Improving Business Processes with Rapid Modeling: the Case of Digger

Rapid Modeling is a method for modeling operational processes as a network of queues and analyzing them by applying queuing theory. Despite its great potential for solving problems in operations management, Rapid Modeling receives rather limited attention among practitioners. Therefore, this paper presents a teaching case for students and managers to illustrate the possibilities of Rapid Modeling. Moreover, the teaching case aims to raise awareness of the importance of considering both financial aspects and process management principles when improving processes. For that purpose, theoretical foundations for an integrated analysis and evaluation are discussed and applied in a practical context. The system under study is a real-life non-profit organization that is challenged by its growth strategy. The paper demonstrates how software based on queuing theory can be applied to find a solution in a quick and structured way.