OM 5 5th Edition Collier Solutions

Manual
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OM5 Chapter 7: Process Selection, Design, and Analysis

Discussion Questions

1. What type of process—project, job shop, flow shop, and continuous flow—would most
likely be used to produce the following? Explain your reasoning.

a. Apple iPads – flow shop (assembly line)

b. Weddings -- project
c. Paper – continuous flow
d. Tax preparation -- job shop for complex returns or at least hybrid job/flow shop for
simple EZ returns

2. Provide some examples of customer- and provider-routed services that you have
encountered that are different from those described in this chapter. Can you identify
any improvements to these processes?

Customer-routed examples include: visiting a bookstore, checking in a major

convention hotel, health clubs, Club Med, surfing the Internet, museums, taking a
cruise, parks, vacations, etc. They offer the customer broad freedom to select from
many possible routes (pathways) through the service delivery system.

Provider-routed examples include: Federal Express, simple on-line will, CNN

Headline News, most fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s, blood tests at a
lab or hospital, automatic teller machine (ATM), credit card authorizations,
movies, newspaper dispenser (there is no customer discretion or freedom in
how to obtain the newspaper), checking in Motel 6, dentist cleaning teeth. They
constrain customers to follow a very small number of possible routes
(pathways) through the service delivery system.

FYI--To simplify things we only have two choices in OM but in the original research
articles (Collier and Meyer) there is a third choice: co-routed services such as playing
golf (must go hole 1 to 18 but otherwise the customer can do his/her own thing), bank
checkbook services, consulting, some medical and estate services, Scottrade on-line
services, H&R Block’s tax service, etc. This might come up in class and is similar to
hybrid processes in the product-process matrix.

3. List some common processes that you perform as a student. How can you use the
knowledge from this chapter, such as identifying bottlenecks, to improve them?

Example student processes include: studying for a test, applying for a student loan,
writing a term paper, applying for US citizenship, paying rent or automobile loans,
moving into or out of the dorm or apartment, reserving a U-haul, using it, and its
return; establishing credit, planning a wedding, etc.

Simply identifying the process is the first step followed by recognition of C7 concepts

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like: customized versus standard, four types of proc2esses, provider or customer

routed, the hierarchy of work (task, activity, process, value chain), flowchart, process
boundary, value- and non-valued-added, reengineering, utilization, bottlenecks, and
processing or flow time.

4. In Section 5 we listed several questions to ask in order to identify and analyze

improvements in a process. Can you think of others?

The questions listed in the chapter, Section 5 include:

• Are the steps in the process arranged in logical sequence?
• Do all steps add value? Can some steps be eliminated and should others be added in
order to improve quality or operational performance? Can some be combined? Should
some be reordered?
• Are capacities of each step in balance; that is, do bottlenecks exist for which
customers will incur excessive waiting time?
• What skills, equipment, and tools are required at each step of the process? Should
some steps be automated?
• At which points in the system (sometimes called process fail points) might errors
occur that would result in customer dissatisfaction, and how might these errors be
corrected?
• At which point or points in the process should performance be measured? What are
appropriate measures?
• Where interaction with the customer occurs, what procedures, behaviors and
guidelines should employees follow that will present a positive image?
• What is the impact of the process on sustainability? Can we quantify the carbon
footprint of the current process?

Other example job and process related questions students might cite include:
1. How much time does it take to process the good or service?
2. Where are service management skills needed in the process? Do we do a good job
of training for these types of skills at these points of customer contact?
3. Should we continue working on continuous improvement or is a more radical
reengineering approach required to make this process competitive?
4. What are the root causes of defects, errors and service upsets in each job and the
process?
5. What is the cost per unit of output (i.e., cost per unit or transaction, etc.)?
6. How is the process affected by global sourcing?
7. Should the process be split into one or more parallel stages?
8. What process tasks should be performed by teams?

5. What sustainability issues are present in the example restaurant order fulfillment
process example (Exhibits 7.6 to 7.11)? What other restaurant processes need to
include sustainability criteria in their design and day-to-day management?

Sustainability refers to an organization’s ability to strategically address current

business needs and successfully develop a long-term strategy that embraces

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opportunities and manages risk for all products, systems, supply chains, and
processes to preserve resources for future generations.

Sustainability can be viewed from three perspectives: environmental, social, and

economic. Exhibit 1.6 is best suited to provide a framework to answer this question on
the board with student inputs. Many students take their first jobs in the restaurant
business so expect some interesting issues, examples, and solutions.

Exhibit 1.6 Examples of Sustainability Practices

Environmental Sustainability
• Waste management: Reduce waste and manage recycling efforts
• Energy optimization: Reduce consumption during peak energy demand times
• Transportation optimization: Design efficient vehicles and routes to save fuel
• Technology upgrades: Improvements to save energy and clean and reuse water in
manufacturing processes
• Air quality: Reduce greenhouse gas emissions
• Sustainable product design: Design goods whose parts can be recycled or safely
disposed of

Social Sustainability
• Product safety: Ensure consumer safety in using goods and services
• Workforce health and safety: Ensure a healthy and safe work environment
• Ethics and governance: Ensure compliance with legal and regulatory requirements
and transparency in management decisions
• Community: Improve the quality of life through industry-community partnerships

Economic Sustainability
• Performance excellence: Build a high-performing organization with a capable
leadership and workforce
• Financial management: Make sound financial plans to ensure long-term
organizational survival
• Resource management: Acquire and manage all resources effectively and
efficiently
• Emergency preparedness: Have plans in place for business, environmental, and
social emergencies.

Clearly, restaurant purchasing/sourcing, energy use, facility design, emergency and

disaster plans and training, food inspections, employee safety, animal rights (see
Chapter 4, Section 6.1 on McDonald’s and sustainability), waste management such as
cooking oils, water and air quality, and so on.

Problems and Activities

(Note: an asterisk denotes problems for which an Excel spreadsheet template on the
CourseMate Web site may be used.)

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1. Research and find an example of a process and/or value chain improvement initiative
where sustainability is included in the analysis. Write a short paper (maximum of
two typed pages) describing the initiative similar to the chapter description about Alfa
Laval.

One objective of this “green” assignment is to get students motivated w/r to OM.
Students should write something similar to the example of Alfa Laval in the chapter
introduction.

2. Carbon dioxide emissions associated with a one-night stay in a hotel room are
calculated at 29.53 kg of CO2 per room day for an average hotel. If your hotel’s 102
rooms are all occupied for two days during a college football game, how much CO2
did the guests and hotel release into the atmosphere? What work and leisure
activities and processes in the hotel generate CO2 emissions? Provide three
examples. Explain.

CO2 released = (102 rooms/night)(2 nights) = (204 room days)(29.53 kg of CO2/room

day) = 6,024.12 kgs or at 1 kilogram = 2.2046 pounds then 13,281 pounds of CO2.
Example hotel processes that directly or indirectly release carbon dioxide into the
atmosphere include:
• Laundry services
• Air conditioning and heating
• Vending machines
• Room/cleaning//elevator service
• Building and equipment energy use
• Kitchen/meals/restaurant
• Televisions/fireplace/wi-fi
• Spa/pool/exercise room
• Trash storage and removal
• Security systems (energy use, vehicles, etc.)

And, of course, the vehicles that supply the hotel (vendors), airport transport, and
customer vehicles all contribute to the release of CO2 into the atmosphere. Ask your
students, “How can we reduce this release for say, hotel laundry services?” “How
can we design “green hotel processes?” Can we design “green hotels?” Can we
plant more trees on the hotel site? Can we paint the hotel roof white to reflect (not
absorb) the sun’s rays and heat?

OM must now analyze costs, time, quality AND sustainability in process and
value chain design!

If you Google “green hotels” you will get over 2 million hits such as the partial
example below:

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And in a nod to the wishes of its environmentally concerned membership, AAA has
added an "eco" icon to its 2010 Tour Books for hotels, motels, and other lodging
facilities. The AAA Eco Program identifies - and in turn, promotes - AAA-approved
lodgings that are certified by designated government and private programs. Clearly,
eco-conscious meeting and leisure travelers are putting their dollars (and their Euros,
yen, pesos and rupees) toward travel-related businesses with a focus on sustainability,
and their preferences can no longer be disregarded. And not only are those travelers
coming down on the side of green, but so are federal, state and local governments.

"In the hospitality industry, we're seeing a wave of new government mandates stating
that employees can only stay in or host meetings in green hotels," said Ray Hobbs, a
member of EcoRooms & EcoSuites' Board of Advisors and a certified auditor for
Green Globe International. "But there are only twenty three states with official green
certification programs, and the industry is still attempting to find the certification
process that best serves its needs."

For example, in 2007, Florida Governor Charlie Crist signed an executive order
mandating that all state meetings and conventions be held in designated green
facilities whenever possible. With the stroke of a pen, Governor Crist started a
veritable stampede of hoteliers scrambling to earn green certification for their
properties - and achieve a competitive advantage when jockeying for state business.
The mandate, while welcomed by environmental advocates in Florida, put a serious
strain on the state's excellent green lodging certification program, which has since
been nearly dismantled by drastic budget cuts. And Florida isn't alone.

3. Draw a flowchart for a process of interest to you, such as a quick oil-change service, a
factory process you might have worked in, ordering a pizza, renting a car or truck,
buying products on the Internet, or applying for an automobile loan. Identify the points
where something (people, information) waits for service or is held in work-in-process
inventory, the estimated time to accomplish each activity in the process, and the total
flow time. Evaluate how well the process worked and what might be done to improve
it.

This question helps students see processes from a larger perspective and better
appreciate the need for improvement and better design. Show their flowcharts in class
on overheads or as power points and let them explain the process, how it works,
performance metrics, etc.

4. Design a process for one of the following activities:

a. Preparing for an exam
b. Writing a term paper
c. Planning a vacation

The instructor should expect a simple flowchart with 3 to 10 activities possibly with
feedback loops. Make sure the students understand a group of tasks define a
workstation and the process map (flowchart) should be at the work station level. For

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many students this will be the first time they have organized their thinking about how
things are accomplished so be patient. Ask them questions such as (1) Where does the
process start and end? (2) Why does the process exist? (3) Can you identify the
bottleneck? (4) Is the bottleneck labor or equipment constrained? (5) Is there a "line
of visibility" in their flowchart? (6) Are there alternative ways to define how work
gets done?

5. A 30,000-seat college football stadium is used 18 times for games, concerts, and
graduation ceremonies. Each event averages four hours and assumes the stadium is
full for each event. The stadium is available 365 days a year from 6 am to midnight.
What is stadium (seat) utilization using Equation 7.1? Can you think of one or two
other assets that have such low resource utilization?

Utilization (U) = Resources Used/Resources Available (Eq. 7.1) [Notice: the

focus is stadium “seat” utilization)

= (30,000 seats/visit)(4 hours/visit)(20 visits/year)

(30,000 seats/visit)(365 days/year)(18 hours/day)

= 2,400,000 seat hours/year

197,100,000 seat hours/year

= 0.0122 or 1.22% Stadium seat utilization (very few assets have

such a low utilization; global manufacturers such as GE or Honda
could never justify such a low utilization; only in “USA Sports
Nation” )

6. The demand for intensive care services in an urban hospital is 11 patients per hour on
Mondays while intensive care nurses can handle 4 patients per hour. What is nurse
(labor) utilization if five intensive care nurses are scheduled to be on duty for
Monday? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this resource schedule for
Mondays from the patient’s and management’s perspective?

Use Equation 7.2 and notice all equation inputs are in the same units of measure!

Utilization (U) = Demand Rate/[Service Rate*Number of Servers] (Eq. 7.2)

U = (11 patients/hour)/[(4 patients/hour/nurse)(3 nurses)] = .91

The planned nurse utilization is close to100% so any delays or longer emergencies
will probably result in patients waiting for service. If you assume sufficient capacity
of exam rooms, equipment, and doctors, then the bottleneck may very well be nurse
capacity. Management may like this situation because nurse staff capacity is almost
adequate, customers won't have to wait too long, and nursing labor costs are lower.

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7. A telephone call center uses three customer service representatives (CSRs) during the
8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. time period. The standard service rate is 2.0 minutes per
telephone call per CSR. Assuming a target labor utilization rate of 80 percent, how
many calls can these three CSRs handle during this half-hour period?

Service rate = 2 minutes/call or 15 calls/30 minutes/CSR

Utilization (U) = Demand Rate/[Service Rate*Number of Servers] (Eq. 7.2)

0.80 = DR/[(15 calls/30minutes/CSR)(3 CSRs)

DR = 0.80*45 = 36 calls/30 minutes

For all of these problems emphasize that students must get all variables in the same
units of measure “before” plugging numbers into the formula! Not doing this is a
common mistake; for example, mixing up minutes and hours.

8. What is the implied service rate at a bank teller window if customer demand is 43
customers per hour, two bank tellers are on duty, and their labor utilization is 90
percent?

Service rate = ??

Utilization (U) = Demand Rate/[Service Rate*Number of Servers] (7.2)

0.90 = 43 customers/hour/[SR*(2 tellers)]

2*(.90)SR = 43 customers/hour
1.8 SR = 43
SR = 23.88 or approximately 24 customers/hour/teller

9. Refer to Exhibit 7.7 and recomputed the total value-added and non-value-added time
and cost given the following new information. If a restaurant uses iPads to place
orders and notify waiters when the customer’s order is ready, the time on the order
board (now an electronic order board) decreases from 5 to 1 minute, and the prepared
order wait time decreases from 5 to 3 minutes. How might speeding up the order and
delivery process affect customer satisfaction? Explain.

The non-value added order wait time is now (1 minutes/order)(1hr/60 min)($5/hr) =

$0.083 (instead of $0.417)

The non-value added order prepare time is now (3 minutes/order)(1hr/60

min)($60/hr) = $3.00 (instead of $5.00)

Total Revised Time = 20 minutes (VA time) + 4 minutes (NVA) = 24 minutes

(instead of 30 minutes)
Total Cost = $11.67 (VA Cost) + $3.08 (NVA Cost) = $14.75 (instead of $17.087)

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Therefore, introducing technology into this restaurant ordering process has reduced
non-value added time and costs. In the spirit of continuous improvement, the next
initiative is to try to reduce VA times and costs using better procedures, equipment
(ovens), and operating practices.

10.* An express checkout line at a grocery store takes an average of 3 minutes to ring-up
a customer’s order. On average 4 customers are in the checkout line. What is the
average number of customers per hour that are processed in the checkout line?

WIP = R* T
4 = R*(3 min)
R = 1.33 customers per minute, or 60(1.33) = 80 customers/hour

The Excel template Little’s Law may also be used to solve this problem:

11.* An accounts receivable manager processes 200 checks per day with an average
processing time of 15 working days. What is the average number of accounts
receivable checks being processed in her office? What if through information
technology she reduces the processing time from 15 days to 10 days to 5 days? What
are the advantages and disadvantages of adopting this technology? Explain.

WIP = R* T = (200 checks/day)(15 days) = 3,000 checks

WIP = R* T = (200 checks/day)(10 days) = 2,00 checks
WIP = R* T = (200 checks/day)(5 days) = 1,000 checks

The new information technology dramatically speeds up the process and

simultaneously lowers the average number of checks (WIP) in the office. Processing
more checks faster means more cash sooner in their accounts!

The Excel template Little’s Law may also be used to solve this problem. The first
calculation is shown below:

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12.* A manufacturer’s average work-in-process inventory for Part #2934 is 750 parts.
The workstation produces parts at the rate of 225 parts per day. What is the average
time a part spends in this workstation?

WIP = R* T
750 parts = (225 parts/day)(T days)
T = 750/225 = 3.33 days

The Excel template Little’s Law may also be used to solve this problem.

13. Marion Health Clinic sees patients on a walk-in basis only. On average, 10 patients
per hour enter the clinic. All patients register at the registration window with a
registration clerk (RC), which takes 3 minutes. After registration, but before being
seen by a nurse practitioner (NP), the registration records clerk (RRC) pulls the
patient’s records from the records room, which takes 6 minutes. At his or her turn,
each patient then sees a NP, who checks weight, temperature, and blood pressure.
This work activity takes 5 minutes. The NP determines if the patient must see a
doctor (MD) or can be handled by a Physician’s Assistant (PA). There is one MD,
one PA, one NP, one RRC, one BC, and one RC in the system at the current time.
The NP sends 40 percent of the patients to the PA and 60 percent to the MD. The
PA takes on average 6 minutes per patient whereas the MD takes 15 minutes. After
the patient sees the PA and/or MD, the patient pays the bill or processes insurance
information with the billing clerk (BC), which takes 5 minutes per patient. Then the
patient exits the process.

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a. Draw a process flow diagram, label everything, and place the times and
percentages given in the problem on the diagram. See the following.

Example computation: RC Regr Clerk @ 3 minutes/record or 10 records/hour.

Then 10/20 is 50 percent average labor utilization rate. MD is 6/4 = 150%, etc.

Notice that in the base analysis, the RRC is at 100% labor utilization (10/10) and
the MD is overloaded at 150% (6/4) planned (100% actual) utilization. If 2 MDs
are used, their utilization drops to 75% (6/(4*2)).

b. What is the throughput in patients per hour of each stage in the process?

Assume one person per stage MD = 4 patients/hour, NP = 12 patients/hour, PA =

10 patient/hour, BC = 12 patients/hour, RRC = 10 patients/hour, and RC = 20
patients per hour.

c. What are the labor utilization rates for the MD, NP, PA, BC, RRC, and RC? Are
these values appropriate? If not, how might you redesign the process? Where is the
bottleneck?

Assume one person per stage MD = 150%, NP =83.3%, PA = 40%, BC =83.3%,

RRC = 100%, and RC = 50%. The bottleneck is MDs. The labor utilizations are
too low for RC and PA, and too high for MDs. One expensive way to improve
total process throughput is to use 2 MDs instead of 1 with a utilization of 75%.

d. The PA often discovers the patient should see a MD so the patient is sent to the
MD after seeing the PA 50% of the time. How does this change affect your answers
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to the questions above?

The demand for MDs is now 8 patients/hour instead of 6 so with 1 MD on duty

the utilization = 200%; with 2 MDs on duty it is 100%; and with 3 MDs it is 67%.
It may also be a good idea to eliminate the PA position if they must refer 2 more
patients to the doctor.

14. The Wilcox Student Health Center has just implemented a new computer system and
service process to “improve efficiency.” The process flowchart and analysis
framework is also provided. As pharmacy manager, you are concerned about waiting
time and its potential impact on college students who “get no respect.” All
prescriptions (Rxs) go through the following process:
Assume that students arrive to drop-off Rxs at a steady rate of two Rxs per
minute, with an average of one Rx per student. The average number of students in
process (assume waiting and being serviced) at each station is: DROP-OFF—five
students, PICK-UP—three students and PAY CASHIER—six students.

The fill Rx station typically has 40 Rxs in process and waiting on average. Because of
this perceived long wait, 95 percent of the students decide to come back later for
pick-up. They come back an average of three hours later. If the students choose to
stay, each name is called as soon as the Rx is filled and the student then enters the
pick-up line. Assume that the system is operating at a steady state.

People and information flow with the assumption of 1 Rx per student.

Demand (arrival) or throughput rate = 2 Rxs/minute

This is not an easy problem but it illustrates you must flowchart both people
and information (Rx here) flows to do a good process analysis.

a. What is the average time a student spends in the pharmacy if they stay to pick-up

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their Rx? You may want to use the worksheet below.

WIP and R are given in problem and T is computed. For example, T = WIP/R = 40/2
= 20 minutes for filling Rxs.

b. How many minutes does the student spend in the pharmacy if he or she picks-up the
Rx 3 hours later (i.e., the student goes home after dropping the Rx off)?

2.5 + 1.5 +3.0 = 7 minutes

c. What is the average time in minutes that all students spend in the pharmacy?

0.95(7 min.) + 0.05(27 min.) = 8 minutes

d. What is the average time in minutes that the Rx spends in the process? Count time
from entering the drop-off line to completing payment.

0.95(7 min + 180 min) + 0.05(27 min) = 177.65 + 1.35 = 179 minutes

Note that the Rx must wait until pickup.

15. A manufacturer of air conditioner compressors is concerned that too much money is
tied up in its value chain. Average raw material inventory is $50 million and work-in-
process (WIP) production inventory is $20 million. Sales are $20 million per week
and finished goods inventory averages $30 million. The average outstanding accounts
receivable is $60 million. Assume 50 weeks in one year. The value chain is shown
below:

a. What is the total flow (process) time of a throughput dollar? (Hint: Use a WIP =
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R*T format and table as shown in Problem # 14 to organize your solution.)

First, review the calculations below. If we add the flow times for each process
in the value chain we obtain .05 + .02 + .03 + .06 = .16 years or 8 weeks. R
= ($20m/week)(50 weeks) = $1,000m/year). This problem applies Little’s
Law to a supply chain.

b. What is the average dollar inventory in the value chain?

$50m + $20m + $30m + $60m = $160m

c. Which of the major stages—raw materials, WIP, finished goods or accounts

receivable—is the best candidate for freeing up dollars for the air conditioner
manufacturer?

Clearly, accounts receivable ties up $60m in cash and takes on average .06 years or 3
weeks to process and collect the money. The fact is a dollar tied up in accounts
receivable is just as valuable as a dollar tied up in production or inventory.

d. What is the target level of average accounts receivable inventory if management

can reduce the time a dollar spends in accounts receivable inventory (processing and
collections) by one-half by improving the accounts receivable process?

WIP = R*T or $1,000m/year*.03 year = $30m instead of $60m. This improvement

initiative frees up monies for other purposes or to reduce cash flow and debt needs.

e. What else does this flow time analysis problem demonstrate?

38% (3/8) of the total flow time and total cash to operate the business ($60m/$160m)
is due to accounts receivable.

This post-production service is a good place to start improving value chain

performance. Revisit Exhibit 2.3 to see what other post-production services might be
relevant. Also, look at the pre-production services and think about their impact on
total value chain flow time. This is an example of applying Little's Law to a value
chain.

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Case Teaching Note: Hopewell Hospital Pharmacy

Overview

Hopewell Hospital is trying to reduce costs yet maintain high quality. There are many
opportunities for errors in writing and filling an Rx in a hospital pharmacy and this case
focuses, in part on that issue. The case cites national studies on hospital pharmacies found
error rates ranging from .01 percent (1 in a 1,000) to 15 percent (15 in 100).

The focus of the case is on job and process design and "how to organize and group
work?" Instructors might want to assign other (extra) questions to focus student attention
or at least pose during class (see teaching plan).

Case Questions and Brief Answers

1. Draw the process flowchart including processing times and capacities per step, and
total time per prescription.

Since process steps (stages) are in series this is a relatively easy assignment. See Excel
diagram and computations later in this teaching note. Students normally do great
flowcharts. The numbers in the OM4 case have changed from previous OM editions!

2. As a baseline measure for one time period, what is the labor utilization if 30
prescriptions arrive between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. on Monday and four or five pharmacists
are on duty doing all seven steps? (You do not have the data to evaluate staffing levels
by hour of the day for Monday.)

See answers on spreadsheet that follows. We use Equation 7.2 here. If 4 pharmacists
does all steps then Utils = 121.3% or if 5 pharmacists do all steps Util% = 97%.

3. Clearly identify two other ways to group and divide the work among the medical
technicians and pharmacists, compute labor utilizations, and discuss the advantages
and disadvantages of each job and process design option.

The case questions are general so expect a wide variety of student options. The idea is
to get then to think in depth about job and process design and how one might group
work and what are the advantage and disadvantages. Three possible job/process design
options are:

(1) Process Design Option A -- All work (steps 1 to 7) done by pharmacists.

Advantages - one process and Rx owner, higher quality and less opportunity for errors
(no handoffs), job enlargement

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Disadvantages - no benefit from job specialization, highest skill level (pharmacists)

doing some lower skill work

The spreadsheet analysis indicates with 4 pharmacist utilization is 121% and with 5
pharmacists utilization is 97%. You might also discuss with the students that the times
per workstation activity might be reduced (work faster) and that would free up staff
capacity.

Also, note that if you group all work and one pharmacist fills a RX from A to Z, the
bottleneck at Step 5 does not matter. Only if each step (stage) is discrete (like an
assembly line) would the BN matter and then total process output is constrained.

(2) Process Design Option B -- Assign steps 1 and 7 to medical technicians and steps
2 to 6 to pharmacists.

Advantages - lessen workload on pharmacists labor pool, all that is legally required

Disadvantages - chance of more opportunity for error

With Option B utilization is 96.2% with 4 pharmacists and 92.3% with 5. Notice that
the service rate went from 6.19 Rx/hour to 7.8 Rx/hour assuming this option.

(3) Process Design Option C -- Assign steps 1 and 7 to medical technicians and group
steps 2 to 4 and steps 5 to 6 and assign to pharmacists.

Advantages - more job and pharmacists specialization, may become more efficient
(learning curve)

Disadvantages - since the two pharmacists workstation are now interdependent must
be staffed at all times, not sure about impact on quality, uneven assignment of work
Step 2 to 4 Workstation utilization with 2 pharmacists is 92.6%. Step 5 and 6
workstation with 2 pharmacists is 100%.

4. What are your final recommendations?

• Option A with 5 pharmacists and a utilization of 97% is best in terms of quality

control but probably not labor costs.

• Option B is probably second best with 4 pharmacist's utilization of 96.2% and

lower labor costs. Here, we assign steps 1 and 7 to technicians and steps 3 to 6 to
pharmacist. The risk is one person doesn’t do the entire job so the opportunity for
errors increases. Students may justify other options.

• Pharmacy must comply with all legal requirements.

• Pharmacy software should check patient history and for medicine conflicts and
allergies.

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• Adopt an electronic prescription system so no hand-written Rxs and no waste of

time in paper-based RX system.
• Hire good medical technicians and provide extensive training.

Other case questions you might use during class discussion or assign prior to case
write-up are as follows.

1. What is range of service upsets severity in this case situation?

Degree of Service Upset Severity

Low High

No effect Upset Stomach Sick Shock Death

2. What is the #1 competitive priority for this hospital pharmacy process?

• Quality is #1 -- zero errors, minimize opportunities for errors, process and customer
ownership assigned, etc.
• Both medication and service quality are highly dependent on the job and process
design.

3. Would you rather have one pharmacist handle your prescription from A to Z or
can these tasks be assigned to different pharmacists?

For goods-producing assembly lines job specialization has many advantages (we
cover assembly line balancing in Chapter 8) but in this professional pharmacy service
it may not be advantageous.

4. Does this process have to be organized in series?

Basically, yes. Not much latitude for parallel workstations given the work and quality
control requirements.

5. How can software technology help ensure quality? (Pharmacy software checks
thousands of drug interactions and recalls while a human does not have this memory
capability).

6. What sustainability issues are there in a hospital pharmacy? Everything from

waste disposal of radiation medicines to employee safety to free medicine for the
disadvantaged.

Teaching Plan
You can use the four case questions and the five extra questions to create a good case
discussion depending on how much time you wish to allocate to the case. If you teach

16
 OM5 C7 IM

this case on the board it can take up to one hour (drawing process stages, putting up
each option with numbers and advantages and disadvantages, address a few of extra
questions, etc.). You can also have student teams present this case and then lead the
discussion.

You can conclude this case discussion by pointing out that

• How you group (organize) work affects resource utilization, waiting time, cost, and
quality—it does matter—that is, OM does matter!
• Rx ownership is important w/r to the tradeoffs between costs, quality control, risk,
and liability.
• Job and process design is important for any functional area of a business.
• Operations expertise is required to make good job and process design decisions.

17
 OM5 C7 IM

Hopewell Hospital Pharmacy Total

Step Time
1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 per

Rx
min/Rx 0.5 1.3 1.4 1.0 3.2 0.8 1.5 9.70

6.19
Capacity 120.0 46.2 42.9 60.0 18.8 75.0 40.0 (60/9.7)
(Rx/Hour) BN
JOB & PROCESS DESIGN -- OPTION A
If you assume all work can be grouped together than one pharmacist has a capacity of 6.2 Rxs/hour
or one RX every 9.7 minutes. Four pharmacists have an average utilization of 121% so not feasible.
Here, 5 pharmacists have an average labor utilization of 97% if they do all work.

JOB & PROCESS DESIGN -- OPTION B

If 4 pharmacist do all the work except Steps 1 & 7 (assigned to medical technicians) then it takes 7.7 minutes/Rx

or 6.1 Rxs/hour. The revised pharmacist utilization 96.2%. If 5 pharmacist are assigned under these job and
process design assumptions then utilization decreases to 92.3%.

JOB & PROCESS DESIGN -- OTHER

If we assume the medical technicians can do Steps 1 and 7 and Steps 2 to 6 can be combined then we have
several job and process design options. For example, if we combine Steps 2 to 4 the total time is 3.7 min/Rx. For steps
Steps 5 & 6 the total time are 4.0 min/Rx. See utilization computations below when demand rate = 30 Rxs/hour.

18
 OM5 C7 IM

Using Equation 7.2

If 4 pharmacist do all
the If 5 pharmacist do all the If 4 pharmacist do all the If 5 pharmacist do all the
work then: work then: work except Steps 1 & 7 work except Steps 1 & 7
then then

Arrival Rate
= 30 Arrival Rate = 30 Arrival Rate = 30 Arrival Rate = 36
Service Rate Service Rate
= 6.19 = 6.19 Service Rate = 7.80 Service Rate = 7.80 (60/7.7)
No. Phar = 4.00 No. Phar = 5.00 No. Phar = 4 No. Phar = 5

Utils % = AR/[SR*#] Utils % = AR/[SR*#] Utils % = AR/[SR*#] Utils % = AR/[SR*#]

Utils % = 121.3% Utils % = 97.0% Utils % = 96.2% Utils % = 92.3%

Using Equation 7.2 and Grouping Steps 2 to 4 and Steps 5 & 6

If 2 pharmacists are assigned If 2 pharmacists are assigned How to best group work and define the jobs in
Steps 2 to 4 then
service Steps 5 & 6 then service the pharmacy process? Two types of jobs - pharmacists
rate = 60/3.7 = 16.2 Rxs/hour. rate = 60/4 = 15 Rxs/hour. and medical technicians. Students must consider
labor utilizations (and therefore indirectly costs) and
the
Arrival Rate
= 30 Arrival Rate = 30 opportunity for errors (quality).
Service Rate Service Rate
= 16.2 = 15.0
No. Phar = 2 No. Phar = 2 Given quality and cost considerations the best option
if probably use 5 pharmacists to do all steps. As long
Utils % = AR/[SR*#] Utils % = AR/[SR*#] as the students use sound logic and see the job and
Utils % = 92.6% Utils % = 100.0% process design issues, we grade them high.

In this job and process design - 2 pharmacists do Steps 2 to 4,

2 pharmacists do steps 5 and 6, and the medical technicians do
Steps 1 & 7. Too many handoffs; increased opportunity
for error; too risky w/r to liability, service upsets, errors, etc.

19
 OM5 C7 IM

20
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Dorothy
Dale's engagement
 This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License
included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the
laws of the country where you are located before using this
eBook.

Title: Dorothy Dale's engagement

Author: Margaret Penrose

Illustrator: Robert Emmett Owen

Release date: November 5, 2023 [eBook #72040]

Language: English

Original publication: New York: Cupples & Leon Company, 1917

Credits: Bob Taylor, David Edwards and the Online Distributed

Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file
was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DOROTHY

DALE'S ENGAGEMENT ***
 “NO, DADDY,” SHE SAID, “I—I THINK I—I AM IN LOVE.”
Dorothy Dale’s Engagement Page 165
 DOROTHY DALE’S
ENGAGEMENT

BY

MARGARET PENROSE

AUTHOR OF “DOROTHY DALE: A GIRL OF TO-DAY,” “DOROTHY

DALE AT GLENWOOD SCHOOL,” “DOROTHY DALE IN
THE CITY,” “THE MOTOR GIRLS SERIES,” ETC.

ILLUSTRATED

NEW YORK
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY
 BOOKS BY MARGARET
PENROSE
12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Price, per volume,
75 cents, postpaid

THE DOROTHY DALE SERIES

DOROTHY DALE: A GIRL OF TO-DAY
DOROTHY DALE AT GLENWOOD
SCHOOL
DOROTHY DALE’S GREAT SECRET
DOROTHY DALE AND HER CHUMS
DOROTHY DALE’S QUEER HOLIDAYS
DOROTHY DALE’S CAMPING DAYS
DOROTHY DALE’S SCHOOL RIVALS
DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY
DOROTHY DALE’S PROMISE
DOROTHY DALE IN THE WEST
DOROTHY DALE’S STRANGE
DISCOVERY
DOROTHY DALE’S ENGAGEMENT

THE MOTOR GIRLS SERIES

THE MOTOR GIRLS
THE MOTOR GIRLS ON A TOUR
THE MOTOR GIRLS AT LOOKOUT BEACH
THE MOTOR GIRLS THROUGH NEW
ENGLAND
THE MOTOR GIRLS ON CEDAR LAKE
THE MOTOR GIRLS ON THE COAST
THE MOTOR GIRLS ON CRYSTAL BAY
THE MOTOR GIRLS ON WATERS BLUE
THE MOTOR GIRLS AT CAMP SURPRISE
THE MOTOR GIRLS IN THE MOUNTAINS
Cupples & Leon Co., Publishers, New York

Copyright, 1917, by
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY

DOROTHY DALE’S ENGAGEMENT

 CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE

I. “Alone in a Great City” 1

II. G. K. to the Rescue 17
III. Tavia in the Shade 26
IV. Something About “G. Knapp” 32
V. Dorothy Is Disturbed 40
VI. Something of a Mystery 47
VII. Garry Sees a Wall Ahead 57
VIII. And Still Dorothy Is Not Happy 66
IX. They See Garry’s Back 72
X. “Heart Disease” 78
XI. A Bold Thing to Do! 84
XII. Uncertainties 92
XIII. Dorothy Makes a Discovery 101
XIV. Tavia Is Determined 109
XV. The Slide on Snake Hill 116
XVI. The Fly in the Amber 127
XVII. “Do You Understand Tavia?” 135
XVIII. Cross Purposes 141
XIX. Wedding Bells in Prospect 147
XX. A Girl of To-Day 154
XXI. The Bud Unfolds 162
XXII. Dorothy Decides 169
Nat Jumps at a Conclusion
 XXIII. 179
XXIV. Thin Ice 188
XXV. Garry Balks 200
XXVI. Serious Thoughts 207
XXVII. “It’s All Off!” 213
XXVIII. The Castaways 225
XXIX. Something Amazing 235
XXX. So It Was All Settled 243
DOROTHY DALE’S
ENGAGEMENT
 CHAPTER I
“ALONE IN A GREAT CITY”

“Now, Tavia!”
“Now, Dorothy!” mocked Octavia Travers, making a little face as
she did so; but then, Tavia Travers could afford to “make faces,”
possessing as she did such a naturally pretty one.
“We must decide immediately,” her chum, Dorothy Dale, said
decidedly, “whether to continue in the train under the river and so to
the main station, or to change for the Hudson tube. You know, we
can walk from the tube station at Twenty-third Street to the hotel
Aunt Winnie always patronizes.”
“With these heavy bags, Doro?”
“Only a block and a half, my dear Tavia. You are a strong, healthy
girl.”
“But I do so like to have people do things for me,” sighed Tavia,
clasping her hands. “And taxicabs are so nice.”
“And expensive,” rejoined Dorothy.
“Of course. That is what helps to make them nice,” declared Tavia.
“Doro, I just love to throw away money!”
“You only think you do, my dear,” her chum said placidly. “Once
you had thrown some of your own money away—some of that your
father sent you to spend for your fall and winter outfit—you would
sing a different tune.”
“I don’t believe I would—not if by throwing it away I really made a
splurge, Doro,” sighed Tavia. “I love money.”
“You mean, you love what money enables us to have.”
“Yep,” returned the slangy Tavia. “And taxicab rides eat up money
horribly. We found that out, Doro, when we were in New York before,
that time—before we graduated from dear old Glenwood School.”
“But this isn’t getting us anywhere. To return——”
“‘Revenons à nos moutons!’ Sure! I know,” gabbled Tavia. “Let us
return to our mutton. He, he! Have I forgotten my French?”
“I really think you have,” laughed Dorothy Dale. “Most of it. And
almost everything else you learned at dear old Glenwood, Tavia. But,
quick! Decide, my dear. How shall we enter New York City? We are
approaching the Manhattan Transfer.”
“Mercy! So quick?”
“Yes. Just like that.”
“I tell you,” whispered Tavia, suddenly becoming confidential, her
sparkling eyes darting a glance ahead. “Let’s leave it to that nice
man.”
“Who? What man do you mean, Tavia?” demanded Dorothy, her
face at once serious. “Do try to behave.”
“Am behaving,” declared Tavia, nodding. “But I’m a good sport.
Let’s leave it to him.”
“Whom do you mean?”
“You know. That nice, Western looking young man who opened
the window for us that time. He is sitting in that chair just yonder.
Don’t you see?” and she indicated a pair of broad shoulders in a
gray coat, above which was revealed a well-shaped head with a
thatch of black hair.
“Do consider!” begged Dorothy, catching Tavia’s hand as though
she feared her chum was about to get up to speak to this stranger.
“This is a public car. We are observed.”
“Little silly!” said Tavia, smiling upon her chum tenderly. “You don’t
suppose I would do anything so crude—or rude—as to speak to the
gentleman? ‘Fie! fie! fie for shame! Turn your back and tell his
name!’ And you don’t know it, you know you don’t, Doro.”
 Dorothy broke into smiles again and shook her head; her own
eyes, too, dancing roguishly.
“I only know his initials,” she said.
“What?” gasped Tavia Travers in something more than mock
horror.
“Yes. They are ‘G. K.’ I saw them on his bag. Couldn’t help it,”
explained Dorothy, now laughing outright. “But decide, dear! Shall
we change at Manhattan Transfer?”
“If he does—there!” chuckled Tavia. “We’ll get out if the nice
Western cowboy person does. Oh! he’s a whole lot nicer looking
than Lance Petterby.”
“Dear me, Tavia! Haven’t you forgotten Lance yet?”
“Never!” vowed Tavia, tragically. “Not till the day of my death—and
then some, as Lance would himself say.”
“You are incorrigible,” sighed Dorothy. Then: “He’s going to get out,
Tavia!”
“Oh! oh! oh!” crowed her chum, under her breath. “You were
looking.”
“Goodness me!” returned Dorothy, in some exasperation. “Who
could miss that hat?”
The young man in question had put on his broad-brimmed gray
hat. He was just the style of man that such a hat became.
The young man lifted down the heavy suitcase from the rack—the
one on which Dorothy had seen the big, black letters, “G. K.” He had
a second suitcase of the same description under his feet. He set
both out into the aisle, threw his folded light overcoat over his arm,
and prepared to make for the front door of the car as the train began
to slow down.
“Come on, now!” cried Tavia, suddenly in a great hurry.
But Dorothy had to put on her coat, and to make sure that she
looked just right in the mirror beside her chair. All Tavia had to do
was to toss her summer fur about her neck and grab up her traveling
bag.
“We’ll be left!” she cried. “The train doesn’t stop here long.”
“You run, then, and tell them to wait,” Dorothy said calmly.
They were, however, the last to leave the car—the last to leave the
train, in fact—at the elevated platform which gives a broad view of
the New Jersey meadows.
“My goodness me!” gasped Tavia, as the brakeman helped them
to the platform, and waved his hand for departure. “My goodness
me! We’re clear at this end of this awful platform, and the tube train
stops—and of course starts—at the far end. A mile to walk with
these bags and not a redcap in sight. Oh, yes! there’s one,” she
added faintly.
“Redcap?” queried Dorothy. “Oh! you mean a porter.”
“Yes,” Tavia said. “Of course you would be slow. Everybody’s got a
porter but us.”
Dorothy laughed mellowly. “Who’s fault do you intimate it is?” she
asked. “We might have been the first out of the car.”
“He’s got one,” whispered Tavia.
Oddly enough her chum did not ask “Who?” this time. She, too,
was looking at the back of the well-set-up young man whose initials
seemed to be G. K. He stood confronting an importunate porter,
whose smiling face was visible to the girls as he said:
“Why, Boss, yo’ can’t possibly kerry dem two big bags f’om dis end
ob de platfo’m to de odder.”
The porter held out both hands for the big suitcases carried by the
Western looking young man, who really appeared to be physically
much better able to carry his baggage than the negro.
“I don’t suppose two-bits has anything to do with your desire to
tote my bag?” suggested the white man, and the listening girls knew
he must be smiling broadly.
 “Why, Boss, yo’ can’t earn two-bits carryin’ bags yere; but I kin,”
and the negro chuckled delightedly as he gained possession of the
bags. “Come right along, Boss.”
As the porter set off, the young man turned and saw Dorothy Dale
and Tavia Travers behind him. Besides themselves, indeed, this end
of the long cement platform was clear. Other passengers from the in-
bound train had either gone forward or descended into the tunnel
under the tracks to reach the north-side platform. The only porter in
sight was the man who had taken G. K.’s bags.
The weight of the shiny black bags the girls carried was obvious.
Indeed, perhaps Tavia sagged perceptibly on that side—and
intentionally; and, of course, her hazel eyes said “Please!” just as
plain as eyes ever spoke before.
Off came the broad-brimmed hat just for an instant. Then he held
out both hands.
“Let me help you, ladies,” he said, with the pleasantest of smiles.
“Seeing that I have obtained the services of the only Jasper in sight,
you’d better let me play porter. Going to take this tube train, ladies?”
“Yes, indeed!” cried Tavia, twinkling with smiles at once, and first to
give him a bag.
Dorothy might have hesitated, but the young man was insistent
and quick. He seized both bags as a matter of course, and Dorothy
Dale could not pull hers away from him.
“You must let us pay your porter, then,” she said, in her quietly
pleasant way.
“Bless you! we won’t fight over that,” chuckled the young man.
He was agreeably talkative, with that wholesome, free, yet
chivalrous manner which the girls, especially the thoughtful Dorothy,
had noticed as particular attributes of the men they had met during
their memorable trip to the West, some months before.
She noticed, too, that his attentions to Tavia and herself were
nicely balanced. Of course, Tavia, as she always did, began to run
on in her light-hearted and irresponsible way; but though the young
man listened to her with a quiet smile, he spoke directly to Dorothy
quite as often as he did to the flyaway girl. He did not seek to take
advantage of Tavia’s exuberant good spirits as so many strangers
might have done.
Tavia’s flirtatious ways were a sore trial to her more sober chum;
but this young man seemed to understand Tavia at once.
“Of course, you’re from the West?” Tavia finished one “rattlety-
bang” series of remarks with this direct question.
“Of course I am. Right from the desert—Desert City, in fact,” he
said, with a quiet smile.
“Oh!” gasped Tavia, turning her big eyes on her chum. “Did you
hear that, Doro? Desert City!”
For the girls, during their visit to the West had, as Tavia often
claimed in true Western slang, helped “put Desert City on the map.”
Dorothy, however, did not propose to let this conversation with a
strange man become at all personal. She ignored her chum’s
observation and, as the city-bound tube train came sliding in beside
the platform, she reached for her own bag and insisted upon taking it
from the Westerner’s hand.
“Thank you so much,” she said, with just the right degree of
firmness as well as of gratitude.
Perforce he had to give up the bag, and Tavia’s, too, for there was
the red-capped, smiling negro expectant of the “two-bits.”
“You are so kind,” breathed Tavia, with one of her wonderful “man-
killing” glances at the considerate G. K., as Dorothy’s cousin, Nat
White, would have termed her expression of countenance.
G. K. was polite and not brusk; but he was not flirtatious. Dorothy
entered the Hudson tube train with a feeling of considerable
satisfaction. G. K. did not even enter the car by the same door as
themselves nor did he take the empty seat opposite the girls, as he
might have done.
 “There! he is one young man who will not flirt with you, Tavia,” she
said, admonishingly.
“Pooh! I didn’t half try,” declared her chum, lightly.
“My dear! you would be tempted, I believe, to flirt with a blind
man!”
“Oh, Doro! Never!” Then she dimpled suddenly, glancing out of the
window as the train swept on. “There’s a man I didn’t try to flirt with.”
“Where?” laughed Dorothy.
“Outside there beside the tracks,” for they had not yet reached the
Summit Avenue Station, and it is beyond that spot that the trains
dive into the tunnel.
“We passed him too quickly then,” said Dorothy. “Lucky man!”
The next moment—or so it seemed—Tavia began on another tack:
“To think! In fifteen minutes, Doro my dear, we shall be ‘Alone in a
Great City.’”
“How alone?” drawled her friend. “Do you suppose New York has
suddenly been depopulated?”
“But we shall be alone, Doro. What more lonesome than a crowd
in which you know nobody?”
“How very thoughtful you have become of a sudden. I hope you
will keep your hand on your purse, dear. There will be some people
left in the great city—and perhaps one may be a pickpocket.”
The electric lights were flashed on, and the train soon dived into
the great tunnel, “like a rabbit into his burrow,” Tavia said. They had
to disembark at Grove Street to change for an uptown train. The tall
young Westerner did likewise, but he did not accost them.
The Sixth Avenue train soon whisked the girls to their destination,
and they got out at Twenty-third Street. As they climbed the steps to
the street level, Tavia suddenly uttered a surprised cry.
“Look, will you, Doro?” she said. “Right ahead!”
 “G. K.!” exclaimed her friend, for there was the young man
mounting the stairs, lugging his two heavy suitcases.
“Suppose he goes to the very same hotel?” giggled Tavia.
“Well—maybe that will be nice,” Dorothy said composedly. “He
looks nice enough for us to get acquainted with him—in some
perfectly proper way, of course.”
“Whew, Doro!” breathed Tavia, her eyes opening wide again.
“You’re coming on, my dear.”
“I am speaking sensibly. If he is a nice young man and perfectly
respectable, why shouldn’t he find some means of meeting us—if he
wants to—and we are all at the same hotel?”
“But——”
“I don’t believe in flirting,” said Dorothy Dale, calmly, yet with a
twinkle in her eyes. “But I certainly would not fly in the face of
Providence—as Miss Higley, our old teacher at Glenwood, would say
—and refuse to meet G. K. He looks like a really nice young man.”
“Doro!” gasped Tavia. “You amaze me! I shall next expect to see
the heavens fall!”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” said her friend, as they reached the exit of
the tube station and stepped out upon the sidewalk.
There was the Westerner already dickering with a boy to carry his
bags.
“He likes to throw money away, too!” whispered Tavia. “I suppose
we must be economical and carry ours.”
“As there seems to be no other boy in sight—yes,” laughed her
friend.
“That young man gets the best of us every time,” complained Tavia
under her breath.
“He is typically Western,” said Dorothy. “He is prompt.”
But then, the boy starting off with the heavy bags in a little box-
wagon he drew, the young man whose initials were G. K., turned