Track: Undergraduate Student Paper Competition

Abstract

C-Auto is an automotive dealership. It sells and provides service for vehicles from American, Japanese,
and Korean origin. Customers regularly visit to perform a maintenance, a repair and/or a recall. The
department receives around 2,300 customers monthly. Currently customers are not satisfied with the wait
time of vehicle repairs, with a 54% satisfaction level. Focusing on strategies to reduce customers wait time
is the main goal as the dealer wants to increase customers visits to the service department. The main
objective was to reduce the average days it takes to repair a vehicle from 6.02 days to less than 5 days and
increase the 54% customer satisfaction levels. After implementing a new organization of the space, focusing
of what is important for the customer and improving the overall safety and equipment of the employees,
the objectives set for the project were reached and exceeded.

Keywords
Lean Manufacturing, Operations Management, Change Management, Kaizen

Biography / Biographies 

Joshua Rodriguez Zayas has bachelor’s degree in Industrial and Engineering from the Ana G. Méndez University, Puerto Rico. Currently holds LSS Green Belt certification. The main areas of interest are process improvements, lean six sigma, customer service improvements, sales increments and project management. Aside from the engineering field study, he has worked as a high school math teacher for around 5 years and a sales manager for a call center for around 3 years.

Jannette Pérez Barbosa, PE is an assistant professor in the Industrial and Management Engineering program at Ana G. Méndez University, Puerto Rico. She has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Industrial Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez, and is currently completing a Ph.D. in Systems Engineering from Colorado State University (CSU). As the Senior Design Project (Capstone) instructor, her students’ projects have been recognized for their excellence in engineering competitions in Puerto Rico. In 2021, a group of her students participated for the first time in the IISE Design Project Competition. She is a licensed engineer and the coordinator of the FE and PE exam reviews for Puerto Rico’s engineering association (CIAPR). Her research interests include decision-making methods, engineering education, and process improvement. She was recognized as UAGM’s Distinguished Engineering Professor in 2018 and IISE’s Southeast Region Outstanding Faculty Advisor in 2021. She is also 2020 CIAPR’s Distinguished Industrial Engineer. Her previous engineering experience includes roles as a Technical Service Specialist, Statistician, and Industrial Engineering team leader at Pfizer, where she received several site and corporate awards. Additionally, she has served as a trainer and consultant for several manufacturing and service companies on the island.