Sandwich Shop
Description
For Problem #1, we had to create a fresh and edible peanut butter and jelly sandwich. We were given a budget of $20 to buy all necessary ingredients and materials for the project. Keeping any remaining profit. All the materials and any construction documents had to fit inside of a 9″ x 9″ x 9″ truck. Together as a team, we defined the problem as how can we create an aesthetic looking sandwich that matches the designers research. In order to achieve this, we created a couple of test sandwiches to determine how much peanut butter and jelly to use, and how to create a nice clean diagonal cut. We established that preslicing the bread in the diagonal cut would not only save time, but give us the clean cut that we desired.
Despite being prepared, and having a set goal, we still had complications during the actual assembly of the sandwich. Though we knew what to do and how to achieve the desired look, we weren’t the ones creating the sandwich. Instead a member of the local crew PBJ-2k was assembling it. Each team member was responsible for a particular document (budget and material list, CAD drawings of the assembly of the sandwich, and instructions of how to assemble it). I was responsible for the instructions. As the crew member was creating the sandwich, it was evident that the instructions weren’t clear.
We had a completed sandwich, but the finished product wasn’t what we expected. This showed that just because you know how something is supposed to look, doesn’t mean the person at the other end will. Even though the sandwich didn’t look the way that we wanted it, the crew member did exactly what the instructions said. If the instructions were more clearer, then the possibility of getting a better looking sandwich would’ve been higher.
Analysis
This problem can relate to many real-world situations, such as truck load-in and the importance of documentation. The order in which we place things in a truck is important to load-in. When it came to loading in the truck, we placed the plate and any other materials at the bottom, and the bread with all necessary documents at top. It was important to have the bread on top so that it wouldn’t get smashed. This project taught us the importance of documentation because without it, the crew wouldn’t understand what to do.
Application
While working on this project, I realized that labeling and being more precise is extremely important. If the extra Ziploc was labeled, the instructions for the sandwich assembly wouldn’t have been so confusing. But with that being said, there’s no saying that even with the labeling, that the instructions were clear enough. Because of this, it cost us 2 calls (each being .10 cents) from our profit. For the next problem, I would have someone else read my instructions to see if they understand it. Because what is understandable to me, may not be understandable to someone else. This can apply to any real world situation because no matter what we do, we should always make sure that we explain ourselves in a thorough manner.
Truck packaging Crew member assembling sandwich
