VIRTUAL FACTORY

Capstone: Run & Optimize a Virtual Factory

Take a full five-station line from below target to meeting both a throughput spec and a tight machine budget — the whole manufacturing toolkit (bottleneck, balancing, cost) at once.

01Challenge

A five-station line runs at just 5.5 parts/min. The spec: at least 10/min, using no more than 7 machines total. Diagnose the bottlenecks, add capacity only where it pays, and land both targets.

02Model

This is everything at once. The required cycle for ten a minute is six seconds a part. Walk the line: Weld at eleven seconds and Assemble at nine both blow past six, so each needs a second machine — five-and-a-half and four-and-a-half. Everything else already clears the bar. That's exactly two added machines, seven in total, right at the budget, and the line settles just over ten a minute. Bottleneck, balance, cost — one move covers all three.

Add capacity until both specs are met.

03Guided practice

1. Required cycle. 10/min → 60/10 = 6 s/part ceiling. 2. Who's over? Weld 11 and Assemble 9 (per machine) exceed 6; Stamp 5, Paint 6, Test 4 are fine. 3. Add exactly where needed. Weld ×2 = 5.5, Assemble ×2 = 4.5. Total machines = 7 (≤ budget), throughput = 60/5.5 = 10.9/min. Don't over-spend elsewhere.

04Feedback

PASS WHEN PASS when the line sustains ≥ 10 parts/min using ≤ 7 machines — bottleneck fixed, line balanced, budget respected.

Below 10/min — two stations exceed the 6 s required cycle (Weld, Assemble). Add a machine to each.
Over the 7-machine budget — you added capacity to a station already under 6 s/part. Pull it back.
Close: one station is still above 6 s/part. The line rate is set by the slowest per-machine cycle, so every station must clear the ceiling.

05Retrieve & space

The whole method in one line: bring every station under the ____ cycle (required = 60/target), spending only at the ____ (bottleneck).
For 10/min the per-machine ceiling is ____ s (6).
Why not add a machine to Test (4 s)? (it's already under the ceiling — pure cost, no throughput).

06Mastery & project

Optimize a full multi-station line to meet throughput AND budget — the complete bottleneck/balance/cost workflow.

The manufacturing capstone: prove a virtual factory hits spec under real constraints.

← Optimizing Under Competing Targets Back to course →

VIRTUAL FACTORY

Capstone: Run & Optimize a Virtual Factory

Edit the production line (JSON: each station has a cycle time in seconds and a number of parallel machines), then run it. The twin animates parts flowing and grades the line's throughput.