Topic: Maths1.1 Carbondale Casting produces cast bronze valves on a 10-person assembly line. On a recent day, 160 valves were pro- duced during an 8-hour shift. a) Calculate the labor productivity of the line.
First of all, to be able to determine the labor productivity of Carbondale Casting’s 10-person assembly line, compute the output per worker-hour. Productivity is a measure resulting in efficiency of production and is computed by dividing total output by total input. The total output in the problem given is the number of cast bronze valves produced, while the total input is the number of labor hours worked.
Since 10 workers in an 8-hour shift produced 160 valves, we are asked to find the total labor hours. Total labor hours is the product of no. of workers and no. of hours worked. So, \[10 ~\text{workers} \times 8 ~\text{hours} = 80 ~\text{labor hours}\].
Now, calculate labor productivity by dividing the total output by the total labor hours. Thus, the following is the labor productivity:
Labor Productivity = Total Output / Total Labor Hours = 160 valves / 80 labor hours = 2 valves per labor hour
It means that, on average, every worker is capable of producing 2 valves within an hour. This productivity measure helps a company understand the efficiency of the assembly line and areas of potential improvement. Productivity analysis will let Carbondale Casting make effective decisions about process optimization, which will increase output, reduce labor costs, or indicate areas that require additional training or resources. In sum, labor productivity underpins the competitiveness and profitability of a company.
