Process_Bottlenecks

Process Bottlenecks Paper Jennifer Mathewson OPS/571 Operations Management February 19, 2010 Thomas Scheckner Preparing and cooking hamburgers is a traditional American pastime and the process varies from family to family. The data process can be as simple as preparing hamburger meat, cooking it properly and placing on a bun, to a more complex process by adding multiple seasonings, cheese, all the trimmings and placing on a bun. Goldratt's Theory of Constraints (TOC) is based on the idea of using scientific principles and logic to guide human-based organizations in their decision-making processes (R.B. Chase, 2006). The TOC assists organizations is meeting their goals and continue doing so through changing times, in an effort to keep the business successful. Process Bottlenecks with Hamburgers The project manager in the hamburger process would be the person in charge of overseeing the meat preparation, seasoning, adding cheese and trimmings, and serving the recipient in a timely manner. In theory, if all hamburger patties were completed at the same time, and placed on the assembly line, the process bottleneck would be the wait time created by the people waiting to add cheese, trimmings and placing it on a bun. According to Goldratt’s TOC, this would create a project overload, where the distribution of the processes would lessen the wait time for people to eat. In this case, not all people like their hamburger cooked medium-well; conversely, not all people like their hamburger cooked well-done. The distribution of processes would indicate as the hamburgers are cooked to a person’s liking, they are removed from the cooking device and placed on the assembly line for the addition of cheese and trimmings. This would enable the assembly line to move at a more consistent pace, versus the bottleneck. Conclusion In conclusion, Goldratt’s TOC is that every organization will be presented with a roadblock, or in this case, process bottleneck, which will limit its performance and slow down the process of achieving goals. In order to successfully improve the processes, the organization must identify what the constraints are and be able to manage them according to the processes involved in the TOC. The hamburger process will have constraints but as long as they are identified and managed correctly, the assembly line will become streamlined. References R.B. Chase, F. J. (2006). Operations Management for Business. New York: McGraw Hill/Irwin.