Operations Management

Dr. Loay Salhieh

Case Study #1
Students:
Hadil Mosa
Marah Akroush
Mohammad Rajab
Ousama Sammawi
 Q1 What is the main problem that Murarka is facing?
Murarka reached the conclusion of having a problem after he was aware of the 231
complaints the company has been receiving about the new express shipping scheme,
and how the claimed fast shipment wasn't fulfilling its task and doing what is expected
by users. Which made the new process questionable in terms of being under control.

Many causes may have led to such failure in process, starting with adding a new
service to the busy company without adding any new employees, not to mention the
lack of motivation the existing employees had and not giving them the support or the
best equipment to complete their jobs as promising the users (With in 72 hours) no ,
Also the management system that followed traditional management style and having the
chairman be the CEO of the company which may be a reason for conflict between the
company’s benefit and the shareholders benefits.

Adding to that the new express service was more complicated than other services
where users needed to call or email for an order and pre know information about the
shipment and let them decide everything even before setting the order in place and
having an ID, with a new system that was not standardized which added to the cost of
the project.

So the Mian problem is with the new express process and the process design and
the lack of interconnection between teams when the design was being
constructed, not taking into consideration many points that have a major effect of
the process design.

Q2: How can Murarka find out if the process involved in the premium express
scheme is under statistical control?
If we want to find whether the process is under statistical control or not, Muraka should make a
control chart, by collecting data of the time it takes to deliver each order, (Because it's Time we
are recording these are continuous variables that use​ X-Bar and R-Chart), ​when using the
X-bar and R-Range, both graphs should be in control to call the whole process under control.

By Defining the UCL and LCLs of each chart and checking an average of 25 samples each
sample with up to 5 deliveries. That is recorded periodically.

As explained in the next question we discuss types of control graphs and how the closer to the
mean the better, if the X-bar and the R-range are in control and close to the mean then the
process is fine, but other than that Murarka should investigate the reasons that cause such
graphs show and try to improve it using Six-Sigma as a mean to reduce variation and add
quality to the express service.

But Murarka should keep in mind that the data that is collected is not fully accurate as
mensioned in the case, measurment tactics are not at its finest and error reading may occure,
so if the data is collected wrong then the calculations will reflect wrongly of the process.

Q3: What is meant by random causes and assignable causes of variation? List a
few conditions when it becomes imperative to carefully investigate process
variations even if the process is under statistical control.

Starting with​ Random causes​ ​are also known as common causes of variation which
are considered to be purely random where you cannot identify its sources of variation
and is not possible to fully control and cannot be avoided. These Causes are hard to
study and understand and is the reason why a process can never reach a full zero
defect state.

Assignable causes ​which mainly are the things you have the ability to control and
manipulate to suit your situation, including an employee that needs training, parts that
need maintenance or replacement, or measurement errors.

In many cases processes are under control, but the degree of control varies and are not
the same some are better than the other, as mentioned above it is almost impossible to
reach a zero defect (zero variation) process, the best process is when all points are
closest to the mean and variation is at its lowest, when the dots above the mean are
equal to dots below.

In some processes you find all dots in the range of acceptance but showing some kind
of trend (increasing or decreasing) this process is within the limits but causes for the
trend or increase or decrease needs to be addressed.

Image below show different types of process controls and variations

Q4: How can Murarka identify the potential causes for the delay in the delivery
of the shipments booked under the premium express?

Keeping an eye on the process feedback in every phase of the process helps identify problems
up ahead and to fix them when they are still small.

To do so an operation manager should use all the tools they have, to make sure they Always
Improving Concept is embedded with the team and that everyone is involved, it helps raise any
concerns at ant time before it reaches to customers.

As for the Case of Murarka, he has started with pointing out the 10 reasons that may cause the
problem, which is due to using ​FEMA ​an approach that helps identify all possible failures in a
process and prioritize them and SODs, then sharing it with the rest of the team. Conducting a
Flow Chart ​will help identify the exact step where the process is failing. Moreover using
benchmarking to evaluate the change made from each problem or steps changed in the process
to make sure the problem is no longer affecting the process.

Q5: Explain in detail an approach Murarka could take to identify the major
causes for the delay in shipment.
To be able to find out the problem with the process, Murarka should take advantage of the tools
and graphs that have been identified and used for ages to point out problems.

Starting with a ​Flow Chart​ which is a chart that helps simplify and shows all steps in the
process, this chart helps in locating the problems in a process.

And since Murarka has started investigating by listing 10 potential reasons for the problem and
has contacted several experts in the process to discuss the problem and put it on their radar to
start studying the process, the team should also start a ​Fishbone DIagram​ where they can list
all 10 potential reasons and follow each cause and its effect and will be able to priorities the
causes to the problem, Building relations between both charts so that the Flow Chart helps with
giving each of the 10 points and reasons for the problems its credibility and the proof it is
actually one of the reasons for the problem.
Now Muraka could get to a point where more than one of the potential options is causing the
delay, since its a process and processes are interconnected, he should understand how
important it is to prioritize the list because due to ​Pareto Theory and analysis ​80% of the
problem is solved by 20% of the causes. Muraka should only focus on the main cause that is
affecting the whole process.

Now After the main causes for the problem is solved it should go under study by the whole team
and set a solution that is applicable and most importantly will solve the problem and add value,
as when it comes to implementation of the fixes on going update and feedback is a must to
make sure its all going as planned.

After implementation and the process has been fixed new SPCs should be added and a
capability study should be made with an eye on performance and control charts are made and
benchmarked with the previous process and see the progress. And to make sure the problem is
solved.

Management should also keep in mind the idea of ​TQM and continuous improvement​ and
keep working on delivering orders in the most effective and efficient way.

Q6: What is meant by process capability? How can Murarka find out if the new
process meeting the target defect proportion?

Process capability is the repeatability and consistency of a manufacturing process relative to

the customer requirements in terms of specification limits of a product parameter. This
measure is used to objectively measure the degree to which your process is or is not meeting
the requirements.

Capability indices have been developed to graphically portray that measure. Capability
indices let you place the distribution of your process in relation to the product specification
limits. Capability indices should be used to determine whether the process, given its natural
variation, is capable of meeting established specifications. It is also a measure of the
manufacturability of the product with the given processes.

Capability indices can be used to compare the product/process matches and identify the
poorest match (lowest capability). The poorest matches then can be targeted on a priority
basis for improvement.

So Process Capability refers to the ability of the process to meet the design
specifications for a service or product, the design specifications are often
expressed as nominal value & tolerance