FAVERO: Usually problems at the university or problems in the classroom, this class is
all about the real world.
FOGLER: Welcome to the final presentation of the students' projects in Chemical Engineering 405
FAVERO: Engineering 405 is a unique class where students come together with local business
to problem solve using critical thinking.
FOGLER: During the first two-thirds of the course, we talk and practice individually
a number of problem solving skills.
Then the students take these skills and go out and apply them to a local business.
FAVERO: What makes it unique is this combination of students, university and local business.
STUDENT: ...our client project for the term which was with Rappourt Brew & Chew...
STUDENT: ...we worked with Panera Bread, this is the actual picture of our restaurant...
STUDENT: ...we're going to discuss what we've been working on this semester with The Big Salad...
STUDENT: ...this is our final presentation for our problem solving strategies for the
Ann Arbor Distilling Company...
KAMINSKI: When I read that we were going to be teamed up with different clients to help
them solve actual problems that they're having, it was a huge draw for me.
FOGLER: After they were assigned a local business they would go incognito to the business to
try to find as many problems as they could.
STUDENT: We went once on a very busy Friday night.
We also went once on a slower day to see if there was a difference.
STUDENT: Throughout the day the main rush is the lunch rush, which makes sense.
STUDENT: There were kiosks there to help alleviate the problem of long lines, but that really
didn't help much because there were only one or two kiosks that were operating.
STUDENT: One thing we noticed right away as we initially drove past the building, we noticed
some visibility issues from the roadside.
FOGLER: The last part of the course is devoted to applying these problem solving techniques.
STUDENT: We created two surveys.
We actually used Professor Feinberg's surveys lecture, and this gave us a lot of great tips,
like open versus closed response questions and also using the Likert scale, just to get
a good spectrum of satisfaction for certain types of questions.
BENOIT: It's just really cool to see how going through the process of following these techniques
that have been developed by people and have been being used for years can be applied to
problems.
STUDENT: Over half of the customers that were surveyed don't even know that the downstairs
seating of Panera even exists.
STUDENT: Our perceived problem is how can Ann Arbor Distilling Company host events without
using the distilling area in its current state.
KAMINSKI: A lot of time you need to spend a little bit more time actually making sure
you're solving the correct issue.
STUDENT: We were not satisfied with this perceived problem and decided to employ a Duncker diagram
to help us identify the real problem.
The real problem is how can Ann Arbor Distilling Company increase its business in the tasting
area.
STUDENT: To generate some solutions to this problem, we used the TRIZ method.
A good characteristic was the efficient staffing.
A bad characteristic was that first-time customers are kind of confused by the ordering process.
NOYCE: I learned about how to solve problems in unique ways that I hadn't considered before.
STUDENT: Our main objective that we wanted to focus on was increase their customer base
which would in turn raise profits.
We narrowed it down to three problems: Small customer base, limited marketing and advertisement,
and little to no college campus exposure.
DAVIS: Even with like a situational analysis where you are comparing two things, can be
used for like, where I choose to work.
STUDENT: Our solution decision was to offer an annual program which customers can pay
$75 a year to be apart of.
KAMINSKI: I learned a lot about working with a group and problem solving, a lot about professionalism.
STUDENT: What we did implement was a new marketing strategy.
DAVIS: I really feel like I'm able to solve problems for real now.
I've even started sharing some stuff with my friends.
STUDENT: We also decreased the confusion with ordering by using the punch cards and the
order, sit and enjoy.
NOYCE: The beautiful thing about a lot of the skills we learned in this class is that
we can use them for a large variety of situations.
I've honestly started to apply it already in my own life.
STUDENT: We put the seating sign just to the right of the beverage station.
BENOIT: It's just going to help me think a little bit more creatively, instead of just
getting set on one path.
FAVERO: Why is it important to problem solve?
Why is it important to troubleshoot?
Because things don't work perfectly.
Problems will arise.
BUSINESS OWNER: I really liked the punch cards that you guys mentioned.
One thing that you could've done is maybe put something with food...
VLAZNY: I learned that there's always solutions to problems that I have that I haven't thought of.
PATEL: My group of students, they really taught me to understand some of the basics that,
what customers were looking for.
FAVERO: The evaluation that you get and the feedback you get from managers and from clients
is far different from what you would get from the academic setup.
GUEST JUDGE: I think all the four presentations were very well done, but as always in contests
thereabout, someone's got to finish first.
BRITTON: Even the tiniest things could make an impact in your business.
GUEST JUDGE: Congratulations to Distill and Chill.
BRITTON: We will most definitely be implementing all of the solutions that my team came up with.
GUEST JUDGE: Good job.