Scheduling Exercise

📌 Production Scheduling Test

Factory Scenario:

You manage a furniture factory producing chairs and bar stools. You have 5 employees, each working 8-hour shifts (Mon–Fri).

Employees & Skills:

Employee	Cut Fabric	Sew Fabric	Upholstery (Seats/Backs)	Packing
John	✔️	❌	✔️	✔️
Maria	✔️	❌	✔️	✔️
Alex	✔️	✔️	❌	✔️
Sarah	✔️	✔️	❌	✔️
Mike	✔️	❌	✔️	✔️

• All employees can cut fabric and pack.
• Only Alex and Sarah can sew.
• Only John, Maria, and Mike can upholster.

Time per Task (per unit):

Product	Cut Fabric	Sew Fabric	Upholstery	Packing
Chair	15 min	30 min	1 hr	15 min
Bar Stool	10 min	20 min	45 min	10 min

Orders for the Week:

Order #	Product	Quantity	Due Day	Fabric Arrival	Cartons Available	Payment Status
#401	Chairs	10	Tues	Mon AM	✔️	✔️
#402	Bar Stools	20	Wed	Tues AM	✔️	✔️
#403	Chairs	15	Thu	Thu AM	❌ Arrive Thu PM	❌ Pending
#404	Bar Stools	10	Fri	Mon AM	✔️	✔️
#405	Chairs	5	Tues	Mon AM	✔️	✔️
#406	Bar Stools	8	Thu	Tues PM	✔️	❌ Pending
#407	Chairs	12	Fri	Wed AM	✔️	❌ Pending
#408	Bar Stools	5	Fri	Mon AM	❌ Arrive Thu AM	✔️

Constraints:

• You cannot sew or upholster until fabric has arrived.
• You cannot pack items without cartons.
• You cannot ship products without confirmed payment.

🖊️ Candidate Task (20–25 min):

Using the above scenario, please clearly outline your daily production schedule from Monday to Friday:

• Assign tasks clearly to each employee daily.
• Prioritize tasks/orders based on deadlines, availability of materials, cartons, and payment status.
• Clearly explain how you'll manage delays or bottlenecks.

🗂️ Assessment Criteria:

• Prioritization: Proper ordering of tasks.
• Problem-solving: Clearly addresses fabric/carton/payment delays.
• Efficiency: Maximizes worker productivity.
• Clarity: Clear and logical schedule presentation.

Email your answer to ira@richardsonseating.com