Question (in proper order)
The operations manager for Dogs R Us is trying to understand the bottleneck in the dog grooming process. Times below are given in minutes per dog, and when there are two or more employees they can process two or more dogs simultaneously.
Process step               Time(min./dog)           Who
Verify customer information   5              Front desk (2 employees)
Crate the dog              2              Front desk  (2 employees)
Wash and dry the dog       20              Washers (3 employees)
Nails and teeth             13              Nail/teeth specialists (2)
Grooming                 25             Groomers (4 employees)
Call customer for pick-up    5               Front desk (2 employees)
Assuming that demand and supply exceed capacity, what is the maximum flow rate (in dogs per hour) for this process?
a. 9.2
b. 9.6
c. 10
d. None of the above
Answer:
d. None of the above
Explanation:
average time taken to:
1. verify customer info = 5mins/2 employees = 2.5mins/dog
2. crate the dog = 2min/2 employees = 1 mins/dog
3. wash and dry the dog = 20 mins/3 employees = 6.67min/dog
4. work on nails and teeth = 13 mins/ 2 employees = 6.5 min/dog
5. groom the dog = 25 mins / 4 employees = 6.25min/dog
6. call customer for pick-up = 5 mins/ 2 employees = 2.5 mins/dog
The most time is spent to wash and dry dogs (6.67 mins)
it is therefore one bottleneck
for this process a dog is processed in 6.67 mins
one hour = 60 mins
⇒ (60/6.67) dogs will be processed in an hour
that is, 9 dogs (approx)
hence, none of the above is the right option
