Senior Project Examples

• Routing Analysis at Lusitania Bakery
• Analysis of Small Cores Department at Foundry
• The Business Intelligence System:  Improving Analyst Productivity at a Large Financial Services Company
• Phone System Analysis at Orthopedic Surgical Practice
• RECOMBIVAX HB Filter Study at Large Pharmaceutical Manufacturer

 

  

Routing Analysis at Lusitania Bakery

Spring 2006

Sedef Baykal and Katie Drewes

 

This study examines the delivery routes for Lusitania Bakery.  The result of this study was four new delivery routes that were based on two existing routes and two regional areas of new customers.  The effect on the company was more efficient delivery routes and a chance to grow their business in new geographic locations. 

 

The study was proposed because the delivery routes had grown organically over the years without much attention paid to efficiency.  Because each driver is paid on commission, they were allowed to find new customers to add to their routes, even if they were located in another town.  The main area of focus was in the Allentown and Bethlehem area because those routes had grown too large for the current two drivers to cover. 

 

The second main outcome of this study was determining the capabilities of the BusinessMap software program that the company had purchased to help complete this study.  Prior to our work at Lusitania Bakery, no one at the company was familiar with what this software could accomplish or how to use it.  Throughout our study we learned the most important aspects of the program and instructed the company on how to use it before our departure.

 

Analysis of Small Cores Department at Foundry

Fall 2004

Justin Rinker and Sei Jung

 

This study examines cost reduction opportunities for the small cores department in the Acme foundry.  The alternatives that were examined for reducing the annual cost of the small cores department were:  redesign of plant layout, semi-automation of hopper filling process, change of inventory method from LIFO (Last In First Out) to FIFO (First In First Out), cross training of workers, and use of a pull system.  Elimination of the manual cutting of pipes was also looked at from an ergonomic point of view.  Percent savings were shown for all of the alternatives except for the semi-automation of the hopper filling process due to a lack of cost data.

 

It has been shown that each of the above alternatives has potential for reducing the annual cost for the small cores department.  Redesigning the plant layout will eliminate about 10 percent of the current inventory storage space.  A total of $14,805 will be saved each year, after the purchase and installation costs, by using a bucket elevator to semi-automate the hopper filling process.  Cross training the two workers in the small cores department will reduce the idle time that occurs due to the difference in average process times for the workers.  Work in process will be reduced by limiting production at upstream work stations to actual requirements.  Using a rebar cutter to cut the pipes will not result in a great reduction in cost but it is necessary to make the work environment more ergonomic.

 

The Business Intelligence System:  Improving Analyst Productivity at a Large Financial Services Company

Fall 2004

Jacqueline Griffin

 

The purpose of this project was to research the potential for increased productivity and profitability of the company’s Allentown branch through the use of its already developed Business Intelligence System.

 

After analyzing the system, eight of the system’s reports were identified as being the most valuable.  These reports include:

 

Increased utilization of the system and its reports has the potential to result in an approximate 68% increase in an analyst’s total revenue.  If the Business Intelligence System is thoroughly utilized by a large percentage of the branch, the branch can expect to see significant increases in both assets and revenue.

 

Phone System Analysis at Orthopedic Surgical Practice

Fall 2004

Ray Pressburger and Ashwin Uttamchandani

The Client contracted this research to be done to evaluate the deficiencies in the current phone system and to determine effective ways to improve its ability to service calls in a timely fashion.  Initial tests of the system revealed some areas of improvement to be studied.

 

Large volumes of prescription refill calls are unnecessarily trafficked through the call center.  These calls take time for operators but must end up at a triage nurse to refill the prescription.  For patients seeking authorization for physical therapy, complex forms taking 30-45 minutes each must be filled out by operators when these patients call.  These forms are not only difficult and time consuming, but are often done incorrectly by the operators.  Additionally, calls from other medical facilities are not given any priority over regular patient calls.  Other doctor’s and practices should be able to speak with someone as soon as possible.

 

To better handle the calls coming into the call center, it would be beneficial to add a menu option and voicemail box for callers requesting prescription refills.  This voicemail box can be checked by a triage nurse thus avoiding any time being spent by operators on these calls.  For the physical therapy calls, a dedicated operator would be best to handle these calls and fill out the complicated forms.  This would save time and mistakes made by the other operators who don’t encounter these calls on a regular basis.  In order to better serve the calls from other medical facilities, all callers choosing the corresponding menu option should be forwarded to the front of the queue.

 

By implementing these changes immediately, the Client’s phone system will better traffic calls thus reducing average wait times and queue lengths.  All changes are also recommended as part of the configuration for the new system that will be installed in the new facilities.

 

RECOMBIVAX HB Filter Study at Large Pharmaceutical Manufacturer

Fall 1992

Craig Moser and Joe Valovage

 

This study examines cost reduction opportunities for RECOMBIVAX HB Filters.  The alternatives examined for reducing the annual cost of these filters were:  renegotiation of purchasing contracts, filter optimization, and filter cleaning and reuse.  Different levels of reuse and optimization were examined through the economic analysis.  The range of potential annual savings is $575,000 to $2,000,000 depending on the combination of alternatives that are implemented.

 

The study indicates that there is substantial savings to be had from each of these alternatives.  Purchasing agreements can be renegotiating with little or no cost and will provide significant savings.  It is also recommended that both optimization studies be performed, as well as research to develop specific cleaning procedures.  The implementation of these alternatives could result in a savings of over two million dollars a year depending on the level of reuse established.  The projected cost of implementing filter optimization and filter cleaning and reuse is between $480,000 and $1,230,000.  This represents a high return on investment.

 

The study was proposed because of the concern for the high annual filter expenditures.  The high annual cost is the result of the company’s current policy of filter usage.  Currently, the company uses each filter one time and then disposes of it.  This results in an annual cost of approximately one million dollars a year on RECOMBIVAX HB alone.  The production of this product is scheduled to move to a new facility in 1994 or 1995 where production levels will be increased by a factor of about four.  This increase in production will require the use of more filters, thus driving filter expenses even higher.