Home-Style Cookies
Joelle Yeager
Bus 644 Operations Management
Professor Vanessa Washington
April 30, 2012

Abstract
The Baking Company produces over fifty types of soft cookies by implementing a batch processing system. This system utilizes computers to ensure that ingredients are not wasted and production is efficient. The company increased its productivity by cutting non filled cookies diagonally and increasing the size of both of their ovens. The company’s use of manual labor and refusal to implement automated packing process shows a commitment to the small town in which the company is based out of. The Baking Company does not use preservatives in their product which allows a competitive advantage in the industry while causing the company issues in the production stages of their product. This company’s strategy is to create a high quality product that can compete with larger companies. The Baking Company produces over fifty types of soft cookies which include both filled cookies and non-filled cookies. In order to produce these cookies, the company follows a strict production process called the batch processing system. Once orders are received from distributors a list of the cookies that must be produced each day is constructed and delivered to the mixing department. The mixing department must then enter the ingredients into a computer in order for the computer to determine the quantity of ingredients needed for the amount of cookies ordered. The computer than sends this information to where the ingredients are stored so that the ingredients can be sent to giant mixers. Once the ingredients have been properly mixed the batter is cut into cookie shapes and transported to one of the two continuous band ovens the company owns. If the cookies are unfilled, they are then sent to cooling racks for a period of time. After the cookies are cooled, workers on a production line check the cookies for deformities before manually wrapping the cookies into boxes. Filled cookies call for extra steps such as filling and folding before the can be baked and packaged. The Baking Company has increased the productivity of this process in two ways. The first way the company increased productivity was by cutting the non-filled cookies diagonally. This allowed more space for extra cookies and thus increased the production of non-filled cookies. The second way the company increased its productivity is by increasing the size of both of the ovens by twenty five feet. The increase in oven space allowed a higher level of productivity as it allocated more space in the ovens for more cookies to be produced. If more cookies can fit in the oven at one time, more cookies will be produced per oven rotation. Further expansion of the ovens will allow the company to continue to increase production. This could be useful if the company expands beyond the current boundaries of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. The Baking Company utilizes manual labor instead of introducing automated packaging devices in the company. They have avoided this shift in technology in order to ensure the jobs of their thirty women they employ to manually package their cookies even though the introduction of an automated packaging process would not only save the company money, it would also increase the efficiency of the company. However, this may not be the correct decision for the organization. It would be more prudent for the organization to implement an automated process for the packaging their product. The implementation of the automated process does not necessarily mean that they would have to fire their current employees. The implementation of new machinery will likely add jobs to the company instead of subtract from them. For example, the introduction of a new processing machine added fifteen jobs to Binghamton Savings Bank or BSB (Dickinson, 2003). The company could mirror this approach and train their current employees to utilize the new machinery rather than for manual packaging. This way the company fulfills its obligation to its current employees and the community surrounding the small town. However, this plan might not work if the company was larger and employed a larger amount of people. In this situation, the switch to machinery might leave a lot of workers without jobs and leave the companies obligation to the surrounding small town unfulfilled. Although, if the company were to be based out of a larger city, the company might not feel this obligation as it would be easier for their current employees to find work elsewhere. The Baking Company carries a very small inventory of labels. This is done to ensure the labels are not wasted every time their label is changed. Labels are subject to change quite frequently with the constantly updated rules and regulations enforced by the FDA. Currently, the Food and Drug Administration is reportedly changing the nutrition facts label that is found on the back of any food product in order to give customers useful information and fight national obesity (Mohajer, 2011). This is beneficial to the company because it does not waste money on inventory it can no longer use. The Baking Company does not utilize preservatives in their products. There are many advantages and disadvantages to this decision. A distinct advantage to the trend of not using preservatives in foods is the many health benefits it can cause. For instance, Diane Welland, author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Eating Clean emphasizes this as a huge advantage to ones weight, blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels (Anonymous, 2011). Another advantage to the elimination of preservatives in ones product is the ability to corner the health conscious segment of the industry. Individuals who believe this product is healthier than other products will likely purchase this product over all others. This is a major contributing factor for the customer when they are judging the quality of the cookies verses the quality of other brand of cookies. However, there are also some downfalls to not using preservatives in one’s product. One major drawback is the inability to keep the product for long periods of time. Preservatives allow the shelf life of a product to be much longer than it normally would be if no preservatives are added. This means that the companies that produce non preservative products must ensure they do not create their product if they are not going to sell it right away. The Baking Company offers a variety of non preservative cookies to a specific health conscious section of the cookie market. The organization utilizes a batch processing system in order to maintain efficiency. The company’s refusal to implement automated packing process shows a commitment to the small town in which the company is based out of. This dedication to its employees will help the organization succeed in the future. The strategy of this organization is to create high quality cookies and develop a strong market niche for its product. This has enabled to organization to compete with larger cookie companies.

References
Anonymous. Put "Clean Eating" on Your Wellness Radar Today. (2011, April). Environmental Nutrition, 34(4), 3. Retrieved May 1, 2012, from Research Library. (Document ID: 2304697371).
Dickinson, C. J. (2003, April). BSB adds equipment, 15 new jobs. The Business Journal - Central New York, 17(16), 1. Retrieved April 30, 2012, from ProQuest Newsstand. (Document ID: 326850291).
Mohajer, S. T. (2011, September 4). FDA cooking up nutrition label changes. Telegraph - Herald, A.4. Retrieved May 1, 2012, from ProQuest Newsstand. (Document ID: 2442627301).