When is it not in the best interest of a company to hire additional workers in the short run? when the average product of labor is decreasing when the firm is in Stage II of the production process when the marginal revenue product equals zero when the wage rate is equal to or greater than labor's marginal revenue product

According to the latest unemployment report, American manufacturing added 24,000 jobs last month but in Skowhegan Maine more than 300 manufacturing jobs at a New Balance shoes plant could be on the line in the face of new competition overseas. Employees at the plant, like Skip Bowman, know that his company would make more money if it would shut down the plant and move his job oversees. He says that every day he walks through the doors; he is part of the effort to keep the factory going. New Balance is the last major brand to produce athletic shoes in the U.S. About 25% of its manufacturing is still in New England where it has operated for nearly a 100 years. The privately owned company says it is committed to its American workers. In discussions with Pat Welch, plant manager for New Balance, he says that if they were thinking about the bottom line and only the bottom line, New Balance wouldn’t be here (Skowhegan Maine). In the backdrop of plant operations, Welch interacts with workers…

Sturgill Manufacturing Inc. needs to predict the numbers of machines and employees required to produce its planned production for the coming year. The plant runs three shifts continuously during the workweek, for a total of 120 hours of capacity per week. The shop efficiency (the percent of total time available for production), which accounts for setups, changeovers, and maintenance, averages 70% with a standard deviation of 5%, which reduces the weekly capacity. Six key parts are produced, and the plant has three different types of machines to produce each part. The machines are not interchangeable as they each have a specific function. The time to produce each part on each machine varies. The mean time and standard deviation (in hours) to produce each part on each machine are shown below: Mean Time Part Type Machine A Machine B Machine C 1 3.5 2.6     8.9 2 3.4 2.5  8 3 1.8 3.5 12.6 4 2.4 5.8 12.5 5 4.2 4.3 28  6…

A company currently using an inspection process in its material receiving department is trying to install an overall cost reduction program. One possible reduction is the elimination of one inspection position. This position tests material that has a defective content on the average of 0.04. By inspecting all items, the inspector is able to remove all defects. The inspector can inspect 51 units per hour. The hourly rate including fringe benefits for this position is $9. If the inspection position is eliminated, defects will go into product assembly and will have to be replaced later at a cost of $10 each when they are detected in final product testing. Assume that the line will operate at the same rate (i.e., the inspection rate) if the inspection operation was eliminated. If the inspector position is eliminated, what will the hourly cost of defects be? What is the cost to inspect each unit? (Round your answer to 2 decimal places.) Is there benefit (or loss) from the current inspection…

A Company currently has 230 units of a product on-hand that it orders every three weeks when the salesperson visits the premises. Average demand for the product is 20 units per day with a standard deviation of 5 units. Lead time for the product to arrive is seven days. Management has a goal of 95 percent probability of not stocking out for this product. The salesperson is due to come in late this afternoon when 210 units are left in stock. How many units should be ordered?

Taylor Smith owns a small clothing company, Cuteness for You, that offers an online subscription and personal shopping service targeted at busy families with children aged newborn to five years old. Currently, Taylor has one level of subscription service, the standard service. For $100 a month, the standard service provides its customers a monthly delivery of 10 clothing items carefully chosen to match the child's size, gender, and emerging style. The online clothing subscription market is fairly new but is growing rapidly and thus Taylor is considering extending the product line to increase its market share and profits.   Taylor is debating whether to add a premium subscription service featuring profitable high-markup items for $125 per month, a basic subscription service that contains lower-markup popular items priced at $75 per month, or possibly both. Taylor knows that the new product lines provide an opportunity to attract more customers and possibly increase revenues and profit,…