Kristen's Cookie Company

Kristen’s Cookie Company

06/03/2013

As a small business company, Kristen Cookie’s Company aims to serve completely fresh cookies to hungry students late at night while keeping business profitable. The company also caters to each customer’s taste, so a variety of ingredients are available to choose from. The company is seeking ways to increase its profit.

Here is how processing a one-dozen cookies’ order looks like:

Take Order

Mix + Spoon

Bake

Cool

Pack + Accept Payment

Take Order

Mix + Spoon

Bake

Cool

Pack + Accept Payment

Throughput time | 1 min/dozen | 6+2=8mins/ dozen | 10 mins/dozen | 5 mins/dozen | 2+1 = 3 mins/dozen |

Cycle time | 1 min | 8 mins | 10 mins | 5 mins | 3 mins |

Hourly Capacity | 60 dozens | 7.5 dozens | 6 dozens | 12 dozens | 20 dozens |

Personnel utilized | Roommate | Kristen | / | / | Roommate |

Equipment utilized | Computer | Mixing bowls+ trays | Oven | Trays | Trays |

It takes 27 minutes to finish a one-dozen cookies’ order. Assuming the company operates 4 hours per night, the company can fill up to 22 orders of one-dozen cookies (Appendix 1). As for equipment utilized, since the electric mixer can hold and mix ingredients for up to three-dozen cookies, one mixing bowl is enough for holding them. Since each tray can only hold one-dozen cookies and up to three-dozen cookies can be mixed at the same time, when they are making 3-dozen cookies at the same time, at least 3 trays are needed. Besides, only one tray can go into the oven at one time, there are 2 trays waiting for going into the oven. Therefore, 3 trays are enough to meet the desired capacity.

The bottleneck of the process is the oven, since baking costs the longest cycle time – 10 minutes per dozen. If a second oven is rented or purchased, the process flow diagram would look like:

Take Order

Mix + Spoon

Bake

Bake

Cool

Pack + Accept Payment

Take Order

Mix + Spoon

Bake

Bake

Cool

Pack + Accept Payment

The hourly capacity now is 7.5...