Optimization of Day-to-Day Operations at

Azad Hall of Residence,

IIT Kharagpur

Production and Operations Management

Project Report

by
Abhishek Pandit: Roll No. 22BM63007
Ayush Mathur: Roll No. 22BM63031
Bisal Kabi: Roll No. 22BM63035
Deepak Singh: Roll No. 22BM63041
Ojasvi Thapliyal: Roll No. 22BM63081

Submitted to
Prof. Sushil Punia

VINOD GUPTA SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
KHARAGPUR

November 2022
 Index

Executive Summary
Background
Objective
Work Done
Impact
Project Introduction
Literature review
Problem Statement (3 Points) (1. Janitors, Garden 2. Mess 3. Cycle Parking and Storages)
Methodology (Process Overview)
Analysis and results (1. Janitors, Garden 2. Mess 3. Cycle Parking and Storages)
Discussion:
Conclusion
References

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 Table of Contents
Executive Summary.......................................................................................................................5

Objective.........................................................................................................................................6

Project Introduction......................................................................................................................7

Literature review...........................................................................................................................8

Problem Statement........................................................................................................................9

Methodology.................................................................................................................................11

a. Optimizing Worker Allocation-.............................................................................................11

b. Optimizing Mess Operations-................................................................................................12

c. Space and Layout Management –.........................................................................................13

Analysis and results.....................................................................................................................14

a. Worker Allocation-................................................................................................................14

i. Hall premises cleaning..........................................................................................................14

ii. Hall rooms cleaning..............................................................................................................15

iii. Maintaining gardens, and plants in the halls...................................................................16

iv. Cycle maintenance of students..............................................................................................17

b. Mess Operations-...................................................................................................................18

c. Space and Layout Management-..........................................................................................19

Discussion.....................................................................................................................................20

Conclusion....................................................................................................................................21

References.....................................................................................................................................22

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 Executive Summary
The report attempts to address the general problems observed with the Azad Hall of Residence at
IIT Kharagpur. Three problems are specifically picked up and attempted to be resolved. Those
are the allocation of janitors and gardeners to hostel operations, optimization of space and
operations within the hall mess and increasing efficiency with the hostel cycle parking, and
relevant storage.
The current operations have many visible inadequacies and disadvantages. They consume more
time, money and resources than needed.
This work presents the optimized solutions. All three problem statements are attempted to be
examined and analyzed with primary and secondary research and statistical analysis. Finally
using projection and operation techniques, we suggest solutions and improvements that can be
implemented to make the operations more efficient.

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 Objective
The project delivers and focuses optimization of staff, mess and storage operations at the Azad
Hall of Residence at IIT Kharagpur. The project report also includes a detailed analysis of the
staffing, resources and associated incurred. The brief about the objectives is as follows:

1. To list down the processes and operations identified in functions adopted at the
establishment chosen by our team, here Azad Hall of Residence at IIT Kharagpur
2. To identify various problems and inefficiencies in day-to-day operations at the chosen
establishment
3. To research various methods of optimization and potential solutions towards the
reduction of resources currently utilized

While describing processes currently adopted by the establishment, the resource utilization at
each step is also calculated and mentioned in the subsequent section of the report. The utilization
is subsequently analyzed and optimized on time and cost parameters.

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 Project Introduction
Education plays an ever-increasing critical role in societal and economic development today. To
achieve this goal, higher education is being looked towards and there's increased competition in
the same, as a result, the fulfilment and satisfaction of college students are vital. This means that
there is a constant drive for improvements and optimization. In this report, we study the hostel
facilities available at the Azad Hall of Residence, IIT Kharagpur and attempt to optimize the
inefficiencies.

The objectives of this project report were as follows:

● Perform primary and secondary research in order to identify practical on-ground

workings at the Azad Hall of Residence
● Identifying inefficient in the real-world operations
● Learning about the different kinds of optimization techniques
● Creating implementable solutions to identified problems
● Identifying the area for further improvements
● Summarizing the data and getting insights for providing recommendations

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 Literature review

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 Problem Statement

Azad Hall of Residence is named after India's first education minister, Maulana Abul Kalam
Azad. It is famous for being one of the oldest hostels along with having started the tradition of
Illumination or ILLU.

Azad Hall has a total of 427 rooms for the accommodation of the students, with 260 single
rooms, 20 double-sharing rooms, and 142 triple-sharing rooms. There are 2 four-sharing rooms
and 3 guest rooms. The rooms are spread across 5 blocks (A to E). The total number of students
housed at Azad is 740.

Other amenities include:

● Music Room
● Auditorium
● Library
● Basket Ball Court
● Badminton Court
● Cricket Net
● Football Field
● Hockey Half-Court
● Volley Ball Court
● Table Tennis Room
● Gym
● Weight Lifting
● Common room

Azad Hall has 22 full-time workers that draw salaries from HMC, with 21 employed as janitors
and 1 as a gardener. There are 2 additional workers from the students' office. The security staff
works in 3 shifts a day with 2 guards at the hostel gates at any time.
Quantifying other amenities, there are 2 water purifiers per floor spread across the 5 blocks.

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Discussing the operations at the mess, 29 employees are working across 2 shifts. At any shift,
there will be 4 cooks, 3 bearers and 7 cleaners.

Through this report, we attempt to resolve the following 3 problems:

● Worker Allocation
Allocation of janitors and gardeners to hall operations across the blocks and different
floors to ensure optimal utilization of employee resources.
● Mess Operations
Optimization of space and operations within the hall mess along with analyzing seating
and worker management.
● Space and Layout Management
Increasing efficiency with the hostel cycle parking to minimize the distance from rooms,
and managing relevant storage and excess.

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 Methodology
a. Optimizing Worker Allocation-
Operations management enables halls and other lodging of a similar nature to manage and
optimize many of the fundamental operations that must take place on a daily basis for the
boarders to board without any difficulty.
Worker's allocation is being done to carry out the following day-to-day activities
 Hall premises cleaning, including washrooms
 Hall rooms cleaning
 Hall gallery and Verandahs cleaning
 Maintaining gardens, and plants in the halls
 Cycles maintenance of students
The methodology followed here in the allocation of workers is the kind of work and the cost of
these workers. Also, in some cases, for example, in the maintenance of cycles, skilled persons
are required.
The data quoted in this section is collected from the hall manager and mess manager.
In the case of hall premises cleaning, which is being done regularly, the workers' allocation is
done keeping in mind the total number of blocks (here 5), the total number of washrooms (here 6
in each block), and the approximate length of gallery and verandahs in each block (here 100
meters per floor (approx.).
Similarly, in the case of Hall room cleaning, which is done once a week, the worker's allocation
in doing the chores is wholly based on the number of rooms in the hall and the time taken to
clean one room. The efficiency of each worker varies here, and as a result, the time taken by one
worker to clean a room may or may not be equal to each other.
Maintenance of gardens, fields, and plants in the hall is the responsibility of the gardener. The
gardeners are allocated on the basis of the total number of fields/green areas in the hall and the
time required to clean/cut grass in one field (for ex-, a volleyball field, football field, hockey
field, etc.). We have also taken into account the maintenance of plants at the periphery of the hall
(not at all the places). Maintenance of broken cycles is being done by skilled persons here in the
hall. The allocation is being done based on the availability of these skilled laborers. The workers
are available here in the hall for 8-10 hours each day.

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b. Optimizing Mess Operations-
Pandit

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c. Facilities management –

The purpose of Facility Management is to integrate people, places, and processes within the built
environment in order to increase the quality of life and increase productivity.

The data used in this section is real-time data on the basis of the behaviour/observation of the
majority of students.

In case of Washing Machine usage optimization, the number of machines required on a floor is
calculated, the need arises from the observation that there is always a tussle going on between
students regarding the usage of machines.

The methodology followed here in the optimization of Washing Machine usage is:

Calculated
No. of time Calculated
Calculated
washing available wash cycle Compared
total no. of
machine for which time of all the two
students on
available on Washing students on times
a floor
a floor machines a floor
can be used

In the case of Wi-Fi Range Extenders students generally face range and speed issues. The
approach to solving the problem consists of the area coverage of the device and the length of the
wing (~30 m). By finding out the range of an extender in different places such as gallery, room
and balcony the actual range of the device was recorded(obstacles taken into consideration),
hence by comparing the range of extender and the length of the floor the optimal number of
extender on a floor is calculated.

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 Analysis and results
a. Worker Allocation-
i. Hall premises cleaning
Cleaning of Hall premises majorly comprises of verandah of each floor in a block. The data
related to total area available to clean in terms of length of verandah is given as below-
Particulars Values Calculation
Total Blocks 5  
Floors / Block 3  
Total Floors 15 5X3
Length of Verandas / Each Floor 100 mtr  
Total Length of Verandas 1500 mtr 100 X 15
Extra Verandas (in front of main gate, mess etc.) 100 mtr  

Total Length of Verandas + Extra Verandas 1600 mtr 1500 + 100

After getting feedback and information from workers working in Hall, we get to know that based
on the average efficiency of the workers keeping in mind the workers’ norms that are being
followed in IIT Kharagpur, each worker would be able to clean 200 meters/day. Here length of
the verandah is uniform throughout as the design of each block is almost similar with varied
sizes of rooms but not verandah.
Hence Worker allocation will be in the following manner-
Particulars Values Calculation
Total Area Available to Clean 1600  
Total Workers Required 8 1600 / 200

Hence, here to optimize the worker allocation we will consider 9 workers from 21 workers
available to carry out this task giving a day off to each worker in a regular shift. The scheduling
of workers is as follows-

    Days
    Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Worker 1              
Worker 2              
Workers Worker 3              
Worker 4              
Days

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 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
Worker 5              
Worker 6              
Worker 7              
Worker 8              
Worker 9              

ii. Hall rooms cleaning

Hall rooms cleaning are being done once in a week. Hence to exercise this task the data collected
from hall manager is as follows-
Particulars Values Calculation
Total Rooms in Azad Hall of Residence 427  
Time required in cleaning one room 11 Minutes  
Time to relax in between one room 1 Minute  
Total time to clean one room 12 Minutes 11 + 1

Here, the time required to clean one room is taken by the time study done while workers were
cleaning the rooms. The total time was then divided by total number of rooms cleaned and the
average value is taken into consideration as Time to clean one room. This is done because there
are several single, double and triple seaters rooms.
Particulars Values Calculation
Total time available per worker in a day 8 hrs  
Total time available per worker in a day 480 minutes 8 X 60
Total rooms cleaned by a worker 40 Rooms 480 / 12
Total workers required to clean 427 rooms ~10 Workers 427 / 40

In the above table calculation is based on the fact that the rooms are being cleaned once in a
week. Hence the scheduling of the workers should be such that the total worker – hours required
to clean all the rooms are divided by workforce available.

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 iii. Maintaining gardens, and plants in the halls
In order to optimize the worker allocation in maintaining gardens and plants in the halls, the total
area and fields available in the hall are taken into account. The fields are maintained by cutting
grass and weeds. The size of all the fields present in the hall are of same size (approx.). Hence
the time taken to clean or cut grass / weed in one field is similar to other fields / grounds.
The data related to optimizing this activity is as follows-

Particulars Values Calculation

Total fields present in the hall 3  
Dimensions of each field 1200 sq. mtr 60 mtr X 20 mtr
Total area available to maintain 3600 sq. mtr 1200 X 3
Total time taken to clean one field 480 minutes 8 hrs X 60 min
Total time required to clean all the fields 1440 minutes 480 X 3
Total worker days required 3  

There is only a gardener employed in the hall who is taking care of the work related to
maintenance of gardens, fields and plants. The time required to clean one field of area 1200 sq
mtr is recorded by doing time study in which we observed the gardener while he was cutting
grass / weed. The time mentioned in the above table is approximately recorded keeping in mind
the mandatory pauses in between the work. The cutting of tall grasses and trimming of weeds
should be carried out once in a week.

To optimize the work related to plants and maintaining gardens, the scheduling should be such
that the three days in a week should be dedicated to fields / grounds and remaining three days
should be devoted to taking care of plants and trees already there in the hall. Below is the
proposed scheduling-

Gardener
Monday Trimming / Cutting of tall grasses in Field 1 (Hockey Field- B/W Block D and Block E)
Tuesday Plants and maintenance of trees and saplings
Wednesday Trimming / Cutting of tall grasses in Field 2 (Cricket Field- B/W Block C and Block D)
Thursday Plants and maintenance of trees and saplings
Friday Trimming / Cutting of tall grasses in Field 3 (Hockey Field- B/W Block B and Block C)
Saturday Week Off
Sunday Plants and maintenance of trees and saplings

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 iv. Cycle maintenance of students
The optimization of workers to maintain cycles are completely based on number of broken
cycles brought for maintenance. The Mean time to Repair (MTTR) is calculated based on the
information received from the worker working for this task and also the time study done by our
group in this regard. The other details related to optimization of this task are as follows-

Particulars Values Calculation

Total Students in Hall 730 Students  
Students having cycles (95% of total
~690 Students 0.95 X 730
students)
690 / 15 (Assuming each cycle needs
Total cycles to repair / Day 46
repair every 15th day)
Total cycles to repair in hall / day ~30 cycles ~65 % of total cycles
Average time to repair one cycle ~15 Minutes  
Total Worker- Hours required 7.5 Hours (30 X 15) / 60

In the above table the time required to repair one cycle is ~15 minutes. Cycles are majorly
broken due to failed brakes, flat tires, loose chains etc. Around 30 cycles are parked to repair in
the hall. Since total worker hours required in a day to repair ~30 cycles are 7.5 hours. Hence, 1
cycle repair worker will be required for this task. This is the most optimized and efficient way to
utilize the skills of the worker. The half hour remaining after devoting 7.5 hours in repair of the
cycles can be utilized in procuring raw materials and maintenance of tools required to repair
cycles.

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b. Mess Operations-
Pandit

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c. Facilities Management -

Total Blocks in Azad Hall: 5 (A to E)

Total no. of floors in a block: 4 (1st,2nd,3rd and 4th)
Each floor is divided into 3 wings (Left, Middle and Right)
No. of Rooms (triple occupancy) in each wing: 8
8 * 3 = 24 students/wing
24 * 3 wings = 72 students on a floor

[Assumption: There are Single and Double occupancy rooms too i.e., the no. of rooms may differ
per wing but the no. of students in each wing is the same]

The layout of a Block of Azad Hall:

Left Wing Middle Wing Right Wing Total students

4 Floor
th
24 24 24 72
3rd Floor 24 24 24 72
2nd Floor 24 24 24 72
1st Floor 24 24 24 72
Total 96 96 96 288

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i. Washing Machine usage optimization

No. of Washing Machine present on each floor: 2

Generally, in Azad Hall, a washing machine is used between 9 AM – 6 PM [9 hours]

i.e., in a week 9 * 7 = 63 hours are available for the usage of a washing machine.

Total time available (per week) for the usage of a washing machine on a floor:
(2 machines/floor) * 63 hours = 126 hours

No. of laundry done by an individual per week: 2

[Assumption: An individual, in general, is likely to wash anywhere between one to three
loads of laundry per week]

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 Avg. wash cycle time: 55 minutes
[Assumption: A normal wash cycle usually takes between 50 minutes to an hour to
complete. The time for a normal wash cycle could be more or less depending on load size
and the options chosen by an individual.]

Wash cycle time of a washing machine for an individual (per week): 2*55 =110 minutes
(1.83 hours)

Total wash cycle time required by all the students on a floor in a week:
(1.83 hours/individual) * (72 students/floor) = 131.76 hours

From the above calculation the findings about a floor are:

 Total time for which the washing machine can be used in a week:
126 hours (a)

 Total wash cycle time required by all the students on a floor in a week:
131.76 hours (b)

 As (a) < (b), we can conclude that the present no. of the washing machine on the
floor is not sufficient as per the student's needs. Currently, the washing machine
is used continuously from 9 AM – 6 PM which affects the long-time sustainability
of the machine. Therefore, one more washing machine (Total 3 machines) is
required on the floor for the smooth process of laundry of the students.

ii. Wi-Fi Range Extender

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Currently, the no. of Wi-Fi Range extenders present in a wing (8 rooms) is 2, the students face
connectivity and speed issues on a regular basis.

As the extenders are old, the maximum range of the available extender is 8-10 m, which too gets
limited as the number of obstacles increases.

The total length of the wing: ~30 m

Hence, in a wing, the problem can be solved either by using 1 more extender of a similar range or
by installing 2 new generation extenders which have a range of up to 45m.

From the above calculation the findings about a floor are:

 If a similar wi-fi extender is used a total of 9 extenders would be required on a floor.

 If new generation extenders are used a total of 6 extenders would be required on a floor.

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 Discussion
Ojasvi

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 Conclusion
Ojasvi

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 References

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