Operations Management WS 22/23
Case Study: Shouldice Hospital
1. How does Shouldice compete? Identify at least three characteristics of Should-
ice’s operations that contribute to its competitiveness.
Characteristics of business operations for Shouldice success:
I. The hospital has earned an excellent reputation for its expertise in operating on
hernia problems. Due to the high level of awareness, the hospital saves a lot of
budgets for expensive advertising measures.
II. Another advantage are the low surgery costs, which differ significantly from other
hospitals.
III. The hospital also offers free services for children and parents, which are very well
received and enhance the hospital's image.
IV. The facility is specially designed for disabled patients, so that accidents are
avoided and hygiene in the hospital is improved.
V. The experience of the nursing staff, who organize a structured process and treat
the patients professionally so that the operations are as less traumatic as possible
for the patients and are well cared for.
2. Compute the cycle time (time per patient) and weekly capacity (Patients/week)
for Examination room, Nurse’s station, Operating rooms, and Doctors.
Demand = Flow rate = 6.850 clients per year (50 weeks) → 137 clients per week
working days per week: 5
Bottleneck: → Operating Room with a weekly capacity of 170 patients.
Availability
Cycle Time (mi- Weekly capacity
Resources Number in
nutes/patient) (patients/week)
(hours/day)
Examination Room 2∗60∗5
6 2 20 6*( ) = 180
20
4∗60∗5
Nurse's Station 2 4 10 2*( ) = 240
10
1
Case Study: Shouldice Hospital
1. How does Shouldice compete? Identify at least three characteristics of Should-
ice’s operations that contribute to its competitiveness.
Characteristics of business operations for Shouldice success:
I. The hospital has earned an excellent reputation for its expertise in operating on
hernia problems. Due to the high level of awareness, the hospital saves a lot of
budgets for expensive advertising measures.
II. Another advantage are the low surgery costs, which differ significantly from other
hospitals.
III. The hospital also offers free services for children and parents, which are very well
received and enhance the hospital's image.
IV. The facility is specially designed for disabled patients, so that accidents are
avoided and hygiene in the hospital is improved.
V. The experience of the nursing staff, who organize a structured process and treat
the patients professionally so that the operations are as less traumatic as possible
for the patients and are well cared for.
2. Compute the cycle time (time per patient) and weekly capacity (Patients/week)
for Examination room, Nurse’s station, Operating rooms, and Doctors.
Demand = Flow rate = 6.850 clients per year (50 weeks) → 137 clients per week
working days per week: 5
Bottleneck: → Operating Room with a weekly capacity of 170 patients.
Availability
Cycle Time (mi- Weekly capacity
Resources Number in
nutes/patient) (patients/week)
(hours/day)
Examination Room 2∗60∗5
6 2 20 6*( ) = 180
20
4∗60∗5
Nurse's Station 2 4 10 2*( ) = 240
10
1
