7BSM2003 Operations & Business Analytics
Assessment Criteria
Learning Outcomes:
- Evaluate the role of data, analytics and associated technologies in adding value to a variety of organisations
- Appraise the appropriate use of business analytics to support operational decision making to create and add value to a business
Learning Outcomes: Skills and Attributes tested in this assignment:
- Formulate, evaluate and reflect on operations management issues to be able to determine which business analytical technique is most beneficial
- Critique the importance of information sharing within the organisation and appraise the impact of this information on decision-making within an organisation
- Determine the appropriate tools and make recommendations to inform and support strategic decision making
7BSM2003 Operations & Business Analytics
Assignment Title:
Excel Modelling and Reporting
Description of the assignment:
Background
(Any similarities to the student shop at the University of Hertfordshire are entirely coincidental. This is a fictional example.)
The Students’ Union Shop is trying to work out how many cashiers it needs to employ in order to provide an adequate service level. Customers at the shop line up in a single queue and are called forward to pay for their purchases when a till becomes free. To help determine the busy times of the day, the shop has recorded the number of customers arriving at the tills in each 5-minute interval during the shop’s opening hours, from 8am until 6pm (N.B. this is the number who actually make a purchase and does not include customers who are just browsing). Records for a period of 5 weeks are available. All the data were collected during term time.
The shop usually functions with just three cashiers but it has the capacity to support up to 6. The shop is open for approximately 50 weeks each year. The management has also collected data about the time it takes for cashiers to take payment. These data come from term time and 1000 records are available. Management are concerned that customers wishing to buy food, in particular, may be going to other outlets within the university such as the Big Ears Sandwich Shop or the Noddy Bar. Management are also concerned about the turnover of their staff and would like to reduce their stress and also stop them getting bored. They would be interested to hear about any innovative operating strategies for doing this.
7BSM2003 Operations & Business Analytics
You are employed as a consultant for the Students’ Union Shop. The shop management would like to hear insights from you, but does have a few specific questions they would like to ask. These questions are
- What is the average customer arrival rate per hour based on the current data?
- The management reckons there are more customers during the lunch break, and would like you to look into this matter. Could you spot any busier period during the day? If so, what are the busier hours?
- What is the average customer arrival rate per hour during busier period?
- What is the average customer arrival rate per hour during quieter period?
- How fast on average does a cashier serve a customer in our shop?
- Have you spotted any outlier in the collected service data? If yes, did you include (or exclude) those outliers when coming up the average, and why?
- How many cashiers does the shop need to have a reasonable performance?
- When taking the average daily arrival? Would you consider the average daily arrival a good measure for cashier arrangement, and why?
- During busier period if observed?
- During quieter period if observed?
What You Should Produce
You are required to produce a model using Excel, which could be used by the Students’ Union Shop management team for evaluation of their performance using the data provided or any new data that becomes available in a similar format. If there is any further information you believe to be essential, make a realistic assumption and explain clearly what you have done (in the report below).
The model should be supported by a report (using Report Sheet) in which you should address management’s questions listed above. They are looking for calculations (e.g. average arrival rate) and short explanations, where applicable. You are also expected to give convincing arguments to support your answers, e.g. by showing the benefit of adding an extra cashier in terms of staff utilisation and customer waiting time. APA.