Exercise $6\mathrm{.}11$: Waste analysis

Consider the booking$-$to$-$cash process at a photography company $($Fotof$)$ described below. Which types of wastes

can you identify in the process?

Fotof provides photography services in the fields of family photography, personal event photography $($e$.$g$.$

weddings and party photography$)$ and commercial photography $($e$.$g$.$ corporate events$).$ One of the core

processes of Fotof is its booking$-$to$-$cash process, which goes all the way from the moment a customer makes a

booking for a photo shooting session, through the order placement, to the moment the customer pays and obtains

the ordered pictures. Last year, Fotof received $10$K orders from commercial customers, and $80$K orders from

private customers.

The booking$-$to$-$cash process starts when a customer makes a booking for a shooting session at a photo studio. A

booking can be done via phone or via email addressed directly to a specific photo studio. The request is handled

by a customer service representative at the photo studio. Each studio employs two customer service

representatives: a senior one, who is also manager of the studio, and a junior one. The customer service

representative enters the details of the booking into the photo studio information system.

The booking is assigned to one of the photographers of the studio. After a photo shooting session, the

photographer uploads the pictures to a file server. Eventually, a technician cleans up the pictures by deleting

duplicates and failed shots. Later the technician edits the remaining shots and arranges them into a photo gallery

using a dedicated photo studio software tool. Once the gallery is completed, the customer is notified by email.

The notification includes a URL of the gallery.

Customers can view the gallery, select the pictures they wish to order in print $($and how many copies$)$ and those

they wish to get in digital copy $($full resolution$).$ Customers can also annotate a selected picture in order to ask for

additional editing $($special requests$).$ When placing their order, customers can specify whether they will pickup the

printed copies at the studio or have them delivered by post. In the latter case, a shipment fee is added to the

order. Once the customer has submitted the order, a technician performs additional editing $($if required by the

customer$).$ In the case of special requests, the technician may need to communicate with the customer by email

or phone to clarify the request and to determine how to fulfill it$,$ and whether the special request will entail an

additional fee and how much. If printouts are required, the technician prints them out, puts them in an envelope,

and drops them at the studio$$s counter.

Pictures from a shooting session are kept in the corresponding gallery for up to $30$ days $($a reminder is sent to the

customer $5$ days before the expiry date$).$ If a customer has not placed an order past this period, an invoice is sent

for the minimum billing amount $($see below$).$

Invoices are payable within $7$ days of their issue. A customer service representative sends a reminder when an

invoice is overdue. Once the pictures are ready, a customer service representative determines the amount to be

invoiced $($including additional fees for special requests$).$ The customer service representative then produces an

invoice and sends it to the customer. Once the invoice has been paid, the customer service representative packs

and sends the printouts for postal delivery $($if the customer ordered printouts$)$ and sends a URL to the customer

where the customer can find the full$-$resolution digital pictures they ordered. The matching of incoming payments

to invoices is done automatically by an accountancy system $($the same system that is used to issue invoices$).$

Booking or order cancelations can occur in three ways: $($i$)$ prior to the shooting session $($booking cancelation$)$; $($ii$)$

in case of no$-$show $($the customer did not show up to the shooting session and did not reschedule it$)$; or $($iii$)$ after

the shooting, if the customer does not order any pictures within $30$ days. Cancelations prior to the photo shooting

session do not incur a fee. Cancelations due to no$-$shows do not attract a fee if they are in$-$studio; they attract a

fee of e $50$ if they are $$on location$.$ In case of a no$-$show, the customer may reschedule the booking to a later day

but the no$-$show fee for on$-$location shootings is charged to the customer in any case. If a customer does not

order any picture after a shooting session, the customer is invoiced a photo shooting fee of e $100$ for in$-$studio

sessions $($e $150$ for on$-$location ones$).$