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Kristens Cookie Co A Case Solution
In the Kristen Cookies case, the operational details were given. It showed that an order of one dozen cookies takes 26 minutes and $0.7 in material costs. We assumed that labor costs will be $10 and some calculations based on this helped in determining the price of the cookies. Baking process was identified as the bottleneck in production. It was recommended that an oven is rented on a per night basis and the optimal price of the oven was suggested to be lesser than $40 to improve the revenues. Furthermore, the case took on several different scenarios to examine the number of batches that could be produced in a 4-hour shift. This helped in understanding how some processes performed together can reduce the time taken for the production of a batch and also help in attaining an understanding of the importance of operations management.
Following questions are answered in this case study solution
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How long will it take you to fill a rush order from Kristen's Cookie Co.?
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How many orders can you fill in a night, assuming you are open four hours each night?
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How much of your own and your roommate's valuable time will it take to fill each order?
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Because your baking trays can hold exactly one dozen cookies, you will produce and sell cookies by the dozen. Should you give any discount for people who order two dozen cookies, three dozen cookies, or more? If so, how much? Will it take you any longer to fill a two-dozen cookie order than a one-dozen cookie order?
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How many electric mixers and baking trays will you need?
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Are there any changes that you can make in the production plans that will allow you to make better cookies or more cookies in less time or at a lower cost? For example, is there a bottleneck operation in your production process that you can expand cheaply? What is the effect of adding another oven? How much would you be willing to pay to rent an additional oven?
Case Analysis for Kristens Cookie Co A
1. How long will it take you to fill a rush order from Kristen's Cookie Co.?
One Dozen Cookies Rush Order
In order to fill a rush order from Kristen’s cookie, the customer will place the order for the ingredients that they want to add to the cookies. Therefore, the time taken by the processes is defined in the table below:
Process |
Time for 1 dozen Cookies Rush Order |
Washbowl, add ingredients and mix ingredients (3 dozen Setup Time) |
6 minutes |
Spoon out Dough onto Tray |
2 minutes |
Setting Thermostat and Timer |
1 minute |
Baking |
9 minutes |
Remove and cool |
5 minutes |
Packing |
2 minutes |
Payment Processing |
1 minute |
Total |
26 minutes |
Therefore, if there is a rush order and there are no other orders in the queue, it will take 26 minutes from start to finish for an order of one dozen cookies. This is lesser than the time promised by Kristen’s Cookie which is fresh cookies delivered in 1 hour.
Two Dozen and Three Dozen Cookies Rush Order
Fulfilling the same order for a second dozen takes an additional 14 minutes since the only process which can take one dozen cookies at a time is the baking process, cooling, and payment process.
2nd same order takes and additional:
Process |
Time for 2nd dozen Cookies Rush Order |
Washbowl, add ingredients and mix ingredients (3 dozen Setup Time) |
- |
Spoon out Dough onto Tray |
2 minutes |
Setting Thermostat and Timer |
1 minute |
Baking |
9 minutes |
Remove and cool |
- |
Packing |
2 minutes |
Payment Processing |
- |
Total |
14 minutes |
A third dozen of the same order takes an additional 14 minutes since the same bottleneck of baking takes additional time. Therefore, a rush order of 3 dozen same flavored cookies will take 54 minutes.
2. How many orders can you fill in a night, assuming you are open four hours each night?
Different Orders for the Night
Open for 4 hours each night means 240 minutes.
Since the first part of production takes 8 minutes, while the first batch is baking, the second batch's first part of production can be conducted if the order is different. In this way, the second-order which has been received subsequently only takes 18 minutes. While the second order is baking, the first part of the production of the third-order can be done, and therefore, it will also take 18 minutes to complete.
Therefore, for different batches or orders for the night, assuming that each order is placed for a dozen cookies only, the following equation can determine the number of orders that can be fulfilled for the night:
240 = 26 + 18n (n being the number of subsequent batches being baked. 26 is the time taken for the first batch and 18 is the time taken for subsequent batches. 240 is the total time that Kristen cookies are open for each night)
N = 11.88. N+1 means 12 batches can be produced each night
This means that 12 dozen different flavored cookies can be produced each night.
3 Dozen Batches for the Night
Since 3 dozen same batches for the night take 54 minutes (as calculated in answer 1, we will calculate the time taken for the subsequent 3-Dozen batches.
2nd batch of 3 dozen cookies will take:
Process |
Time for 1st dozen Cookies Rush Order for 3 Dozen |
Washbowl, add ingredients and mix ingredients (3 dozen Setup Time) |
0 minutes (done while the first batch is being cooled, packed, and delivered by roommate) |
Spoon out Dough onto Tray |
0 minutes (done while the first batch is being cooled, packed, and delivered by roommate) |
Setting Thermostat and Timer |
1 minute |
Baking |
9 minutes |
Remove and cool |
5 minutes |
Packing |
2 minutes |
Payment Processing |
1 minute |
Total |
18 minutes |
The 2nd batch of 3 Dozen cookies will take 18+14+14= 46 minutes. The 14 minutes have been taken from answer 1 in which we calculated that the 2nd same order takes an additional 14 minutes. Therefore, the following equation can reveal the answer to how many 3 dozen batches can be produced in a single night:
240 = 54 + 46n (n being the number of subsequent 3-dozen batches being baked. 54 is the time taken for the first batch and 46 is the time taken for subsequent batches. 240 is the total time that Kristen cookies are open for each night)
N = 4.04. Adding the first batch means 5.04 batches rounded off to 5
Multiplied by 3 means 15 dozen, 3-dozen order cookies can be produced each night.
3. How much of your own and your roommate's valuable time will it take to fill each order?
The time is taken by me to fill in each order:
Process |
Time |
Mix Ingredients |
6 minutes |
Spoon Dough |
2 minutes |
Total |
8 minutes |
Time is taken by the roommate to fill in each order:
Process |
Time |
Set Thermostat |
1 minute |
Packing |
2 minutes |
Payment Processing |
1 minute |
Total |
4 minutes |
This does not include the time that the machine (oven) takes to process and the process which is done automatically. The automated processes include baking (9 minutes) and cooling (5 minutes)
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