Improving canteen efficiency through business process improvement and facilities layout planning

Abstract

A major retailer in Africa, Company X, has a distribution center working around the clock, to help grow the company's success. As expected, there are a multitude of workers employed at Company X's distribution center, all of which need meals during the day. One of the canteens, in particular, deals with concentrated, heavy ow of workers, at speci c times of the day. This research project's aim is to improve the canteen's e ciency through business process improvement and facilities layout planning. The current scenario is analysed, simulated and the associated internal processes are depicted and analysed using business process diagrams. Thereafter, alternative layouts are developed and simulated (using Discrete Event Simulation (DES) modelling). The Systematic Layout Planning (SLP) method is used to develop the alternative layouts. The alternative layout's associated business processes are then also depicted, using principles of Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN). In order to compare the various layout alternatives, based on di erent types of criteria, a technique called the Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT) is utilised. General recommendations are made in order to address the ine ciencies that can not be addressed by the improved layout changes. The business processes of the implemented changes are also shown in a business process diagram.