Littlefield Technologies: Overview
Stanford University Graduate School of Business
September 2007
Littlefield Technologies: Overview
Introduction
Littlefield Technologies is a job shop which assembles Digital Satellite System receivers.
These receivers are assembled from kits of electronic components procured from a single supplier. The assembly process consists of four steps carried out at 3 stations called board stuffing, testing and tuning. The first step consists of mounting the components onto PC
Boards and soldering them. This is done at the board stuffing station. The digital components are then briefly tested at the testing station in step 2. In the third step, key components are tuned at the tuning station. Finally, the boards are exhaustively “final tested” in step 4 at the testing station before delivery to the customer. Every receiver passes final test. All the stations consist of automated machines which perform the operations. You may purchase additional machines during the assignment. Board Stuffing machines cost
$90,000, testers cost $80,000, and tuning machines cost $100,000. You can also sell any machine at a retirement price of $10,000, provided there is at least one other machine left at that station. The operators are paid a fixed salary, and increasing the number of machines at a station does not require any increase in the number of operators.
Written by Sunil Kumar and Samuel C. Wood, both Assistant Professors at the Stanford University Graduate
School of Business. Copyright 1998. No part of this document may be reproduced without permission from
Responsive Learning Technologies, Inc., at info@responsive.net.
Orders arrive randomly at the factory. Each order is for 60 receivers. When an order arrives it is matched up with 60 raw kits and becomes a manufacturing lot. If an order arrives and there are less than 60 raw kits in the materials buffer, the order waits in the customer order queue pending arrival of raw kits. In addition, orders are not
September 2007
Littlefield Technologies: Overview
Introduction
Littlefield Technologies is a job shop which assembles Digital Satellite System receivers.
These receivers are assembled from kits of electronic components procured from a single supplier. The assembly process consists of four steps carried out at 3 stations called board stuffing, testing and tuning. The first step consists of mounting the components onto PC
Boards and soldering them. This is done at the board stuffing station. The digital components are then briefly tested at the testing station in step 2. In the third step, key components are tuned at the tuning station. Finally, the boards are exhaustively “final tested” in step 4 at the testing station before delivery to the customer. Every receiver passes final test. All the stations consist of automated machines which perform the operations. You may purchase additional machines during the assignment. Board Stuffing machines cost
$90,000, testers cost $80,000, and tuning machines cost $100,000. You can also sell any machine at a retirement price of $10,000, provided there is at least one other machine left at that station. The operators are paid a fixed salary, and increasing the number of machines at a station does not require any increase in the number of operators.
Written by Sunil Kumar and Samuel C. Wood, both Assistant Professors at the Stanford University Graduate
School of Business. Copyright 1998. No part of this document may be reproduced without permission from
Responsive Learning Technologies, Inc., at info@responsive.net.
Orders arrive randomly at the factory. Each order is for 60 receivers. When an order arrives it is matched up with 60 raw kits and becomes a manufacturing lot. If an order arrives and there are less than 60 raw kits in the materials buffer, the order waits in the customer order queue pending arrival of raw kits. In addition, orders are not