Operations

Management 1

Mini Project-2
Group 4
Aditi Goyal – BJ21125
Anushka Sharma – BJ21131
Dhruv Mohta – BJ21138
Kashish Malhotra – BJ21145
Nihar Raichada- BJ21152
Pranav Mhatre – BJ21159
Sanil Khemani – BJ21166
 OFFLINE
OFFLINE -- OVERVIEW
OVERVIEW

Input
Input
4 ordered stacks (Alphabetical) of A4 sheets
(i)- 500 letters of selected candidates, (ii)- 750 of waitlisted candidates, (iii)- 250 of International candidates (total 1500) and
(iv)- 1,98,500 of rejected candidates

Reasoning and Design

Envelopes are divided on the given basis, so it is easier to divide and maintain track for further processing. These can be
separated by getting the print from separate vendors or asking the vendors to create proper stacks during printing. Ordering
these according to the excel file that would be used for printing addresses further.

The process is designed in such a way that the 200k letters are divided as 60k, 60k, 60k and 20k for the 4 days which would
allow for optimal operation of the machines as well as allows for the schedule to fit into the given 8 hours or less per day.

Assumptions
1. There are no budget or labor limitations considered
2. The machines are to be used for 4 days only and so are assumed to be rented instead of outright buying them.
3. The post office as well as the site is assumed to work on an 8-hour schedule from 9 am to 5 pm per normal working hours.
 LAYOUT

EF 1 AP 1 F1

EF 2 F2
AP 2

Assemble

Packaging
Assemble
F3

Delivery
EF 3 AP 3 ES
IC F4
Loading Travel Unloading
EF 4 AP 4
F5

EF 5 AP 5 F6

Step 1 Step 2 Step 3 Step 4 Step 5 Step 6 Step 7 Delivery

EF: Envelope Folding AD: Address Printing ES: Envelope Sealing F: Franking
PROCESS SCHEDULE
 STEP 1 – Initial Check

Check each of the first 3 stacks (1500 in all) for order and count from excel. 3 people can do this.
Process

Person 1 does 500 selected letters, person 2 does 500 waitlisted and person 3 does 250 waitlisted and 250
international
Rationale

These letters are the priority to be delivered and the number of letters and the order of letters in this need to
be checked for correctness. 

Logistics Time People

3 Workstations 50 min/ person 3 people

Process STEP 2 – Inserting in colour coded Envelopes

Put these stacks into “Formax-FD-6608” machines that can fold and fill the letters into colour coded envelopes.
Green - selected, Yellow - waitlist, Blue - International letters and White - rejected. Maintain order while it comes out.
Rationale

60k per day keeps a steady rate for machine operation and means that the process can be finished in 3.5 days to allow for
enough time for further processes. Colour coding envelopes allows to differentiate these and give them priority which also
acts as a “Poka Yoke” measure if counts are required at any stage.

Time
Capacity per hour 4,000
4 hrs/machine Number of machines 5
Running time (per batch) 1 hour
Logistics
Total letters processed (per batch) 20,000
5 workstations
Number of batches 10
No. of People Break time/machine 30 mins after 1 hr.

10 people Total time/machine 4 hours

Reference: https://www.paperfolder.com/Formax-FD-6608-Folder-envelope-inserter.html
 STEP 3 – Address Printing

The filled envelopes are taken to “M1-colour-envelope-printer”- address printing machines, that print the address on the
Process

envelope. Maintain order while transferring. Stacks are transferred after a batch of 20,000 letters are processed from the
previous station. It is assumed that 1 minute is needed for each of the transfers. 
Rationale

Printing the address helps the posting service in their further process of separating out the envelopes when they are to be
mailed and makes the process comprehensive.

Time Capacity per hour 7,500

320 mins
Number of machines 5
Logistics
Running time (per batch) 32 minutes
5 workstations
Total letters processed per batch 20,000
People
Number of batches 10
10 people
Reference: https://www.amsmailingsystems.co.uk/product/m1-colour-envelope-printer-2/ 
 STEP 4 – Envelope Sealing

Take the filled and addressed envelopes to the “Mercure Secap-720 envelope sealer” machine. A single machine is used
Process

which takes the input from the address printing machine after completion of its batch and seals them before they are
packaged.
Rationale

Sealing avoids from tampering of the contents inside the envelopes. Using a machine helps speed up the process for sealing
the envelope and in this step, the order of envelopes does not matter unlike the previous steps. 

Time Capacity per minute 300

667 minutes
Number of machines 1
Logistics
Running time (per batch) 67 minutes
1 workstation
Total letters processed per batch 20,000
No. of People

3 people Number of batches 10

Reference:  https://www.allformailers.com/refurb-equipment/mercure-secap-720-envelope-sealer/ 
Process STEP 5 – Packaging

Manual packaging of letters into cardboard boxes and sealing the boxes using brown tape. There is a separate box for 1500
letters (selected, waitlisted and international letters) which have been prioritized.
Rationale

The letters must be carried to the postal service in cardboard boxes as these are durable and easy for transporting.
Separate box of the initial 1500 letters allows for quicker processing of these letters (Priority Job).

Time Capacity per box 1500

333 minutes Number of boxes 40

Logistics Packaging time per box 2.5 minutes

1 workstation Running time (per batch) 33 minutes

Total letters packed per batch 20,000
No. of People

4 people Number of batches 10

 STEP 6 – Transport
Process

Transport of letters which includes travel to the post office, loading of the boxes from the site and unloading of the boxes at
the postal service.

Time Capacity per truck 40

160 minutes Time for Loading/Unloading 20 minutes

Logistics Time for travel 20 minutes

1 van/small truck Total time 40 minutes
No. of People Total letters packed for Day 1-3 60,000 per day
3 people Total letters packed for Day 4 20,000
 STEP 7 – Franking

Franking (Stamping) of letters using “Pitney Bowes DM Series Franking Machine” in order to track the delivery of
Process

letters. The franking process is done on the next day for letters processes on the previous day for Days 1, 2 and 3 and the
Day 4 letters are processed on the same day.
Rationale

The letters are stamped so they can be sent out by mail for delivery either within India or internationally and a separate
stamp is required for the international letters. The box containing the priority letters is given first preference so these are
processed and sent out faster.

Time Speed of machine (per minute) 55

600 minutes
Number of machines 6
Logistics Total letters handled on Days 2 and 3 60,000/day
6 workstations Total letters handled on Day 4 80,000
No. of People Time per day 3-4 hours
12 people Number of batches 4
Reference: https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/dm-series-franking-machine-22937304788.html  
 Online-Overview

ASSUMPTION: Candidate registration details are present in a database from where the contacts can be uploaded to any
mail merge software

People Required (MS Word): Time Taken: Other tools required:

1-2 3-4 hours Mail Merge for Gmail

STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3

Import contacts from SQL/MS-Access Create 3 separate Mail Merges for

database. Keep only Name, Address, Selected, Waitlisted and Rejected
Send mails
EXACT ID. Add a field called candidates by using Filters. 3
“Admission Status”. separate mailers to be created.
ONLINE - DETAILED
Launch Outlook on your computer

Click Mailings > Start Mail Merge > Email Messages

Upload your CSV file/ Import externally

Click File > Save

Click Mailings > Greeting line

Choose the field you want to insert > Click OK

Click File > Save

Click Preview Results, go through several previews by click
“Next” or “Previous”
Click Finish & Merge > Send E-mail Messages
Click “To:” and select the list of email addresses

Type a subject line in the subject box

Click Mail Format and pick HTML

Click OK to run the mail merge

 RECOMMENDATIONS INCORPORATED
1. Gantt Chart- Designing a process schedule chart
to streamline tracking of utilized resources and
increase work-flow.
2. Workstation and Process layout- Creating a
layout in order to estimating the space needed for
machines and facilitate ease of inventory
handling and management.
3. Operations terms- Incorporating operations terms
such as Poka Yoke and Priority Job.
FEEDBACK TO OTHER GROUPS
GROUP 5
Pros
1. Considered multiple factors such as the A4 size in order to
increase the efficiency of workers engaging in paper folding
2. Creating a workstation and process area layouts to find possible
bottlenecks and avoid inefficiencies
Cons
3. Drop in Employee efficiency due to fatigue, distractions have
not been addressed
4. Design of delivery system to the postal services and franking
procedures were not considered
GROUP 6
Pros
1. Designed a Gantt Chart to illustrate the project schedule
2. Utilized transparent envelopes to reduce any printing
requirement on envelope
Cons
3. Manual sorting of international and domestic letters could be
avoided by printing them separately during input stage.