UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA

CENTER FOR GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN AND

PROCESS MANAGEMENT (GSCPM)
BUSINESS PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT

PROJECT PROPOSAL FORM RSVP

Management Science Department
Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina
Company Sponsor/Coaches: Michael Johnston / Shashi Patel
Job Title: Vice President Corporate Operations (M. Johnston) / Lean Sensei (S. Patel)
Organization Name: Carolinas HealthCare System (CHS)
Address: 5040 Airport Center Parkway (Building H), Charlotte, NC 28202
Office Phone: 704-512-4981 (M. Johnston) / 803-287-0730 (S. Patel)
Fax: 704-512-4980
E-Mail: Michael.E.Johnston@carolinashealthcare.org / Shashi.Patel@carolinashealthcare.org

Please provide your response by email or fax to:

Faculty Contact:
Email Address:
Phone Number:
Fax Number: (803) 777-3064
Please feel free to call or email for any clarifications.

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA

CENTER FOR GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN AND PROCESS MANAGEMENT
(GSCPM)
BUSINESS PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS PROJECT

PROJECT PROPOSAL FROM CLIENT FIRM

Management Science Department
Darla Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina
The Center for Global Supply Chain and Process Management (GSCPM) at Moore School of Business
(USC) conducts value-added consulting projects in supply chain and business process improvements for
client member firms through our courses within the Management Science department at the Moore
School of Business. It also provides state-of-the-art instruction to students in concepts and skills of
strategic as well as tactical supply chain and business process improvement. We accept projects that fill
a real business need and are significant in their implications for improving efficiency and effectiveness of
supply chain operations and processes at the client firm. We are interested in a wide range of
manufacturing and service supply chain and business process improvement projects spanning various
types of business processes including order fulfillment processes; single-location manufacturing/service
operations and processes; global business sourcing and inventory management processes; customerfacing processes as well as back-office and background processes; and strategic assessment of
operations and supply chain processes with respect to the desired competitive priorities. We are also
interested in assessment and implementation of global operations improvement strategies such as
reengineering, lean or Six-Sigma, strategic operations and facilities locations analysis, new facility
design or existing facility reconfigurations to improve productivity and safety, decision analysis in
manufacturing or service supply chain planning, specific product and process performance improvement
projects covered by operations improvement initiatives such as reengineering, Six-Sigma Programs, and
ISO 9000 certifications, and analysis of project-oriented processes (e.g., new product launches or
engineering design projects). Experiences of faculty members mentoring these projects span a wide
range of industries including batch process industries, assembly plants, banks, and health care
organizations among others.
MAJOR GSCPM CENTER PROJECT DEADLINES
STEP
Project proposal form emailed by faculty
contact to company sponsor
Project consultation between faculty
contact and company sponsor
Project proposal from company sponsor
Project launch at client/phone calls
Mid-Term presentation to client firm
Final presentation to client firm

FALL PROJECTS
(AUG-DEC)
On or before July 15

SPRING PROJECTS
(JAN-APR)
On or before December 15

Between July 15 and

August 7
On or before August 14
On or before August 28
On or before October 22
On or before December 5

Between December 15 and

January 8
On or before January 11
On or before January 22
On or before March 4
On or before April 22

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA

GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAIN & PROCESS MANAGEMENT CENTER
GUIDELINES FOR CAPSTONE CONSULTING PROJECT
IDENTIFICATION
Project Selection Criteria
1. Project should be useful and front-burner for the client organization.
2. Project should have clear goals to attain.
3. Project Timing: Fall (August 15 - Dec 5) or Spring (January 15 April 30).
4. Project Scope should be aligned with work content of about 800-900 person-hrs over
three months
5. Project must have potential for detailed cost-benefit analysis in terms of dollar
benefits that can be computed. Projects with only soft benefits are not recommended.
Projects with objective metrics should be challenged to derive dollar cost-benefits.
6. Project doesnt need to be limited to classic supply chain topics. It can be in the area
of internal manufacturing operations, service operations, overall business process
improvements; and operations strategies. (See the domains below).

Possible Project Domains

Sourcing: Supplier Selection; Supplier Contracts; Supplier Evaluation.
Logistics and Distribution: Domestic and Global Network Design; Transportation Costs
and Performance Improvement; Fleet Maintenance.
Distribution Center Operations: Improvement of Flow; Cross-Docking; Layout, Pick-PackShip Operations, Work/Orders Scheduling; Staffing; Packaging Improvement;
Maintenance and Asset Utilization Improvement.
Internal Manufacturing Operations: Production Planning; Inventory-shipment tradeoffs;
Quality; Workflow, inventory, and throughput improvement; Layout improvement.
Service Operations: Layout; Workflow Improvement; Staffing; Technology Impact
Assessment; Simulation-based Process Improvements; Aggregate Operations Planning;
Marketing Campaigns Yield Improvement; Location and Market Penetration/Coverage
Strategies; Yield Management (Customer and Timing Segmentation); Call Center.
Other Business Processes: Sales and Operations Planning; Demand Management;
Accounts Receivables; Maintenance Scheduling; Advertising and Promotion Campaigns
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Improvement; Talent Mapping and Training Programs Improvement; Office Workflow and
Layouts; Project Management.

1.

Organization Name

Carolinas HealthCare System (CHS)

2.

Project Name

CMC Mercy 3N - Streamlining of Medications, Supplies, and Linen Flow

3.

Project Purpose / Significance of the Business Need

Please describe below the purpose of this project and the business need it will satisfy. Identify why this
project matters to your operational business strategy, customer- and financial- performance. What are
the specific outcomes you are targeting?
Carolinas HealthCare System (CHS) is a large not-for-profit healthcare system which operates hospitals,
freestanding emergency departments, urgent care centers, and medical practices generating $8.5 billion
in annual revenue (2014) and comprising of 60,000 employees. The needs of such a large organization
are vast and complex, both clinical and non-clinical. The resources required to provide timely treatment
to a vast array of patients requires thoughtful planning and coordination. Moreover, its imperative to
optimize the resources requirements to provide a particular service cost effectively. Having the
appropriate clinical staff, equipment, supplies, and medication to efficiently treat a patient in a timely
manner is extremely important and in certain situations can mean life or death.
For the spring semester of 2016, we would like to create a model at a nursing unit at Carolinas Medical
Center (CMC) Mercy, specifically at 3 North (3N) that focuses on streamlining the flow of medication,
supplies, and linens. These resources should be available at the exact time required while at the same
time optimizing (minimizing) the amount of total on-hand inventory at any given moment. We believe a
Kanban system would be the most appropriate to achieve these objectives. However, we are open to
any suggestions recommended by the student team. The idea is to develop a model at Mercy 3N then to
yokoten (spread) those learnings to other units within Mercy and then to other CMC facilities.
4.

Project Scope Description, Data Needs, and Data Availability

Please indicate the organizational scope of the project and description of the work/task to be completed,
and your understanding of the data needs and availability in as much detail as possible. Upon reviewing
your proposal, we will work with you to firm up the scope and parameters of the project. Provide your
best estimate of on-site primary observations needed for the project versus remote work through
telephone, emails, etc. To what extent is reliable secondary data available that can be used in the
analysis for the project? What will be the travel requirements?
Scope of work includes medication (including narcotics), supplies, and linens at CMC Mercy 3N.
Data required would include the following:
1) Usage data (volume) per each item
2) Lead time for replenishment of each item
3) Physical measurements of each item
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4) Shelf life for each item

To fully understand the needs of the Mercy 3N team, the student team will need to be on-site for a
minimum of 80 hours to understand the current process flow. More time may be required based on the
initial learning curve which will heavily depend on the amount of previous healthcare experience on the
team. After grasping the current state, the team will be tasked to develop an improved future state.
5.

Expected Deliverables

Specify your expectations of project deliverables and your timelines / due dates for these deliverables.
Standard deliverables for every project include a final client presentation and a project executive
summary (with completed data-driven analyses and recommendations and pilots when feasible)
The primary deliverable for this project is to implement a streamlined process to trigger and replenish
medications, supplies, and linens at Mercy 3N while at the same time minimizing the total inventory
required to be kept on-hand. We prefer a system to be autonomous and utilize intuitive visual
management techniques.
6.

Technical Tools and Project Material

Please specify any technical tools (including any decision analysis, management science, or data analysis
software tools) that will be required or available for this project. Though we will strive to have tools
with adequate capabilities available at the school, some project complexities and/or organizational
standards may require different or more capable tools. We will work with you to determine how the
support for such tools that may not be available at the school could be provided from your organization.
Technical tools that will be required during the project include but are not limited to the following:
1)
2)
3)
4)

EOQ Model
Kanban
Process Design
Lean fundamentals
a. Just-In-Time
b. Jidoka
c. Voice of Customer
d. Visual Management
5) Microsoft Excel
7.

Project Coordination

We would like to complete projects that have real implications for operations improvement. For each
project, a student team of up to four members will be assigned. The team will work closely with at least
one faculty supervisor at every step of the project. We request that a project sponsor and a
coach/champion be identified from your organization. The project sponsor is the executive who is not
only accountable for the organization's part spanned by the project, but also has the positional influence
to effect changes in operations spanned by the project. The coach/champion will be the primary contact
person who will ensure team's access to information and other organizational support during the project.
The sponsor and the coach/champion could be the same person. Also, there could be more than one
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coach/champion depending upon the scope of the project. The coach/champion (es) will also provide
input into the evaluation of the project work by the student team.
Name(s), Title(s), and Contact Information (Tel, Fax, Email) for the Sponsor(s) :
John Knox (Executive Vice President): John.Knox@carolinashealthcare.org / 704-355-1116
Michael Johnston (Vice President): Michael.E.Johnston@carolinashealthcare.org / 704-512-4981
Name(s), Title(s), and Contact Information (Tel, Fax, Email) for the Coaches :
Shashi Patel (Lean Sensei): Shashi.Patel@carolinashealthcare.org / 803-287-0730
8.

Project Completion Criteria

We plan to have student teams formally present project findings (with operations analyses,
recommendations, and cost-benefit analysis to the extent possible) to the client organization. In
addition, students will make a presentation of their project to the class and also whenever planned, to
the annual meeting of the firms that are members of the Center for Global Supply Chain and Process
Management at the Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina.
Please indicate what additional criteria you would use to measure project completion and success.
Implementation of the new process the student team develops versus pure recommendation is preferred.

THANK YOU FOR THE PROJECT PROPOSAL