12 men, working 8 hours a day, complete a piece of work in 10 days. 'To complete the
same work in 8 days, working 15 hours a day, the number of men required, is .........
Answers
Answer:
Over the 10 days, the 12 guys work a total of 960 hrs, so that is now the known value of the work.
By multiplying the new number of hours (15) by the revised time period (8 days) we arrive at the hours per man achievable - 120 hours.
If we then divide the total number of hours for the job by the per man hours, we arrive at total number of men required - 960 / 120 = 8.
Step-by-step explanation:
However, that's on paper!
In the real world this solution to productivity often results in missed milestones.
Firstly, even assuming its permissible to work 15hr shifts in your industry, the additional break periods required make consistent progress difficult & thus tasks need a lot more planning & management.
In most cases the 8 day timeframe would tip many into needing an extended downtime before the end of the project, so an additional pool of men would be needed to cover.
This is a recurring problem highlighted by the golden triangle of money & time vs resources
If the money is reduced it means the resources cant be increased or perhaps even reduced, so the time has to give way.
If the time has to be reduced then the cost must be increased to compensate. In the given example, two sets of 12 x 8hr day men is probably your best solution depending on the environment.
This way you could either overlap them or work a 16hr double shift. In any event you achieve a 192hr man day, so the same set of work now only takes 5 days & nobody had to work additional hours. Of course it cost more, but then more people were employed, felt valued & were a part of the money chain. You decide what's the more important.