1. Challenge:

My Manager (CEO of a start-up) came to me and asked me our on-time delivery is 65%. We  have promised our Investor that we would get this number to 85% in next 3 weeks, everyone in  Supply chain is focussed on execution we need a different perspective why don’t you go there  and bring some change?

As a Lone member of Strategic Project team who was involved in a Growth Project at a Series  A funded Start-up had to step in for the challenge asked by the CEO of the company.

So the Challenge is to make sure the on time delivery is 85% in 3 weeks.

On-Time delivery: The start up which I was part of was dealing with food and grocery. They  were B2B platform for Food and Grocery. Basically On time delivery was delivery before 6PM.  So, if there were 100 deliveries 65 were getting delivered before 6 and rest 35 after 6.

2. Selection: In your own words, briefly describe the tool you selected (e.g., what it is and why you

selected it for your challenge -- including any appropriate video lecture references).

Visualization: This was essential tool for me to use because firstly this project was new to me so I  had to use this tool to make sure I understand the problem at the earliest and work towards the  solution too.

Specific tools used are

Ethnography & Data Visualization.

3. Application: Describe how you applied the tool you selected to your challenge (e.g., what you

did and how the tool was applied effectively or ineffectively).

So The Supply chain had the below flow

Promise to the customer: Order before 3PM and get next day delivery.

Customer orders  Orders are packed by Merchants (by 5PM same day)  First mile team  goes and pick the products from merchant by 8PM  Orders are kept in warehouse by 10PM   Next day All the orders are dispatched from the warehouse by 2PM (35% which were getting  delayed)  Orders reach to Hubs by 4PM  from there it goes to Customers.

So the problem was at the level of the warehouse

Data Visualization used:

Plotted all the required graphs to make sure I know what is happening at the each stage of the  order. This actually made me visualize the problem even better

Ethnography:

I became the Delivery executive, warehouse executive, and First mile executive to make sure  what exactly is happening and gather some qualitative data.

4. Insight: Describe the insight you gained from applying the tool you selected to your challenge

(e.g., how an insight affected your thinking about the challenge and about design thinking more  broadly).

Data Visualization:

It gave me the clear cut idea on where I need to move the first needle. Luckily I was part of the  company where data was easy to access. Clearly I was able to visualize the problem was at the  warehouse

Insight 1: Bottleneck is warehouse

Ethnography:

Being warehouse executive gave me more insight on the problem

Insight 2: warehouse had only 1 gate and out flow of the material was slow

Insight 3: There was no Sorting process

Proposed the plan to CEO and Made sure warehouse has 2 gates (Through Insight 1)

Result 1: 90% on time delivery

Changed sorting process for outflow

Result 2: 95% on time delivery for the first time ever in the org.

5. Approach: Describe what you might do differently next time -- applying the same tool you

selected or a different one -- and the reason(s) why.

I spent lot of my time on the field understanding the bottleneck initially. Instead if I had started with  the data visualization to understand the problem might have helped in solving the problem faster.

The problem might sound silly but Believe me Even the COO & Supply chain head (Both are  MBA from Universidad Industrial de Santander) couldn’t identify this problem. They never thought the possibility of having  one more gate to the warehouse.


1 . Challenge : My Manager ( CEO of a start - up ) came to me and asked me our on - time delivery is 65 % . We have promised our Investor that we would get this number to 85 % in next 3 weeks , everyone in Supply chain is focussed on execution we need a different perspective why do n’t you go there and bring some change ? As a Lone member of Strategic Project team who was involved in a Growth Project at a Series A funded Start - up had to step in for the challenge asked by the CEO of the company . So the Challenge is to make sure the on time delivery is 85 % in 3 weeks . On - Time delivery : The start up which I was part of was dealing with food and grocery . They were B2B platform for Food and Grocery . Basically On time delivery was delivery before 6PM . So , if there were 100 deliveries 65 were getting delivered before 6 and rest 35 after 6 . 2 . Selection : In your own words , briefly describe the tool you selected ( e.g. , what it is and why you selected it for your challenge -- including any appropriate video lecture references ) . Visualization : This was essential tool for me to use because firstly this project was new to me so I had to use this tool to make sure I understand the problem at the earliest and work towards the solution too . Specific tools used are Ethnography & Data Visualization . 3 . Application : Describe how you applied the tool you selected to your challenge ( e.g. , what you did and how the tool was applied effectively or ineffectively ) . So The Supply chain had the below flow Promise to the customer : Order before 3PM and get next day delivery . Customer orders  Orders are packed by Merchants ( by 5PM same day )  First mile team goes and pick the products from merchant by 8PM  Orders are kept in warehouse by 10PM  Next day All the orders are dispatched from the warehouse by 2PM ( 35 % which were getting delayed )  Orders reach to Hubs by 4PM  from there it goes to Customers . So the problem was at the level of the warehouse Data Visualization used : Plotted all the required graphs to make sure I know what is happening at the each stage of the order . This actually made me visualize the problem even better Ethnography : I became the Delivery executive , warehouse executive , and First mile executive to make sure what exactly is happening and gather some qualitative data . 4 . Insight : Describe the insight you gained from applying the tool you selected to your challenge ( e.g. , how an insight affected your thinking about the challenge and about design thinking more broadly ) . Data Visualization : It gave me the clear cut idea on where I need to move the first needle . Luckily I was part of the company where data was easy to access . Clearly I was able to visualize the problem was at the warehouse Insight 1 : Bottleneck is warehouse Ethnography : Being warehouse executive gave me more insight on the problem Insight 2 : warehouse had only 1 gate and out flow of the material was slow Insight 3 : There was no Sorting process Proposed the plan to CEO and Made sure warehouse has 2 gates ( Through Insight 1 ) Result 1 : 90 % on time delivery Changed sorting process for outflow Result 2 : 95 % on time delivery for the first time ever in the org . 5 . Approach : Describe what you might do differently next time -- applying the same tool you selected or a different one -- and the reason(s ) why . I spent lot of my time on the field understanding the bottleneck initially . Instead if I had started with the data visualization to understand the problem might have helped in solving the problem faster . The problem might sound silly but Believe me Even the COO & Supply chain head ( Both are MBA from Universidad Industrial de Santander ) could n’t identify this problem . They never thought the possibility of having one more gate to the warehouse .