🚨 URGENT: Customer complaints up 300%! Dean threatening to cancel contract! 🚨
📋 The Situation
TechStart Coffee is the most popular spot on campus, serving 500+ students daily.
But something's gone terribly wrong:
☕ Wait times have increased from 3 minutes to 15 minutes
😤 Wrong orders are up 40%
📉 Customer satisfaction dropped from 4.5 to 2.1 stars
💰 Daily revenue down 35%
🚶 30% of customers leave without ordering
The owner has hired YOU as an emergency consultant. You have 5 minutes to diagnose and fix the problem!
15 min
Avg Wait Time
40%
Error Rate
500
Daily Customers
3
Baristas
2
Registers
2.1⭐
Rating
Order
30 sec/customer
→
Payment
90 sec/customer
→
Make Drink
45 sec/drink
→
Pickup
10 sec/customer
🎯 Step 1: Choose Your Analysis Tool
Six Sigma DMAIC
Systematic problem-solving approach. Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control the process.
Statistical Process Control
Monitor variation using control charts. Identify when process is out of control.
Theory of Constraints
Find and fix the bottleneck. The chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
Work Center Scheduling
Optimize resource allocation and job sequencing using priority rules.
📊 Step 2: Analyze the Data
Station
Time/Customer
Capacity/Hour
Queue Length
Utilization
Order Taking
30 seconds
120 customers
2-3 people
75%
Payment
90 seconds
40 customers
15+ people
98%
Drink Making
45 seconds
80 customers
3-4 people
85%
Pickup
10 seconds
360 customers
0 people
20%
💡 Step 3: Implement Solution
Mobile Ordering System
Bypass payment bottleneck for 50% of orders. Investment: $5,000
Add Third Register
Increase payment capacity by 50%. Investment: $3,000
Hire More Baristas
Add 2 more drink makers. Investment: $8,000/month
Express Lane + Mobile
Dedicated lane for simple orders + app. Investment: $7,000
📈 Implementation Results
3 min
New Wait Time
5%
New Error Rate
4.6⭐
New Rating
320%
ROI
A+
Outstanding work! You correctly identified the payment bottleneck using TOC principles
and implemented the optimal solution. The mobile ordering system bypassed the constraint
without expensive infrastructure changes. This is exactly what Starbucks did in real life!