This is the 3rd blog I am making about the series of 7 Arnold Palmer Hospital video cases we filmed a few years ago. The 1st two were: The Quality of Culture (10/13/10) and Flowcharting Processes (11/2/10). If you plan to teach either Supp. 7, Capacity and Constraint Management, or Chapter 4, Forecasting, you may want to show this third film (8.5 min.) and assign the accompanying case study.
I like this video because there just aren’t many videos available on the subject and because this is such an interesting scenario. When the hospital decided to expand some years ago, it had already far exceeded its capacity. It had tried everything to increase throughput, including moving certain surgical procedures to a sister facility a mile away, having staff drive patients home as soon as they were ready for discharge….anything to free up a bed in a more timely manner.
When all else failed, the new building plan was put in place, but the issue of capacity planning continued. This time it was whether to build for forecast demand, or actual demand. Using Figure S7.6, the hospital used a lead stategy which allowed for major portions of the new building to be left in concrete shell form until a build-out was needed.
Although annual births had been on a constant increase for 15 some years, this turned out to be a good choice for capacity planning. As you may know, the economy in Central Florida (Orlando) has absolutely tanked, with less newcomers, and less births, in the area than was ever expected.
I usually present this video case when I teach Forecasting, as it presents an excellent integration of the topics of trend projection/regression analysis and capacity.