Detroit Motors Inc.

The manager of facilities planning at a Detroit-based motor company faces a dilemma: one of two major engine lines is running overtime, while the other is running at 40 of capacity. The lines cannot substitute for each other, and the cost of overtime on the first line is proving expensive. The company's head of advanced engineering wants to invest in the development of flexible capacity, but the manager of facilities planning is under too much pressure to consider such a long-term solution. In this case, students learn how to evaluate the choices faced by the motor company by performing a sequence of exercises to quantify the outcome of various capacity-related options.