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CompleteRead........:KristensCookiesCompany

Kristens Cookies Company

Solution to Kristen's Cookie Company (A)

Before answering specific questions, it is useful to make a diagram of the overall process:

Note that in this diagram, activities are arranged in columns to indicate which resources are being used. Inside each
activity symbol are written the capacity (in dozens of cookies) and the cycle time (in minutes).

1. How long will it take for you to fill a rush order?

Assuming this order is for one dozen cookies, we will need to do the following:

Activity
Order Entry
WashBowl, Mix
Fill Tray
Prepare Oven
Bake
Remove
Cool
Pack, Collect Money

Resource
Email
Self
Self
Roommate
Oven
Roommate
None
Roommate

Cycle Time
0 minutes
6 minutes
2 minutes
1 minute
9 minutes
0 minutes
5 minutes
3 minutes

Start Time
00:00
00:00
06:00
08:00
09:00
18:00
18:00
23:00

Finish Time
00:00
06:00
08:00
09:00
18:00
18:00
23:00
26:00

Therefore, the minimum time to fill an order is 26 minutes. We can illustrate the sequence of events with a Gantt chart:

2. How many orders can you fill in a night, assuming you are open four hours each night?
Here is a Gantt chart for two batches of one dozen cookies each. It doesn't take twice as long to produce two batches as it
does to produce one batch, because you can start mixing the second batch without having to wait for the whole firstbatch

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process to be completed (you can start washing out the bowl as soon as you finish filling the tray). It is possible to
produce two batches in 36 minutes.

In general, a formula for the number of minutes to producenonedozen batches is given by this expression:
16+10n
3. How much of your own and your roommate's valuable time will it take to fill each order?
For yourself:

Activity
WashBowl, Mix
Fill Tray
Total

Cycle Time
6 minutes
2 minutes
8 minutes

For your roommate:

Activity
Prepare Oven
Remove
Pack, Collect Money
Total

Cycle Time
1 minute
0 minutes
3 minutes
4 minutes

This is assuming all orders are for one dozen cookies.

4. Because your baking trays can hold exactly one dozen cookies, you will produce and sell cookies by the dozen. Should
you give any discount for people who order two dozen cookies, three dozen cookies, or more? If so, how much? Will it
take any longer to fill a twodozen cookie order than a onedozen cookie order?
First, let's consider costs. The cost of ingredients and the box are the same, no matter how many dozen you bake. So the
only resource that might differ with the size of the batch is labor.
One Dozen

Activity
Order Entry
WashBowl, Mix
Fill Tray
Prepare Oven
Bake
Remove
Cool
Pack, Collect Money

Resource
Email
Self
Self
Roommate
Oven
Roommate
None
Roommate

Cycle Time
0 minutes
6 minutes
2 minutes
1 minute
9 minutes
0 minutes
5 minutes
3 minutes

Self
Roommate
Total Labor Minutes

Start Time
00:00
00:00
06:00
08:00
09:00
18:00
18:00
23:00

Finish Time
00:00
06:00
08:00
09:00
18:00
18:00
23:00
26:00

8
4
12

Two Dozen

Activity
Order Entry
WashBowl, Mix
Fill Tray 1
Fill Tray 2

Resource
Email
Self
Self
Self

http://completeread.blogspot.in/2010/05/kristenscookiescompany.html

Cycle Time
0 minutes
6 minutes
2 minutes
2 minutes

Start Time
00:00
00:00
06:00
08:00

Finish Time
00:00
06:00
08:00
10:00
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Prepare Oven 1
Bake 1
Remove 1
Cool 1
Prepare Oven 2
Bake 2
Remove 2
Cool 2
Pack 1
Pack 2
Collect Money

Roommate
Oven
Roommate
None
Roommate
Oven
Roommate
None
Roommate
Roommate
Roommate

1 minute
9 minutes
0 minutes
5 minutes
1 minute
9 minutes
0 minutes
5 minutes
2 minutes
2 minutes
1 minute

Self
Roommate
Total Labor Minutes

08:00
09:00
18:00
18:00
18:00
19:00
28:00
28:00
23:00
33:00
35:00

09:00
18:00
18:00
23:00
19:00
28:00
28:00
33:00
25:00
35:00
36:00

Start Time
00:00
00:00
06:00
08:00
06:00
08:00
09:00
18:00
18:00
18:00
19:00
28:00
28:00
28:00
29:00
38:00
38:00
23:00
33:00
43:00
45:00

Finish Time
00:00
06:00
08:00
10:00
08:00
09:00
18:00
18:00
23:00
19:00
28:00
28:00
33:00
29:00
38:00
38:00
43:00
25:00
35:00
45:00
46:00

10
7
17

Three Dozen

Activity
Order Entry
WashBowl, Mix
Fill Tray 1
Fill Tray 2
Fill Tray 3
Prepare Oven 1
Bake 1
Remove 1
Cool 1
Prepare Oven 2
Bake 2
Remove 2
Cool 2
Prepare Oven 3
Bake 3
Remove 3
Cool 3
Pack 1
Pack 2
Pack 3
Collect Money

Resource
Email
Self
Self
Self
Self
Roommate
Oven
Roommate
None
Roommate
Oven
Roommate
None
Roommate
Oven
Roommate
None
Roommate
Roommate
Roommate
Roommate

Cycle Time
0 minutes
6 minutes
2 minutes
2 minutes
2 minutes
1 minute
9 minutes
0 minutes
5 minutes
1 minute
9 minutes
0 minutes
5 minutes
1 minute
9 minutes
0 minutes
5 minutes
2 minutes
2 minutes
2 minutes
1 minute

Self
Roommate
Total Labor Minutes

12
10
22

Let's assume your time is worth $12 per hour. Your labor costs would be:

# Cookies in Batch
1 dozen
2 dozen
3 dozen

Minutes
12
17
22

Cost
$2.40
$3.40
$4.40

Cost per Dozen

$2.40
$1.70
$1.47

It looks like you could afford to give a discount for two and threedozen orders. A twodozen order doesn't cost twice as
much as a onedozen order.
5. How many food processors and baking trays will you need?
The number of baking trays ought to equal the maximum number of trays you will be using at any one time. The highest
volume production imaginable would be if we produced threedozen orders continuously, a scenario depicted in this
Gantt chart:

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It's hard to read the activities along the left axis because they are jammed together, but the food processor is only used in
the mixing stage, and we ought to be able to see that the processor is idle for long periods of time, and that the real
bottleneck is the oven. Buying another food processor won't improve the productivity of the system at all.
There are only three kinds of activities that require a tray: filling the tray, baking (including preparing the oven), and
cooling. The Gantt chart shows that we are using at most three trays in the filling activity at any given time (and in fact
this is only because this particular plan calls for filling three trays in rapid succession, after which two of them sit waiting
for an opportunity to get into the oven). There is never more than one tray in the oven at any given time, nor is there ever
any more than one tray cooling. So we could certainly get by with five trays, and maybe four or even three if we adjust
the mixing and filling part of the operation.
On the other hand, trays are cheap, and it would be a shame if we ever had to keep the oven (the bottleneck) waiting for
lack of a tray. It is reasonable to have "plenty" of trays on hand, whether that means five, or ten, or whatever.
6. Are there any changes you can make in your production plans that will allow you to make better cookies or more
cookies in less time or at lower cost? For example, is there a bottleneck operation in your production process that you can
expand cheaply? What is the effect of adding another oven? How much would you be willing to pay for an additional
oven?
The bottleneck is the oven, which means there is no point in looking at expanding the capacity of any other resource
unless the operation's baking capacity is expanded first.
If we had two ovens, we could make cookies faster. But how much faster?
This gets complicated, but we can think about it by looking at the capacities of the various stages in our process:

Stage
WashBowl, Mix, Fill Tray
(yourself)
Prepare Oven & Bake
(oven)
Prepare Oven, Pack, Collect Money
(roommate)

Time
12 min. for 3
dozen
30 min. per 3
dozen
10 min. per 3
dozen*

Dozens per Hour

(1 Oven)

Dozens per Hour

(2 Oven)

15 per hour

15 per hour

6 per hour

12 per hour

18 per hour

18 per hour

* all in one order

Even with the second oven, the oven stage will still be the bottleneck. To decide how much we would be willing to pay
for another oven, we would have to do some more complicated analysis (including finding out what the distribution of

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orders would look like how many for one dozen, how many for two dozen, etc.). Then we could project the increase in
revenue and perform some present value analysis on the incremental improvement in our revenue.

Here is a Gantt chart for one twodozen order:

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