Lake Charles Seafood makes 550 wooden packing boxes for fresh seafood per day, working in two 10-hour shifts. Due to increased demand, plant managers have decided to operate three 8-hour shifts per day instead. The plant is now able to produce 700 boxes per day.

Required:

a. Before the change in work rules, the company's productivity per day

b. Based on the changes made, the percent increase in productivity

c. If production is increased to boxes per day (with the three 8-hour shifts), the new productivity equals

a. Before the change in work rules, the company's productivity per day

= 550 packing boxes / 20 hours = 27.5 packing boxes per hour

b. Based on the changes made, the percent increase in productivity

productivity after the change = 700 packing boxes / 24 hours = 29.17 packing boxes per hour

productivity change = (29.17 - 27.5) / 27.5 = 6.07%

c. If production is increased to boxes per day (with the three 8-hour shifts), the new productivity equals

700 packing boxes per day (prior productivity of 550 packing boxes per day, which represents a 27.27% increase)

productivity = output / unit of time