Business Process for Grauls Market Bakery

In 1920 Fred and Esther Graul opened the first Grauls Market at 2819 E. Monument

Street in Baltimore City. In 1945 when their son, Harold Sr. returned from military service in

World War II, he and his wife, Mary, assumed ownership of the store. In 1958 they moved to

Annapolis with their four children to open the first Grauls Supermarket in Cape St. Claire. As

the family has grown, each child has opened their own store and now the 4th generation has

joined in the family business. There are a total of six stores. Each store includes a grocery

department, a cheese department, a sushi department, a meat department, a deli department, a

prepared foods department, a seafood department, and general grocery items. Grauls has been

famous for their bakery for over 45 years. It was recently awarded with having the best cakes in

Baltimore.

To further understand how to place a cake order at Grauls market, I interviewed the bakery

manager, Bob Fettweis, who described to me what takes place when a customer submits a cake

order. The process was as follows:

1. Client either comes to the bakery counter or calls the store.

2. They are first asked for the date and time they would like their cake ready.

3. If their desired time is less than 48 hours from the current time, the order is declined and

the client is redirected to choose a cake that is already on the shelf.

4. If their desired time is greater than 48 hours away, the bakery clerk proceeds to take the

order on a slip of paper

5. The client is asked for the following

a. Last name

b. Phone number
 c. Size of cake

d. Batter of cake

e. Icing choice

f. Special decorations

g. Message written on the cake

h. If they would like flowers or balloons around the border

i. Colors for writing and decorations

i.If the client would like a drawing or photo scan on their cake, they are asked to provide a picture

so the decorators know exactly what to draw.

ii.If the client has a picture, the picture is folded (if drawing) and stapled to the order. If it is a

photo scan, it cannot be folded and must be put into a folder with their name, phone number, and

date on the cover and put into a basket for the decorators to pick up.

iii.After the photo has either been attached or filed, the clerk writes see attached on the ticket slip

for a drawing or photo scan on the ticket if it is a photo scan.

iv.If the client does not have a picture with them, they are asked to bring one into the store or email

it.

v.If they choose to email it, they are given the email address and asked to write ATTN bakery in

the subject field and include their name, phone number, and date along with the picture in the

body of the message.

vi.If the client does not receive an email back from the bakery, it is assumed the order has been

accepted and will be ready for the client when she has requested it

6. Once these questions have been filled out, the clerk reads the client back their order and

then if it is correct, the clerk thanks them for their order and the customer leaves. If it is
 not correct, the client identifies the issue, the clerk fixes it and the client is thanked for

their order and proceeds to leave.

7. The order is then filed in a plastic bin under which day it must be ready for (if they want

their cake for next Monday, it goes in the bin labeled Monday) and the process is handed

off to the bakery manager.

Bakery manager:

1. The bakery manager collects the orders two days before it must be ready (if the order is

for Wednesday, he will gather all the Wednesday orders on Monday)

2. The bakery manager tallies the orders at 7 pm each night and records which types of

cakes the bakers must make.

3. Once the bakery manager has tallied all the cake orders he hands off the types of cakes

that must be made to the baking department.

4. He then hands the original order slips to the decorators.

Baking department:

1. The bakers receive the orders for Wednesday and begin the cake baking process.

2. Once each cake is finished, it is handed off to the decorating department

Decorators:

1. Once the decorators have received the cake from the baking department and the order

slips from the bakery manager, they begin to ice and decorate the cakes starting with the

cake that is being picked up the soonest.

2. Once the cake had been iced, decorated, and boxed, it is brought downstairs to the front

bakery.
 3. Once the cake is set on the metal rack in the front bakery and the client order has been

taped to the box, the decorator hands off the process to the front bakery.

Front bakery:

1. Client arrives to pick up cake

2. Clerk asks the client for their last name.

3. The bakery clerk must find the cake by looking at the names on the ticket.

4. Once the cake has been located by the clerk, it is picked up and handed to the client and

the process ends.

Techniques used:

Interview based

Roles:

Client

Bakery counter associate

Bakery manager

Bakers

Decorators

Catering manager

Oven

Phone

Computer

Printer

People interviewed:
 Name Phone Email

Bob Fettweis 4108236077 ruxton@graulsmarket.com

The as-is process model is shown below.

Possible issues:

1. Orders are only taken on paper so if that slip of paper gets lost, the whole order and

contact information for the client is gone

2. Client does not get a receipt so anyone who knows the last name of the client could pick

up the cake

3. Cake is not paid for until the client picks it up so cakes could be made and never picked

up which is a waste of time, energy, and materials.

4. Cakes are often hard to find because the client will give the wrong last name than the one

that was on the order. This means the bakery clerk must ask them information about their

cake in order to find it which takes extra time and energy.