Continuous Improvement

Pat Lewis has been a senior manager at a warehouse store – Zel-loft’s for the past 2 years.
Walking through the store one day he noticed that some of the departments needed to be
straightened, some need to be reorganized, and some are running very well. And then he sees
something he shouldn’t. There are unopened cases of products blocking the aisle, creating
commotion, and looking very unprofessional. There is also a very long line in the electronics
department. Pat decides to talk to Jennifer, the sales clerk.
Pat said “Jennifer, what is the hold up here”? Jennifer replied “I am waiting for our assistant
manager to arrive with the key to the electronics cabinet. A customer wants to look at one of the
cameras in the cabinet. She has been waiting for half an hour for me to help her. Then I have to
ring up the 4 customers that are waiting in line to make purchases.” Pat interrupted her “OK,
Jennifer, I can help out for awhile”. And he did.
Two hours later Pat exited the electronics department and he was not happy. This was no way
for a senior store manager to spend an afternoon. There were many other things that needed his
attention. There must be a logical way to solve the problems he had seen in electronics. As he
walked to his office, he wrote down the things he had seen:
Customers pay for their purchase in the electronics department and then have to walk through
the regular checkout lines to leave the store.
It takes an average of 10 minutes for the assistant manager to come to the electronics
department to bring the key to the electronics cabinet.
Because of cost concerns, the store has no money to hire another manager or assistant
manager.
Store clerks must monitor the locked cabinets and stay with a customer who wants to view an
item from the cabinet.
The average time a customer spends in electronics to shop and make a purchase is 40 minutes
– way too long. Many customers leave because they cannot wait that long.
Please answer the following three questions.
In your paper, help Pat come up with solutions to each of the problems in the Zel-loft store.
Create a diagram or chart of the shopping and buying process from the customer’s point of view
and identify areas for improvement. If small improvements will not fix the problem, be innovative
in your solution. (By the way, it may help to visit a department store and observe the process
there – but that is not required.)
What can Pat do to create a culture of continuous improvement at Zel-loft?
Your paper should be 500 words long (2-3 pages) and have at least one IWG formatted
reference