Process Improvement Plan
Brandi D. Clark
December 3, 2012
OPS/571

During the first portion of this course, a flowchart was established to show the process of preparing lunch daily. The main purpose of the flowchart was to provide the detailed process of packing lunch as well as identify areas of improvement within the process. The process was monitored over a 10-day period to see how much time is used solely to pack or create the lunch; this information will be used to provide the data collection element of this discussion. This discussion will also identify control limits of the lunch packing process, any confidence intervals involved as well as the effects of any seasonal impacts to the process. In the data collection period, many areas were identified as areas of opportunity. Below is the charting of durations based on area of the flowchart, the total process of preparing lunch takes at least 30-40 minutes depending on if food is prepared. Making food Choices | Getting Pantry Items | Wrapping food/placing in storage container | Selecting the lunch bag to use | 15-20 first 5 days | 20-25 first 5 days | 10 minutes all 8 days | 10 Minutes 4 days | 5-10 second 5 days | 15-20 second 5 days | 6 minutes 2 days | 4 minutes 6 days |
The focus here is to minimize time selecting food and pantry items. If there were a reduction in the time it takes to make food choices or select pantry items the process would having a better chance of being completed in a timely fashion. The lunch preparing process will be reduced to a maximum of twenty minutes each morning. This time limit of twenty minutes is the new control limit as well was the boundary of the process. Even though the time is limited to a maximum of twenty minutes its does not eliminate various events that can cause the process to go over such as spills, lack of storage containers, lack of lunch bags and possibly lack of food. It is also important that the process begin at least 45 minutes before it is time to leave for work. This allows ample time to get the lunch ready and leave for work on time avoiding lateness. Many seasonal factors can affect the lunch preparation process. One of the major seasonal impacts is the type of foods. In the summertime, it is more likely to have items like sandwiches or leftover meals from eating out or attending a family picnic. These items take a little longer to prepare and arranged in a way to avoid different types of damage to the dish. An example would be if packing a sandwich to avoid soggy bread, the bread must be in a separate sandwich bag and mayo has to be on the side. There are also times where if the sandwich were prepared from an item that is wet, like chicken salad, that item would need to be in a separate container. However, in the winter and fall there is less likely an option to have sandwiches due to the colder weather. Most times, there are options such as soups, stews and pasta. These items only require one bowl and one spoon to create a full lunch; which in theory speeds up the process tremendously. Having winter items allows for the step of “making food choices” to be eliminated given that most soups, stews and pastas are prepared in large quantities. Ultimately, this discussion identified the control limits by implementing time parameters and providing a maximum time allowed as well as minor events that could impede the process. Possibly causing the use of more time that is what is allowed in the time parameter. This also provides various seasonal impacts that would affect the lunch preparation process as a whole. When taking into account all circumstances and events that could possibly impact the process, it is easy to make an informed decision about what can be done to make the process more timely and more effective manner.

References 1. Chase, R. B., Jacobs, F. R., & Aquilano, N. J. (2006). Operations Management for Competitive Advantage. New York: McGraw Hill/Irwin.