The process for filling a prescription at a large retail pharmacy begins when a customer’s physician calls the pharmacy or the customer drops off a written prescription. Sometimes the customer needs to refill a prescription and if no refills remain, the pharmacy will call the physician for approval. The prescription information is entered into a computer, insurance information is checked or solicited from the customer, and the prescription is put in a queue for either a pharmacist or a technician to count out the number of pills or pull some other medicine from inventory. A label is prepared and printed, and affixed to the bottle. If a technician prepares the prescription, then a pharmacist must check and verify it. The completed prescription is placed in a basket for pickup.

1. Develop a flowchart that maps out this process.

2. Enrich the flowchart by adding detailed steps, which may not have been described in the case.

3. Do all steps add value? Can some steps be eliminated and should others be added in order to improve quality or operational performance? Can some be combined? Should some be reordered?

4. Are capacities of each step in balance; that is, do bottlenecks exist for which customers will incur excessive waiting time?

5. What skills, equipment, and tools are required at each step of the process? Should some steps be automated? Why?

6. At which points in the system might errors occur that would result in customer dissatisfaction, and how might these errors be corrected? At which point or points should quality be measured? Do not merely say “at all points”.