Baird-Atomic, Inc

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REPORT FOR ANALYTICAL CHEMISTS

Figure 5.

Effect on input variation on

cB Deadline time 3 Average input. 41 units/day 2 5 % limit on overtime

CAPACITY RATIO (K

No floater Vacation

50

RADIOACTIVE α & β SAMPLES MEASURED AUTOMATICALLY

work would be completed within one day without recourse to over­ time. T h e cost ratio would be 1.0. This fact indicates t h a t a reduction in input variation should reduce costs. Figure 5 shows the effect of re­ ducing t h e coefficient of variation (standard deviation divided by mean) of the input from 0.54 to 0.39. T h e reduction in the mini­ m u m cost ratio is from 1.164 to 1.130 or 3.4%. Unfortunately, it is difficult, and probably not de­ sirable, to control either the amount or the sequence of work being sub­ mitted for analysis. Hence, arti­ ficial means of handling input vari­ ation must be introduced. One such method is to use a floater. A floater serves to reduce wage costs in two ways: by acting as a damper on input variations and by reducing the amount of overtime needed t o meet any given deadline. Figure 6 shows t h a t a floater, used on a 5 0 % availability basis, will reduce the cost ratio from 1.164 to 1.130, almost the same effect as a 1 5 % reduction in variation. Proposed Operating System. From the above information relating wage costs to service time distribu­ tion, it was concluded t h a t it would be feasible to impose a relative deadline time of 3 on the laboratory and to raise the capacity ratio to about 1.05, which is somewhat above the optimum ratio of 0.95. In doing so, it was realized t h a t a cost ratio of about 1.15 would re­ sult. The estimated improvement

31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 38 1 2

Ζ1 .1* Ν 0 .01 R 33 kN 2 .3 8 Ν 2 Λ7 Ν 3 6 .6 7 Β 2 .7 2 Ν

.6 7 Ν L •3 1 .7 2 Β 3 5 UN "5 Λ 7 Μ

Printed out information includes, sample number, time and code

T H E NEW BAIRD-ATOMIC Automatic Sample Changer — a major improvement over conventional mecha­ nisms. Automatically programs, counts and records 50 pre-coded samples. Accuracy far greater than manual counting techniques. Magazine loading saves time and eliminates inter­ mixing. Each sample may be pre-coded to any one of four programs: "N" (normal operation), "B" (background or weak sample count), "R" (reject), or "L" (return to loading position). Maximum count accuracy is assured by complete " 4 ^ " shielding of the sample in the detector. For further information on Automatic Sample Changer and other systems, request B-A Catalog A-2

Baird-Atomic, Inc. 3 3 U N I V E R S I T Y RD., C A M B R I D G E 3 8 , M A S S .

Instrumentation for Better Analysis

B A

Baircd Atomic

For further information, circle number 38 A on Readers' Service Card, page 103 A 38 A

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ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY

CAPACITY ^ A ~ l u i K

Figure 6 .

Effect o f F l o a t e r on C s

Deadline time. 3 Average input. 41 units/day 2 5 % limit on overtime Floater available 5 0 % of requirement Coef. of variation. 0.54 Vacation