at 'Smoothtools' have produced a sales forecast for the new planes which is given in Table Q2(b). The plant is expected to have a work pattern of 40 hours week, 48 weeks per year. Assuming a Product layout (Long thin) arrangement, determine the following information for the 1st quarter of production: a) The required cycle time and the theoretical minimum number of people required to assemble the products b) The 'line design'. c) The actual number of people required to manufacture/assemble the product based on your design and what would be the balance loss and estimated output for this arrangement? d) If a 'short fat' layout is used in the 1st quarter, how many people would be required to assemble the products? What is the balance loss and potential output for this arrangement? e) Considering the two options. Which layout is best suited to meet the demand in 4th quarter and why? f) What are the advantages and disadvantages of both 'long thin' and 'short fat' layouts?