1. North Texas Food Bank Senior Design 2009
Passionately pursuing a hunger-free community
Senior Design 2009
Allison Griffin
Megan Walker
Pragya Lohani
Who ever does this slide – give intro of NTFB, what they do and what were all the problems that we saw.

2. Background Current Agency Pick-ups process at NTFB
First come, First Serve
Multiple agency orders being loaded at the same time
Increased wait time, disorganization, agency frustration
Use of one dock
5 docks available
Use of one fork lift for loading
More than one fork lift available
Frozen item palettes created once agency arrives
Increased wait time
Pick-n-Weigh
FCFS-or their version of
Focus on what the inefficiencies are with the current process and how it created a longer wait time for the agencies

3. P & W
Sign - In X X X X X

4. Analysis of the Situation
Flow charts
Navisions
Amount of food ordered in lbs
Pick and Weigh
Calculation of different metrics – Actual Observations
Amount of food loaded/min
Total time taken for the entire process
Time taken for each sub-process
Forecasting of P&W lbs
Divided agencies into categories depending on their P&W order for the year
Mention how we got data from Navisions. Mention how Navisions is not a great program for the purpose of analysis. Also talk about the multiple observations we did. Go in to details as to how we measured the time in each process like in P&W, time at the dock etc. Looking at the time taken for each process, we came to realize that the main bottle neckhere was in loading ( because of the use of only one dock and one fork lift). Also briefly mention how we used excel to forecast the P&W amount. But we should also mention that we have P&W data for only one year and made forecasts accordingly, but to have an actual forecast we will probably need to work with more data.

5. P & W
Sign - In X X

6. Creating the Model Inputs Timeslots required per agency
Number of Days and Preferences
Number of Docks and Preferences
Agency Day Preferences
Patterns
Generates timeslot options
Bounded by largest agency requirement
Incompatible patterns calculated
Day and dock preferences are for food bank

7. More About the Model Constraints
Assigns one agency per timeslot, dock, and day
Objective Function
Cost on patterns
Cost on docks
Cost on days
Agency Preferences
The objective function, shown below, minimizes the costs assigned to each aspect of the assignment process: the patterns, docks, and days. The multiplier, A, is the cost given to the patterns, p, and we assigned this as the highest cost in order to place the most emphasis on assigning an early time period. This cost forces that early time slots be filled first, and in order, so that a day is filled sequentially. The cost parameters for the docks and days, costDocks[d] and costDays[dy], can be adjusted to place more emphasis on one or the other. The effects of changing costs are discussed later in the analysis.
The agency day preference is also considered by multiplying the cost parameter for the days times a cost parameter for the agency day preferences, costADy[a,Dy], which will assign an agency to the day they request if it is feasible and skip the normal filling of the days for that agency.

8. Example Model I Constraints Distribution Center open for 3 days
# of Docks open : 2
Open : 7 ½ hours
NTFB preference given to Day 1
Pragya
What is more straining on workers-loading or preparing palettes?

9. Output 1
Time Slots
Dy 1 D 1
Dy 1 D 2
Dy 2 D 1
Dy 2 D 2
Dy 3 D 1
Dy 3 D 2
7:15 A3
A 24
A 25
A 15 A1
A 46
7:30
A 44
A 59
A 60
A 10
A 48
A 26
7:45
A 38
A 53
A 40
A 50
A 21 A6
8:00
A 54 A8
A 16
A 41
8:15
A 23
A 17
A 34
A19
A 56
A 51
8:30 A9
A 22
8:45
A 39
A 29
A 55
A 30
A 11
A 36
9:00
A 28
A 58
9:15
A 35
A 57
9:30
A 18
A 47
A 45 A4
A 31
9:45
A 27
A 43
10:00
A 33 A5
A 13
10:15
A14
A 12
A 49
A 20
10:30
10:45 A7
A 42
11:00
11:15 A2
11:30
A 32
11:45
12:00
12:15
12:30
A 52
12:45
1:00
A 37
1:15
1:30
1:45
2:00
2:15
2:30
As we can see from the output here…emphasis was placed on Day 1 by NTFB because of which majority of the work was done on Day 1. For day 1 the food bank was open for 7 and half hours (7 am to 2:30 pm). Whereas on Day 2 it was open 4 hrs ( 7 am to 11pm) and on Day 3 it was open for 5 hours ( 7 am to 12pm)
Haven’t considered breaks yet

10. Model Output 2 NTFB has no preference for any of the 3 days
Constraints
Distribution Center open for 3 days
# Docks : 2
Open : 7 ½ hours
Allison
Pick-n-weigh analysis excluded if given specific time

11. Model Output 2
Time Slots
Dy 1 D 1
Dy 1 D 2
Dy 2 D 1
Dy 2 D 2
Dy 3 D 1
Dy 3 D 2
7:15
A 54
A 47
A 39
A 35
A 6
A 43
7:30
A 29
A 27
A 25
A 10
A 28
A 26
7:45
A 24
A 57
A44
A 59
A 23
A 33
8:00
A 22
A 17
A 60
A 15
A 41
A 48
8:15
A 40
A 7
A 9
A 50
A 38
A 16
8:30 A5
A 18
A 53
8:45
A 12
A 42
A 14
A 19
A 21
A 46
9:00
A 58
A 8
9:15 A2
A 34 A4 A3
A 51
9:30
A 32 A1
9:45
A 30
A 56
A 55
10:00
A 49
10:15
A 11
10:30
A 52
A 45
A 13
10:45
A 31
11:00
A 37
A 36
11:15
A 20
11:30
11:45
12:00
12:15
12:30
This output shows that NTFB has no preference whatsoever and therefore the agency pick up times are evenly distributed between the 3 days. For all three days the distribution center will be open for 5 and half hours ( 7 am to 12:30 pm). Pro of this output is that there will be a better workload balance for the workers since work is even distributed in between the 3 days.

12. Another variation of the Model
NTFB has preference for the first day
Constraints
Distribution Center open for 3 days
# Docks : 4
Open : 5 hours Day 1
1 ½ hours Day 2 and 3
Allison
Pick-n-weigh analysis excluded if given specific time

13. Model Output Time Slots Dy 1 D 1 Dy 1 D 2 Dy 1 D 3 Dy 1 D 4 Dy 2 D 1
7:15 A8
A33
A27
A17
A 14
A 45
A20
A49
A41 A6
A16
A26
7:30
A54
A39 A9
A48
A21
A51
A46
A 56
7:45
A23
A25
A 57
A 60 A1
A36
8:00
A24
A38 A5
A44
A55
A13
A11
A31
8:15
A30
A35
A 47
A28
8:30
A53
A 58
A22
A 59
8:45
A10
A40
A18
A15
9:00 A3
A12
9:15 A7
A19
A34
9:30
A 42
9:45 A4
A52
A37
10:00
A32
10:15
10:30 A2
10:45
11:00
11:15
11:30
11:45
12:00
In this output we can see since 4 docks are opened, the distribution center is open 5 hrs the first day , 2 hrs both on day 2 and day 3.

14. Recommendations Consider a new Inventory System
Navisions is not advanced enough for statistical analysis
Use of AMPL Model
Open up more docks if number of agencies in a given week is large
Have preferences given to a certain day or dock
Preferences of agencies taken into account
Having equal preferences divides agencies equally
Work load balance for the workers
Schedule of Agencies
Allows time for frozen items to be prepared when an agency is in P & W
Look into another model that could use this model / concept

15. End Results Weekly Schedule of Agency Pick-Ups Streamlined Process
Happy Workers and Agencies
Allison
Distribution increased by over 1 million pounds in the month of July