Get Active in Our Amazing Community of Over 448,000 Peers!

Schedule mock interviews on the Meeting Board, join the latest community discussions in our Consulting Q&A and find like-minded Case Partners to connect and practice with!

Case Study Question

Distribution operations strategy supply chain
New answer on Jan 15, 2023
6 Answers
603 Views
Raj asked on Jan 11, 2023
-1673465223-dr4pk382upo7.jpg

Question - How would you coach an engineer struggling to understand the system?

Overview of answers

Upvotes
  • Upvotes
  • Date ascending
  • Date descending
Best answer
Cristian
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Jan 13, 2023
#1 rated MBB & McKinsey Coach

Hi Raj, 

Could you please edit your question to provide a bit more detail? We're here to help you, but at this point you're not giving us a lot to hang on to. :)

Best,

Cristian

Was this answer helpful?
Ian
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Jan 11, 2023
#1 BCG coach | MBB | Tier 2 | Digital, Tech, Platinion | 100% personal success rate (8/8) | 95% candidate success rate

Hi Raj,

I think you're asking how we would coach you to solve these types of problems, is that right?

This is a process optimization/throughput problem. Essentially, whenever we're looking at throughput, we need to figure out which step/s is/are the bottleneck. The bottleneck = where there is less throughput.

Throughput = units/time.

So, in this case, we need to grab potential throughput and multiply it by entitlement to see how many products go through that step/sub-process. Then, within each process, we need to add those sub-process #s together.

The process with the lowest total # (throughput) is your bottleneck and is where we should focus our efforts!

Was this answer helpful?
Pedro
Expert
replied on Jan 15, 2023
30% off in March 2024 | Bain | EY-Parthenon | Roland Berger | Market Sizing | DARDEN MBA

You have three machines. The products goes through each of the three machines.

Each machine can do 3 different tasks, so you need to allocate time for each one.

Overall, the product will need to go through the 9 tasks.

So either you have to optimize the process (allocating different time), or find the bottleneck, or the max capacity of the process (which depends on the bottleneck). The question of course, depends on the case and questions being asked.

Was this answer helpful?
Moritz
Expert
Content Creator
replied on Jan 13, 2023
ex-McKinsey EM & Interviewer | 7/8 offer rate for 4+ sessions | 90min sessions with FREE exercises & videos

Hi there,

Not sure exactly you're after but there's a way to approach these types of questions in conjunction with big tables and lots of numbers.

The key is to create new numbers, but fewer, that collectively tell the story. The question is not testing your engineering skills but your ability to synthesize insights using quant.

Is this going in the right direction? Let me know - happy to elaborate more!

Best,

Moritz

Was this answer helpful?
Anonymous replied on Jan 12, 2023

As before, Just to add to what others are saying, if this is from a preplounge case, you should point us to it so we can have a look.

Was this answer helpful?
4
Hagen
Expert
Content Creator
updated an answer on Jan 12, 2023
#1 Bain coach | >95% success rate | interviewer for 8+ years | mentor and coach for 7+ years

Hi Raj,

It is basically impossible to describe in a few sentences how I would be able to help you - especially since I doubt that the only weak spot you might have is understanding this specific system.

If you would like a more detailed discussion on how to address your specific situation, please don't hesitate to contact me directly.

Best,

Hagen

(edited)

Was this answer helpful?
How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or fellow student?
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
0 = Not likely
10 = Very likely