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Reducing Wait Times and Wait Lines at the AMS Foodbank

University of British Columbia. Student Services; University of British Columbia. AMS Food Bank; University of British Columbia. Campus and Community Planning

The key issue: The Alma Mater Society (AMS) Food Bank at the University of British Columbia (UBC) faces an unprecedented demand in its services, reflective of a broader national trend of increased food insecurity across Canada. This has led to longer queues and wait times, which the foodbank users (clients) find uncomfortable and dehumanizing. The study and its analysis: This study seeks to understand the scale of operational challenges paused by this increase in demand. It uses Six Sigma and Lean methodologies, structured around the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control) model. To ensure a targeted and effective analysis, the study operates under two assumptions: that volunteer shifts are at full capacity, and that the primary data collection constrained to the peak times (12pm – 3pm) can be generalized to improve the whole operational efficiency since that’s the time with observed longest queues and wait times. Key results and recommendations: The study identifies the produce service table to be the main bottleneck and highlights non-value adding activities such as bagging and chatting as sources of waste (muda). Using Little’s Law, the study concludes that the foodbank is operating efficiently, under the assumptions above, and that the queues and wait times result from clients lining up before the foodbank’s opening. It recommends banning wait lines, creating an appointment system, and 5 lean improvement methods that maintain operation efficiency. Disclaimer: “UBC SEEDS provides students with the opportunity to share the findings of their studies, as well as their opinions, conclusions and recommendations with the UBC community. The reader should bear in mind that this is a student project/report and is not an official document of UBC. Furthermore readers should bear in mind that these reports may not reflect the current status of activities at UBC. We urge you to contact the research persons mentioned in a report or the SEEDS Coordinator about the current status of the subject matter of a project/report.”

Report

eng

2024-07-30

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International

http://hdl.handle.net/2429/88783

Unreviewed

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/