Bottlenecks and Batching in Dragon Fruit Jam Production Custom Case Solution & Analysis

1. Evidence Brief

Financial Metrics

Variable Cost per Jar	Raw fruit at 4.50 per kilogram, jars at 0.65 per unit, sugar and pectin at 0.25 per unit
Labor Rate	15.00 per hour per worker
Selling Price	8.50 per unit to retail distributors
Current Daily Output	144 units per 8 hour shift
Target Daily Demand	300 units based on recent distributor orders

Operational Facts

Preparation Phase: Peeling and dicing requires 20 minutes for a 20 kilogram batch.
Cooking Phase: Heating and reduction requires 50 minutes for a 20 kilogram batch; time increases by 5 minutes for every additional 2 kilograms.
Jarring Phase: Filling and sealing requires 1 minute per jar; current batch size yields 40 jars.
Labeling Phase: Manual application requires 45 seconds per jar.
Equipment: One industrial induction stove, two large preparation tables, one manual capping machine.
Headcount: Three full time workers cross trained on all stations.

Stakeholder Positions

Production Supervisor: Concerned about heat distribution consistency in larger batches.
Sales Lead: Reports lost revenue due to stockouts at major grocery accounts.
Owner: Reluctant to invest in secondary facilities until current capacity is optimized.

Information Gaps

Exact cooling time required before labeling can commence is not specified.
Waste percentage during the peeling process is estimated but not measured.
Energy cost fluctuations for the induction stove are omitted.

2. Strategic Analysis

Core Strategic Question

How can the production line double throughput to meet 300 units daily without increasing fixed facility costs?
Where does the primary constraint reside when batch sizes are adjusted?

Structural Analysis

Applying Bottleneck Analysis and Littles Law reveals that the cooking phase is the primary constraint. At a 20 kilogram batch size, the stove is utilized 100 percent of the time while preparation and labeling stations remain idle for 30 to 40 percent of the shift. The current cycle time of 70 minutes per batch including setup prevents achieving the required 7 batches per day.

Strategic Options

Option 1: Batch Size Maximization. Increase batch size to 30 kilograms. This reduces the frequency of setup and cleaning cycles. Trade-offs: Higher risk of jam scorching and longer cooling times. Requirements: Larger cooking vessels and adjusted pectin ratios.

Option 2: Parallel Processing via Equipment Acquisition. Purchase a second induction stove to run staggered batches. Trade-offs: Increased utility costs and tighter workspace navigation. Requirements: 2500.00 capital expenditure and electrical circuit upgrade.

Preliminary Recommendation

Pursue Option 1 immediately to test the limits of current assets. If quality remains stable at 30 kilograms, the throughput increases by 35 percent. This provides the cash flow necessary to fund Option 2 within four months to fully meet the 300 unit demand.

3. Implementation Roadmap

Critical Path

Week 1: Conduct heat penetration tests on 25kg and 30kg batches to ensure food safety standards.
Week 2: Revise the worker schedule to implement a staggered start; Worker A starts prep 30 minutes before the stove is active.
Week 3: Introduce a gravity-fed filling station to reduce jarring time from 60 seconds to 40 seconds per unit.
Week 4: Monitor yield and consistency; finalize the decision on the second stove purchase.

Key Constraints

Thermal Inertia: Larger batches take longer to reach the setting point, which may negate the time gains from batching.
Labor Fatigue: The labeling process is manual and repetitive; increasing throughput to 300 units may lead to higher error rates or injury.

Risk-Adjusted Strategy

The plan assumes a linear relationship between volume and cooking time. To mitigate the risk of quality loss, the implementation will increase batch size in 2kg increments weekly. If the setting point is not reached within 65 minutes, the batch size will be capped at that level and the focus will shift to automating the labeling bottleneck.

4. Executive Review and BLUF

BLUF

The production facility must increase batch sizes to 28 kilograms and implement staggered labor shifts to meet current demand. The cooking process is the bottleneck. Current operations waste 160 minutes daily in idle time between batches. By overlapping preparation with cooking and increasing batch volume, daily output will reach 260 units. The remaining 40 unit gap to the 300 unit target should be closed by purchasing a second induction stove once the new process stabilizes. Approved for leadership review.

Dangerous Assumption

The analysis assumes that the manual labeling speed of 45 seconds per jar can be maintained over an increased 8 hour workload. Human performance typically degrades by 20 percent after four hours of repetitive manual tasks, which could shift the bottleneck from cooking to labeling by mid afternoon.

Unaddressed Risks

Quality Variance: Larger batches often suffer from uneven sugar distribution. Probability: High. Consequence: Rejection of entire batches by distributors.
Supply Chain Strain: Doubling production requires doubling raw fruit delivery frequency. Probability: Medium. Consequence: Production halts if local vendors cannot scale.

Unconsidered Alternative

The team did not evaluate outsourcing the labeling and packaging to a third party co-packer. While this reduces margin per unit, it eliminates the labor constraint entirely and allows the internal team to focus exclusively on the specialized cooking process.