The headquarters of a major creative agency offered a service to all its global subsidiaries, which included the preparation of a budget estimate that was submitted to potential clients when making a

‘pitch’ for new work. This service had been offered previously only to a few of the group’s subsidiary companies. Now that it was to be offered worldwide, it was deemed appropriate to organise the process of compiling budget estimates on a more systematic basis. It was estimated that the worldwide demand for this service would be around 20 budget estimates per week, and that, on average, the staff who would put together these estimates would be working a 35-hour week. The elements within the total task of compiling a budget estimate are shown in Table 11.4.

(a) What is the required cycle time for this process?

(b) How many people will the process require to meet the anticipated demand of 20 estimates per week?