Supply Chain Case Study Answer

Question

1)How would you approach analyzing the system and identifying a bottleneck?

2)What additional considerations or assumptions would you need to have in order to make a
recommendation on how to improve the system? What recommendations would you consider?

Answer 1

The bottleneck is the step of the process able to manage the smallest number of units.

To answer the second question you can consider the possible drivers you have:

Increase throughput
Change weight from a type of sub-process to the other

Answer 2

Hi Raj,

If you don't mind me saying, it might be more helpful for you if you tried answering it yourself and provided your thinking here so some of us could give you feedback.

Best,

Cristian

Answer 3

Hi Raj,

You need to calculate the throughput of each major step of the process! The one that has the lowest throughput rate will be the bottleneck :)

Answer 4

I suggest dividing the throughput by the entitlement. That will tell you what is the maximum system throughput that the specific process can handle. The one with the lowest maximum system throughput is the current bottleneck.

In that case you have two options. One is to increase the number of stations. Another is to change the “entitlement levels”, depending on the downside of doing that.