1

Case Analysis (Mica Dining Hall: Debottlenecking Operations)

 2

Table of Contents

Abstract............................................................................................................................................3

Case Study- Analysis.......................................................................................................................4

Problems at MICA dining hall.........................................................................................4

Problem – Flowchart........................................................................................................6

Root cause of the Problems.............................................................................................6

Personal Example Relevant to the Case Study..............................................................10

Table of Figures

Figure 1: Flowchart displaying the process in which students use the dining hall during

lunchtime.........................................................................................................................................6

Figure 2: Personal example displaying bottleneck situation..........................................................11

 3

Abstract

MICA, Ahmedabad, one of India’s leading management institutions, faced bottlenecks in

its dining hall in July 2018 that delayed daily operations during peak lunch hours. The campus

had its scheduled lunchtime for 75 minutes between classes. At any given point in time, the

dining hall catered to 480 individuals, inclusive of students, faculty members and other MICA

employees. The problem observed at the place was missing of post-lunch classes and attendance

as a consecutive result. Also, certain faculty members kept zero tolerance towards late entrants. A

member of the MICA faculty in business administration was appointed to research the case,

determine the cause of delay and recommend remedial steps. The case study analysis intends to

identify the weakest link in the chain and suggest an influx of resources that would mitigate the

bottlenecks, thus decreasing the overall time spent for lunch in the dining hall MICA community

members and students as well. The case study will be analyzed critically for the problems at

MICA’s dining hall, and fixation on the problems will be recommended with the help of the

drum-buffer-rope technique and the examples from the writer’s personal life.
 4

Case Study- Analysis

Problems at MICA dining hall

MICA, a higher education institution for communication and strategic marketing, raised

issues from its students regarding long queues and wait time at the main dining hall during lunch

hours. The campus had three areas offering food service, namely, Chhota Canteen, MICAFE, and

the main dining hall. However, the main dining hall was a server of three meals to all residential

students (currently 426 enrolled for 2017-18) who were enrolled for programs at MICA. The

concern rises to the point of traffic at the main dining hall during lunch hours as Chhota canteen

sold only snacks and fast food, and MICAFE operated like a small Nescafe outlet for students

offering them coffee and other beverages. Also, Chotta Canteen and MICAFE were payable for

all the purchases made by the students.

The dining hall served not only students but also faculty members and other employees at

the campus. Divided into the following two categories :

1. Main dining hall: the total sitting capacity of 182 seats and two service counters

2. Extended dining hall: total sitting capacity 103 seats and 1 service counters,

the main dining hall had the most demanded occupancy. The reasons for the same are:

1. The main dining hall is well-equipped (drinking water taps, electric insect

zappers, air conditioner, ceiling fans, crates and racks for soiled plates, etcetera were in place)

2. On the sidewalls, the extended dining hall was partly accessible

3. The extended dining hall is equipped with one service counter, a washbasin and

two air coolers, of which only one was operational. The non-maintained air cooler caused an

issue for students as during summers’ high heat in Ahmedabad; it made it impossible for students
 5

to sit there and eat. As mentioned in the case study, Ahmedabad, situated in the west of India, has

a dry and hot climate, with peak temperatures as high as 48 degrees Celsius.

As the population moved towards the main dining hall during lunch hours, the wait

time for students to have their lunch increased. To add, this population also included

individuals who bought lunch from home but ate it at the main dining hall due to its well-

equipped structure. Students had their lunch breaks scheduled between the time span of 12:15

to 2:00 pm, with the greatest number of students during the time-span of 12:45 to

1:30(approximately). This increase in number for 45 minutes took place due to the overlap of

students’ break-time from first-year and second-year PGDMC course and CCC course. Also,

the employees at MICA usually came to lunch at 1:00 pm, even after having flexible lunch

times. This made the 45 minutes from 12:45 to 1:30 the busiest time for the main dining hall.

The wait time and consecutive delay time caused in the process were significant

issues for the MICA students, especially those who had their classes in the seminar hall

immediately after lunchtime. The problem worsened to the limit that students started losing

their attendance, a major deal to the course enrollment. Also, some of the faculty at MICA

was strict to a level that no leverage was given. The problem initiated reporting of issues

from students, which needed attention at the earliest possible.

With no solution implemented :

1. Students may start missing lunches at the campus, causing harm to their health.

Also, students preferred staying up late to study at the campus, hence sleeping late. This made

them miss breakfast to attend classes, and in turn, lunch was a major part of their eating

schedule.
 6

2. Also, students can take this up publicly on social networks causing a major harm

to MICA’s image and academic position overall.

3. They can involve Health organizations, in turn, the issue going public.

4. Students can also go on strikes, which can further cause harm to MICAs

reputation

Problem – Flowchart

Figure 1: Flowchart displaying the process in which students use the dining hall during
lunchtime

Root cause of the Problems

The problems at MICA were a cause of mix of operational faults and certain student

behaviors as well. The reason for the cause owes to the observations by Dr. Sarangi and Dr. Patil

in order to recommend a solution to the problem and issues raised by the students at the campus.

The lunchtime at the campus was the busiest time. With 98 employees at MICA, more than half
 7

(53. 9 % )of the faculty came to the dining hall for lunch along with the students at the campus,

which accounted for 426. The main dining hall had a total sitting capacity of 182, and the

extended dining hall had a capacity of 103. The total capacity of 285 seems to be fulfilling for

the students to dine in because :

1. PGDM-C, first-year constituted of 180 students, and their lunchtime was from

12:15 pm to 1:30 pm

2. PGDM-C, second-year constituted of 182 students, and their lunchtime was from

12:45 to 2:00

3. FPM-C students have flexible lunchtime and could have it anytime during lunch

hours (12:30 pm to 3:00 pm)

4. Also, the faculty had a flexible lunchtime.

The problem caused as a result of the following :

1. Students never came in time for their lunch as they went to their hostel to stow

their bags, catch up with their friends and then come to the dining hall for lunch.

2. Students who came in for lunch kept their bags over seats, reducing students'

place to sit and have lunch. The researchers observed the peak time of 1:00 pm when all batches

and teachers came in for lunch; about 15 bags occupied the sitting area, reducing the main dining

hall seating capacity by almost 8 %.

3. The most important of all, the extended dining hall that contributed to the sitting

capacity on most days, was unbearable to sit in due to the non-working condition of an air

conditioner. And, as mentioned before, Ahmedabad’s weather made it impossible for anyone to

sit in a place without a proper supply of air conditioning.

 8

4. A major observation was made that as students gathered between service counter

1 and 2 at the main dining hall. The place between was a counter for salt pepper, pickles, masala

and bowls. Students slowed down the process as they gathered between service counters 1 and 2.

Also, students came back to help themselves with salt and pickle post occupying their seats,

hence creating a crowd and slowing the line-up.

5. Also, another major observation was made as students gathered at the end of the

station counter 1 to help themselves and their friends with bowls, hence creating a bottleneck at

the before service counter 2, furthermore delaying the queue movement.

The above-listed problems created bottlenecks at several points in the whole process.

However, the significant bottlenecks were between service counter 1 and 2 and at the end of

service counters. Also, the extended hall not being functional properly created a significant cut

down in the dining hall seating capacity, causing a major wait time for students and adding delay

to the already caused delay by them.

Problem Fixing

The issues mainly observed at the dining hall were gathering people at the main dining

hall, and students not judiciously using the seating in the main dining hall. To overcome the

issues, a well-laid plan was essential. The bottlenecks had created a big problem in students'

academic life, and the concerns were critical. In order to fix the problem, the Theory of

constraints - Drum, Buffer, Rope approach can be applied. By applying the approach, the

following can be observed as the bottlenecks to the situation:

1. Drum: As a part of the theory of constraints, “Drum” is identified as the

bottleneck/s of the situation. For the mentioned situation at the MICA dining hall in the case

study, the drum can be identified as follows:

 9

a) Accumulation of the students between service counter 1 and 2, between the queue

or post grabbing seats for lunch.

b) Students moving to main dining hall for lunch, and not occupying the space at the

extended dining hall. This resulted due to excessive heat in the air due to improper air

conditioning.

As the drums for the situation are identified, they need to be buffered in an efficient

manner. The causes of the situation owed to mechanical issues, for which the system should act

immediately. The issue here is about the non-functional air conditioner, whose repairing would

cost the campus Rupees 1500, and this would add to the space of the dining hall for which it was

actually made. Furthermore, the bottleneck at the end of the process will be removed to some

extent.

Additionally, to buffer the situation in an effective manner, the pickle and salt station

should be placed at the end of the queue. This movement of the counter would not disturb the

ongoing queue; also, students not desiring to take anything from the counter of pickles and salt

will not be waiting for the queue to move forward.

Most importantly, the overlap of timings between the first year PGDM-C students and

second-year PGDM-C and CCC can be avoided by creating a buffer time of 30 minutes for the

dining hall to be evacuated. By implementing this recommendation :

a) PGDM-C first-year students can evacuate the hall by 1:00 pm (the end of their

lunch hour)

b) Faculty comes in by 1:00 pm and can settle in by 1:15 (at least more than half)

c) PGDM-C second-year students and CCC students start to come in at 1:15 instead

of 12:45
 10

The process will not even cause any disturbance in the main dining hall's lunch hours as

everyone will be done with their lunch by 2:30, still leaving half an hour to close for the dining

hall as the lunch facilities opened from 12:30 pm to 3:00 pm.

Also, as proposed by Dr. Sarangi and Dr. Patil, the faculty can introduce another rack for

bags for students (as per the proposed budget), which may add to the cost of fixation of the

problem but will also not bring in complaints from students, which is the primary concern.

The rope mechanism of the theory of constraints sets a release mechanism to guarantee

that work is released at the proper time into the system. In order to rope in the recommendations,

the faculty should be at first be get done with the mechanical implementations at the dining hall.

Furthermore, they should release a proper notice to ensure the changes in lunchtimes at the

dining hall. By setting things as per the plan, the constraints will not be created; hence no

bottlenecks will be further developed.

Personal Example Relevant to the Case Study

A bottleneck is a situation we can actually face in our day-to-day life. As a practical

example to explain the situation related to the provided case study, the following scenario does

the work:

As a part of a team project, the writer was a part of a team of 4 people. The tasks were

divided amongst the group's four people to complete the project assigned in the scheduled course

of time. Post the completion of individual tasks, the collation, reviewing and the process of

making the changes necessary was put over one member (the writer). This created an

accumulatio of several tasks over me. As a result, a bottleneck situation was created towards the

end for one person (Figure 2).

 11

To remove the bottleneck, for any future instance, the team decided upon having two

people to make changes to avoid any delays observed in the situation above. This transition

would divide the bottleneck tasks and also reduce the time consumed initially to a great extent.

Figure 2: Personal example displaying bottleneck situation

Summary

To conclude, MICA’s case study is a practical and useful set of data to assist with

rescuing an organization or a business from bottlenecks. With efficient data collected by the

observance, critical analysis became an easy task. Also, by analyzing the case study, the writer

was able to understand how a process can be made bottlenecks free and made more effective.
 12

In our daily lives, an individual often encounters a bottleneck which they do not bother to

consider. Exampling the same can be a scenario of travelling to a place every day, which

involves a process. The process can be made efficient in most of cases, hence proving that

bottleneck is not only a concept involved with manufacturing organizations. It can be linked to

any process carried continuously.

To summarize, MICA’s case study not only assists in understanding the bottleneck

situation in the lunch process at the campus, but also allows the writer to search between the data

to recommend an effective plan (as mentioned in Problem Fixing), remove the drums in the

situation with effective buffering at the appropriate rope time.