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Operations case interview practice, find the bottleneck

A process falls short of its target. Work a full sample case: compute the required rate, find the bottleneck with efficiency included, fix it and value the fix, with a timer and a worked answer. Free, with no sign-up.

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Free and runs in your browser. The case is original and fictional, and Soreno is independent of any consulting firm. The 7-day free trial includes 2 mock interviews and 3 drills.

Free sample case: interviewer-led

The operations and supply chain case you can try now

A sequence of questions: required rate, bottleneck, the fix and a recommendation.

Step 1. Read the case

FreshLane: the fulfillment bottleneck

The interviewer reads you the case

Your client is FreshLane, an online grocer. Its main fulfillment center needs to ship 12,000 orders a day but regularly falls short, leaving late orders and unhappy customers. The center runs two 8-hour shifts a day. The operations head asks you to find the problem and fix it.

An original, fictional practice case written by Soreno. It is not a question from any firm's interviews. Everything stays in your browser.

Step 2. Ask clarifying questions

In an operations case, map the process, confirm the target and constraints, then structure around throughput.

Step 3. Structure your answer

Take two minutes. Say how you would find the problem and how you would structure the analysis. Write it, then say it out loud.

2:00

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Soreno's AI interviewer gives you a full case, asks follow-up questions on your structure and math, and scores your answer. The 7-day free trial includes 2 mock interviews and 3 drills.

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Framework outline

How a operations and supply chain case is usually structured

A short outline for the type. Our Kearney guide includes a worked operations exercise; this page is for practice.

  1. 1

    Map the process

    List the steps an item or order passes through. The slowest step limits the whole line.

  2. 2

    Required rate versus capacity

    Work out what each step must deliver per hour, then each step's real capacity (nominal capacity x efficiency).

  3. 3

    Find the constraint

    The step with the lowest effective capacity sets output. Adding capacity elsewhere does not help.

  4. 4

    Fix the constraint, then re-check

    Add the minimum capacity at the bottleneck, then see what limits next.

  5. 5

    Value the fix

    Compare the cost of the fix with the contribution from the extra output, and note the risks (thin margin, demand surges).

Mistakes to avoid

Where candidates lose points

Common ways to go wrong in this type of case, based on how the sample case is built.

  • Proposing across-the-board hiring without finding the bottleneck.
  • Using nominal capacity and forgetting efficiency losses.
  • Improving the biggest or most visible step rather than the slowest.
  • Forgetting to re-check what limits next after the fix.
  • Not comparing the fix's cost with the value it recovers.

A strong answer states the headline first, shows the numbers that support it and ends with a recommendation and next steps.

Keep going

Read more, then do it out loud

The guides go deeper on operations and supply chain cases. Drill the math, or compare ways to practice.

FAQ's

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about Soreno, answered in one place.

No. It is an original, fictional operations case written by Soreno, with numbers that reconcile. It is not a question from any consulting firm's interviews. The firm pages under Practice link to what each firm publishes about its own interviews.
A case about how a process, plant, warehouse or supply chain performs. You find the constraint, fix it and judge whether the fix is worth its cost.
Nominal capacity assumes everyone works at full speed all the time. Real stations lose time to breaks, equipment and handoffs. In the sample case packing looks fine on nominal capacity and is short only after efficiency is applied.
It covers the operations side of one: throughput through a fulfillment center. Supply chain cases can also involve inventory, sourcing and network design, which use the same logic of finding the limiting factor.
No. The sample case runs in your browser with no sign-up, and nothing you type is saved or sent.
Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial that includes 2 mock interviews and 3 drills. After that, plans are $199 a month or $349 a year, and weekly from $64. See the pricing page for details.

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