01. Abhiroop.sen, Designing Operations-epgdbm 04

7/30/2019 01. Abhiroop.sen, Designing Operations-epgdbm 04

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ASSIGNMENT

DESIGNING OPERATIONS

INSTRUCTOR

MR. BOMAN MORADIAN

SUBMITTED BY:

ABHIROOP SEN

EPGDBM-04

ROLL NUMBER - 01


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1.Process Flow Chart of Oman Air Catering Operationsand its Lead time&Cycle time

The assignment is to develop a process flow chart depicting the flow of the process related to Oman Air Catering Operations.

It will show the existing process and the time taken by the staff to complete the entire process and the existing Lead Time and

Cycle time.

In the end improvements, will be suggested to reduce the cycle time so that the entire process is rendered more effective.

The main objective of the Operations Department in the Catering Services is to assemble food items, Dry Store items,

Chinaware items and Bar items (prepared by staff rostered separately) all of which are arranged in airline equipment

(Trolleys, Ovens or cabinets), loaded in hydraulic trucks and ultimately loaded onto the aircraft.

Given below is the typical flow of the process:-

1. A staff (Operations supervisor) enters in to the walk-in chiller to access the food items prepared by the kitchenproduction staff.

2. Pulls out the Airline trolleys to the Operations Area(which consists of the assembling area and the loading bay).[totaldistance 15 feet]

3. Arranges the food items in the trolley as per the Airline specifications.4. After arranging as per the requirements, the trolleys are pulled back into the same chiller which opens to the loading

bay.[total distance 15 feet]

5. Trolleys with the food items are left to chill till around 90mins before flight departure time.6. Meanwhile trolleys from the Dry Store, Chinaware and Bar areas are pulled into the loading bay. [total distance 100

feet]

7. Final check of the items are done8. Supervisor walks to Security office to communicate the number of seals required to seal each individual trolley

cabinet and oven. Security personnel walks to loading bay [total distance 25x2 feet]

9. Security checks are done and trolleys are sealed.10. Walk to the flight attendants and instructs them to load the flight into the hi -loader. [total distance 20 feet]11. Flight attendants walk to the loading bay. [total distance 20 feet]12. Flight attendant walks to the accounts billing area to collect the AFO (formal copy of the Aircraft Food Order). [total

distance 20 feet]

13. Walks back to the loading bay to check the loading process. [total distance 20 feet]14. Flight is loaded.15. After the all the items are loaded in the hi-loader, the supervisor walks to the drivers cabin outside the building to

instruct the driver to drive the hi-loader to the aircraft. [total distance 100 feet]

16. Driver walks till the hi-loader. [total distance 100 feet]17. Driver drives the hi-loader to the airport along with supervisor. [1000 feet]18. Flight attendants go to the airport by separate vehicle. [1000 feet]19. Hi-loader is aligned to the aircraft20.

Equipment is loaded into the aircraft.


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PROCESS FLOW CHART

Process Catering Operations

Beginning Entry into walk-in chiller

Ending Equipment is loaded into the aircraft

S No. Time

(mins)

Distance

(feet)

Step Description

1 5 X Entry into walk-in chiller

2 15 15 X Trolleys pulled out to Operations

area

3 20 X Food items are arranged

4 15 15 X Trolleys pulled back to

walk-in chiller

5 30 X Holding for maintaining

temperature

6 30 100 X Trolleys from different dept. are

accumulated

7 30 X Final check

8 10 50 X Walk till security department&

security walks back to loading bay

9 30 X Trolleys are sealed

10 5 20 X Walk to call flight attendants

11 5 20 X Flight attendants walk till loading

bay

12 10 20 X Supervisor walks till accounts office

13 10 20 X Walk back till loading bay

14 30 X Flight is loaded into hi-loader

15 10 100 X Supervisor walks to drivers cabin

16 10 100 X Driver walks till hi-loader

17 15 1000 X Driver drives the hi-loader to the

airport

18 15 1000 X Flight attendants go to the airport as

soon as flight lands

19 5 X Hi-loader is aligned to the aircraft

20 30 X Equipment is loaded into the aircraft

Total 330 2465 12 6 0 1 1


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PROCESS FLOW CHART SUMMARY

Symbol # of times Time ( mins) Distance

12 140 1450

6 130 ( Lead Time )=T0 -

0 - -

1 30 -

1 30 -

ANALYSIS

The actual lead time of this entire process is just 130 whereas the cycle time is 330mins. The transport / final check & holdingare200mins longer than the lead time. Certain activities like the final check, separate transportation of the flight attendants to the airport are

inevitable (due to requirement to load other flights) otherwise improvements to the above process can be

suggested.

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT

Protective clothing can be provided to the supervisors so that the arrangement of the food items may be done insidethe walk-in chiller. This would save energy as pulling the trolleys out to the Operations area is not required and

similarly pulling them back inside the chiller is not required.

If the trolleys are not pulled out at all, holding them in the chiller will also be not be required to lower thetemperature.

Trolleys from the Dry store, Chinaware, Bar could be held in the Operations area.That area will lie vacant, if there isno requirement to arrange food items in the Operations area.

The flight attendants could be used for this task as this would ensure that they dont have to be called for. Theywould already be present in Operation/loading area.

Security personnel should be given a desk in the loading bay so that he can observe the flights being pulled out andthere would be no need to call for him.

The Drivers cabin should be provided with intercom. The accounts office should install a printer in the Operations area to print the required AFO and pass on further

instructions.


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PROCESS FLOW CHART WITH SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENTS

POSSIBLE CHANGES AFTER SUGGESTED IMPROVEMENTS

Cycle time reduced to 210 mins from 330 mins. Distance travelled reduced from 2465 feet to 2100 feet. Flow chart summary is as follows:

Symbol # of times Time ( mins) Distance

3 50 1100

6 130 ( Lead Time )=T0 -

0 - -

1 30 -

0 - -

S No. Time

(mins)

Distance

(feet)

Step Description

1 5 X Entry into walk-in chiller

2 20 X Food items are arranged

3 30 100 X Trolleys from different dept. are

accumulated

4 30 X Final check

5 30 X Trolleys are sealed

6 30 X Flight is loaded into hi-loader

7 15 1000 X Driver drives the hi-loader to the

airport

8 15 1000 X Flight attendants go to the airport as

soon as flight lands

9 5 X Hi-loader is aligned to the aircraft

10 30 X Equipment is loaded into the aircraft

Total 210 2100 3 6 0 1 0


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2.Where does your organization fall in the Service Matrix? Explain.

Degree of Interaction & Customization

Service Factory Service Shop

Mass Service Professional

Oman Air Catering Services

EXPLANATION

The profession of flight catering is a labour intensive industry requires a high volume &variety ofskilled/unskilled labour for preparation & loading and offloading of flights, drivers for driving hi-lifts to and

from aircrafts, supervisors to oversee the operations.

There is virtually no automation. Fixed costs are low compared to labour costs. There is no interaction or customization with/for the flying passengers. Interaction is limited to Airline staff

and cabin crew. The classification of this industry is B2B.

The flight kitchen operates on standard specifications provided by the Airline and it is catered in mass volume(number of passengers flying).

Operations include preparation of food and related items, its assembly and delivery to the aircraft with relatedlogistics which is time-bound.

CAN YOU ENHANCE THE CUSTOMER CONTACT YOU ARE CURRENTLY PROVIDING? IF SO HOW?

Enhancing customer contact will probably not help in the flight catering scenario as the nature of the industry is

B2B. The food provided is ultimately consumed by the passengers flying but the interaction is limited Airline

Personnel. Interaction with the passengers is not allowed.

Also since the nature of the industry is to provide service as per given specification, enhancing customer contact

will not help as the core requirement of the job is on time delivery.

DegreeofLaborIntensity

LOW HIGH

OW

GH Service Matrix


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3.

a) Identify the parameter of competition in your business.

Parameters -:

A. On time DeliveryB. Last minute increase in passenger loadC. Last minute changes in configuration of aircraftsD. Number of Airlines cateredE. Profile of Airlines cateredF. Last minute catering to unscheduled flightsG. Ability to cater to increased number of flights due to natural calamities like foggy conditions, stormy

weather etc.

H. Infrastructure of the flight kitchen(staff strength, number of conveyor belts for economy class tray setups, number of hydraulic catering trucks)

I. Soft skills like experienced senior staff who can handle variety of situationsJ. Ease of communicationfor communicating passenger loads, special information etc.

(Number of Telephone lines/telex/ability to operate airline MIS)

K. Variety of Special Meals that can be provided (e.g. Diabetic Meals, Kosher Meals etc.)L. Professional Relationship with cabin crew so that last minute adjustments do not delay flights


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b) Develop order winners and qualifiers for your business segments.

S. no CRITERIA(parameters) QUALIFIERS (Weightage)

A On time Delivery QQ

B Last minute increase in passenger load Q

C Last minute changes in configuration ofaircrafts Q

D Number of Airlines catered 10

E Profile of Airlines catered 10

F Last minute catering to unscheduled

flights

Q

G Ability to cater to increased number of

flights due to natural calamities like

foggy conditions, stormy weather etc.

20

H Infrastructure of the flight kitchen(staff

strength, number of conveyor belts for

economy class tray set ups, number of

hydraulic catering trucks)

Q

I Soft skills like experienced senior staff

who can handle variety of situations

20

J Ease of communication Q

K Variety of Special Meals that can be

provided (e.g. Diabetic Meals, Kosher

Meals etc.)

10

L Professional Relationship with cabin

crew so that last minute adjustments

do not delay flights

30


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c) Critically comment if the process choice and various other elements of your business fit the

above.

I. The mentioned elements fit the business of flight catering.II. Oman Air is the sole flight catering company in the country of Oman.

III. On time delivery of the catering items are of paramount importance and it can be achieved only if allprocesses in the system are in place and are functioning in harmony. It is an order losing criteria becauseeven a minutes delay can cost the Airline thousands of dollars.

IV. Professional Relationship with cabin crew is of paramount importance so that last minute requirements donot delay flights. Sometimes it is important to cater to idiosyncrasies of regular crew to an acceptable level

so that sometimes human error issues can be resolved/adjusted by the flying crew.

V. Factors like Number of Airlines catered Profile of Airlines catered Infrastructure of the flight kitchen(staff strength, number of conveyor belts for economy class tray set

ups, number of hydraulic catering trucks)

Variety of Special Meals that can be provided (e.g. Diabetic Meals, Kosher Meals etc.) Ability to cater to increased number of flights due to natural calamities like foggy conditions, stormy

weather etc.

Soft skills like experienced senior staff who can handle variety of situationsmay be contract winning criteria over other bidders.

Documents

01. Abhiroop.sen, Designing Operations-epgdbm 04