Question

Select a process you perform daily, but would like to spend less time doing: COOKING DINNER

Design a flowchart and provide written analysis by using any appropriate tool.

Comment on the factors that affect the process design.

Identify at least one metric to measure the process.

Describe which forecasting methods would be applicable.

Discuss how one could manage this process by using PERT/CPM techniques.

Submit your flowchart for the process and the data collected at the end of the week by collecting data for the identified metric every day of the workweek.

Answer 1

The selected process is of cooking the dinner

Design a flowchart and provide written analysis by using any appropriate tool.

The flow chart for the process of cooking dinner is given below:

The above chart would be analysed using Pareto analysis. Pareto analysis is a technique that estimates the benefits achieved for the various tasks being performed while conducting some activity and then choosing the most effective actions that could deliver the maximum possible benefits as per the set standards for that particular course of action.

In cooking dinner, the various activities have been shown in the flow chart. The very first activity is when the person starts the process of cooking as per his desire for a particular dish to meet his hunger. Next step is to decide on the dish to be prepared. This process is based on the mood and the desire of the person and cannot be standardised. However, a trend can be obtained by observing the desire for a particular dish on a particular day over few weeks. Next step is to identify the recipe of the dish. This step can be omitted if a person knows the recipe. Purchasing of the ingredients can also be omitted if a person keeps weekly stock of the material and carry out the purchasing activity of Sunday or any other day. Next step is accumulating and arranging all the ingredients required for the preparation of the dish. This process is mandatory and cannot be omitted. Next step is Start the cooking process as per the recipe. However, if a person knows the recipe of cooking than he does not require referring the recipe of the dish. Next step is to maintain the time required for each process. This is an essential process and cannot be omitted as the perfect time balance helps in making the dish accurately. Next step is to taste the dish for any deficiency. This step is also important so that if any deficiency is there, it can be settled in a timely manner. Next step is to end the process when dish is ready. This is again an important step since ending can only be done when the dish is ready to eat.

Comment on the factors that affect the process design.

Factors that affect the process design:

1. Need and the requirement: process design gets affected by the need and requirement of the person. If a person is in hurry and cannot spend time in cooking than he prefer to order the food directly from the food vendor and satisfy his needs and the requirement at the moment.

2. Finance available: Process design also depends on the budget of the person. The finest process design can be executed if a person has sufficient funds available with him otherwise he chooses to omit some of the processes of the process design such as , in case of our example, purchasing of the extra spices to add taste to the dish.

3. Time required: time required for carrying out the process also affects the process design. If the process is needed to be completed as early as possible, then the process is designed accordingly to suit the time availability.

Identify at least one metric to measure the process.

The process can be measured through various metrics such as the efficiency of the process i.e. the amount of the output generated with the given input, productivity of the process i.e. the amount of the output generated within the given period of time, error rate i.e. how close is the output as per the desired one or as per the set standard of the output and the cost effectiveness which shows whether the process has been accomplished within the set budget.

The efficiency of cooking dinner can be measured by identifying whether the dish has been prepared with the available raw material or not. And, if the dish has been prepared with the available raw inputs than the process of cooking dinner can be said to be efficient. Productivity of cooking dinner can be measured by identifying whether the dish has been prepared within the required time. Error rate of cooking dinner can be found by the taste of the dish after cooking. And If the taste meets the set standard of the dish than it will be considered as error free.

Describe which forecasting methods would be applicable.

The forecasting method that would be applicable to our cooking example is the Jury of executive opinion method of qualitative forecasting technique. In Jury of executive opinion method of forecasting, opinion of the experts are taken for the efficiency and productivity of the process. In our example, we could take the opinion of various chefs and reach the efficiency and productivity in cooking the dinner.

Discuss how one could manage this process by using PERT/CPM techniques.

One could manage this process by using PERT/CPM techniques by preparing a network of various cooking activities and then deciding the most likely time of the tasks. According to the network and the most likely time, one can find the critical path which is the path requiring the maximum time for the completion of the process of cooking.