CASE STUDY:

PROCESS MAPPING AT KENNY B INTERNATIONAL DISTRRIBUTION

Kenny B International distribution center (KBID) has responsibility for supplying products to customers located within a 60-mile radius from the center. Recently, KBID received several complaints from customers reporting issues of lost orders and the time required to process orders for items that are already in stock. Due to this report, KBID process improvement team decided to study the process in more detail in tracking the flow of customers order through the distribution center, beginning from when the customer faxes in the order and ending with the order's delivery to the customer. The process management collected the following information:

1. Customers faxes orders to the distribution center. Sometimes paper get jammed in the fax machine or accidentally thrown away. Employees estimate that about 2 in 50 orders are "lost" in this manner.

2. The fax sits in an inbox anywhere from zero to eight hours, with an average of four hours, before being picked up by the KBID internal mail service.

3. It takes the internal mail service two hours on average to deliver the order to the picking area in a range of 0 to 3 hours. In addition, 2 out of 200 orders are accidentally delivered to the wrong area of KBID, resulting in additional "lost" orders.

4. Once an order is delivered to the picking area, it sits in the clerk's inbox until the clerk has time to process it. The order might wait in the inbox anywhere from zero to four hours, with an average time of two hours.

5. Once the clerk starts processing the order, it takes about ten minutes to determine whether the item is in stock. If the requested product is in stock, a worker picks the order and puts it into a box.

6. Average picking time is 40 minutes, with a range of 20 minutes and up to 90 minutes.

7. Also, it takes an inspector about four minutes to check the order for correctness. Despite this inspection, 2 out of 400 orders shipped has the wrong items or quantities .

8. A local transportation firm then takes the completed order and delivers it to the customer (average delivery time is four hours, but can be anywhere from two to six hours). The transportation company has an exemplary performance record in that they have not lost or damaged a shipment or delivered to the wrong customer in five years. If the item ordered is not in stock, the clerk will notify the customer and passes the order on to the plant, which will arrange quick shipment directly to the customer usually within seven days. Question?

1. Use symbols from Microsoft smart art or shape design to construct or draw the order-filling process map for the in-stock items. NOTE!!!! As you read through the case ask yourself the following questions: What is the focal point of the process mapping effort? What are the boundries and the start and stop points for the process map? What detail should or not be included in the process map? ALSO NOTE THAT!!!! The map should includes detailed information on the times required and in percentages at each step where necesary in the process, as well as various quality problems.

2. What is the average time (in minutes or hours) it will take between ordering and delivery for an in-stock item?

3. Believing that if an item is not in stock it will take longer time for it to be delivered. If this should be the case, what will be the total time it will take for the Distribution Center to deliver to the customer.

4. Explain your findings and make precise recommendation based on your findings.