Capacity and Resource Management

Tamaras Income Tax Service is determining its staffing requirements for the next income tax season. Income tax preparers work 50 hours per week from January 15 through to April 15 (assume 4 weeks per month). There are two major tasks: preparation of short forms and preparation of long forms. The time normally needed to prepare a short form is 15 minutes; long forms take 50 minutes if all customer records are in order. Fifteen percent of customers using the long form have complicated problems that require approximately one-half hour of additional work. The usual mix of customers requiring long versus short forms is 40 to 60 percent. Preparers work at 85 percent efficiency, meaning only 85 percent of their time is productive. Tamara expects 1,000, 3,500 and 5,000 customers for each of the three months respectively.

1. Draw a flow diagram for this process
2. How many preparers are needed each month to meet that demand?
3. What are the implications for efficiency (utilisation) if Tamara has to hire staff for the entire three-month period, rather than vary the number each month?
4. Suggest an idea that Tamara could use to spread demand for her firms services more evenly across the three-month period.