Kristens Cookie Company
Kristens Cookie Company is a good example where the success or failure of the company
depends directly on the process planning adopted by the company, i.e., the company can
maximize its productivity by utilizing its resources effectively. One major aspect of
process analysis is to identify the major bottlenecks in the process and trying to mitigate
their effects with least possible level of costs and resources. The following flowchart
shows the overall process adopted by the company: (Exhibit 1)
Filling a rush order:
Process Resource(s) Process Time Cumulative Time Consumed
Taking Order E-mail 0 minutes 0 minutes
Washing and Mixing Self 6 minutes 6 minutes
Filling Tray Self 2 minutes 8 minutes
Preparing Oven Roommate 1 minute 9 minutes
Baking Oven 9 minutes 18 minutes
Removing the tray Roommate 0 minutes 18 minutes
Cooling None 5 minutes 23 minutes
Packaging & Collecting Money Roommate 3 minutes 26 minutes
Thus, it requires minimum 26 minutes to fill a rush order.
Production Capacity (4 hours):
Since the resources required for the different processes are not common everywhere, there
can be two orders (of one dozen each, for simplicity) being processed simultaneously.
Thus, it would not require twice as much time for the second order (of one dozen) to be
completed as it requires for the first one (of one dozen). This can be attributed to the fact
that one can get the tray ready for the second order while the first one is in the oven for
baking. The only bottleneck which creates a time lag is the combined process of getting
the oven ready (1 minute) for baking and the process of baking itself (9 minutes). So, we
can get two orders of one dozen each ready in 36 minutes. In fact, for X orders of 1 dozen
each, the time required is given by:
(16 + 10X) minutes.
Thus, in 4 hours (or 240 minutes), Kristens Cookie Company can fulfill 22 orders of one
dozen each given the fact that it gets the orders independently and it utilizes its resources
to the maximum.
Labor Time Requirements:
For Self, total time required is 6 minutes (washing and mixing) + 2 minutes (filling the
tray) = 8 minutes.
For Roommate, total time required is 1 minute (preparing the oven) + 3 minutes
(packaging and collecting money) = 4 minutes.
The assumption made for calculating the labor times is that all the orders are of one dozen.
Discounts and Economies of Scale:
Since the costs of raw materials and packaging material remains the same irrespective of
