To determine the bottleneck activity in the system, we need to compare the total time and labour content involved in each step of the process and identify which step has the highest "workload" (i.e., the greatest time consumption per log). The bottleneck will be the activity that limits the overall throughput of the entire process.

Activities Breakdown:

1. Unloading Logs:

   • Number of workers: 4
   • Labour content per log: 5 minutes
   • Total time required to unload each log = 5 minutes

2. Ferrying Logs to the Warehouse:

   • Number of workers: 3
   • Labour content per log: 9 minutes
   • Total time required to ferry each log = 9 minutes

3. Stacking Logs:

   • Number of workers: 5
   • Labour content per log: 10 minutes
   • Total time required to stack each log = 10 minutes

Steps to Identify the Bottleneck:

• The time to unload a log is 5 minutes, with 4 workers working simultaneously.
• The time to ferry a log is 9 minutes, with 3 workers working simultaneously.
• The time to stack a log is 10 minutes, with 5 workers working simultaneously.

Find the bottleneck activity:

1. Unloading:

• Labour content: 5 minutes per log
• There are 4 workers, so the time required to unload a log would be divided across them. However, since all 4 workers are unloading logs at the same time (assuming the work is split evenly), the time to unload per log still remains 5 minutes.

2. Ferrying:

• Labour content: 9 minutes per log
• There are 3 workers, so each log is ferried by these 3 workers. The work is divided among them, but the total time for ferrying a log remains 9 minutes.

3. Stacking:

• Labour content: 10 minutes per log
• There are 5 workers, so each log is stacked in 10 minutes.

Identifying the Bottleneck:

To determine the bottleneck, we look at the labour content (time per log) for each activity:

• Unloading: 5 minutes per log
• Ferrying: 9 minutes per log
• Stacking: 10 minutes per log

Since the time taken to stack a log (10 minutes) is the longest, stacking is the bottleneck activity in the system. It is the step that will limit the overall throughput of the process.

Conclusion:

The bottleneck activity is stacking the logs.

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If you'd like to explore the system further, here are some related questions:

1. How can the number of workers in the bottleneck activity (stacking) be optimized to improve efficiency?
2. What would happen if the time per log for the stacking activity were reduced by 2 minutes?
3. How does the bottleneck in one part of the process affect the overall throughput of the system?
4. How could the workflow be reorganized to reduce waiting time between unloading, ferrying, and stacking?
5. What are some ways to balance the workload between the different stages of the process?

Tip: Always identify the bottleneck in a process first, as it determines the maximum output you can achieve. Improving the bottleneck leads to a significant overall system improvement.