Home Style Coookies

Cookie production process:

The cookie production processing is called batch processing system to produce the dough used to make its cookies. The baking company uses two continuous ovens to bake the cookies. The text states that “Batch processing is used when a moderate value of goods or services is desired, and it can handle a moderate variety of products and services” (Stevenson, 2011, p. 237). After production is scheduled, the first step is the delivery of an order list to the person in charge of mixing who determines the ingredients that are needed to complete the order in order to get the quantity. The computer sends the ingredients automatically to the mixing machines. After mixing, batter is cut into cookie shape and then deposited on a conveyor belt that will take it through the oven for cooking. After cooking, cookies are cooled, and then workers box each cookie by hand, discarding any that do not meet standards. Lastly, a machine wraps, seals and labels boxes, which are then ready to be delivered to distributors and sold in convenience stores and supermarkets.

What are two ways that the company has increased productivity? Why did increasing the length of the ovens result in a faster output rate?

The book states productivity as “the quantity of goods and services produced each hour of a worker’s time” (2011, p.10). The Baking Company attempts to increased productivity rates in two ways: 1)Is to change the way the cookies are cut. The non-filled cookies could be cut on a diagonal (instead of being round), and if this was done, each cookie required less space, allowing the company to fit more cookies into one batch and 2) A decision to increase the length of each oven by twenty-five (25) feet allows the company to bake more cookies at one time.

Do you think that the company is making the right decision by not automating the packing of cookies? Explain your reasoning. What obligation does a company have to its employees in a situation such as...