Interviewer view · keep this screen to yourself

Standard: Westbound Courier: cut parcel sorting costs with a machine?

You run the case. Read the prompt, answer questions from the notes below, and share data only when the candidate asks for it or gets stuck. Score at the end.

Case timer

00:00

Target length:

1. Read the prompt aloud

Read it slowly, then pause. Let the candidate ask questions before they structure.

Westbound Courier runs a parcel sorting hub in Canada. Sorting by hand is its largest cost at the hub, and wages rise every year. Should it install an automated sorter?

Format note: Difficulty: Standard. Format: candidate-led, with interviewer dialogue. Industry: Logistics. Region: Canada. Interview length: about 30 minutes. The company is fictional. All figures are illustrative, except the facts that name their source.

2. Answers to clarifying questions

Give these answers only if the candidate asks. If they ask something not listed, give a sensible answer or say it does not matter here.

If asked: How much does the hub sort?
Answer: About 60,000 parcels a day, 300 days a year. One person sorts about 150 parcels an hour by hand (illustrative).
If asked: What do sorters cost?
Answer: Westbound carries parcels between provinces, and courier services are federally regulated in Canada, so the federal minimum wage applies. It rose to CAD 18.15 an hour on 1 April 2026 and is adjusted every year with inflation (Government of Canada, checked 2026-10-02). Westbound pays sorters that minimum plus CAD 2.85, and benefits and payroll taxes add 25 percent (illustrative).
If asked: What would a machine do?
Answer: An automated sorter costs CAD 9 million installed, cuts sorting hours by 70 percent and costs CAD 400,000 a year to maintain. Westbound wants new equipment to pay back within five years (illustrative).

3. The hypothesis a strong candidate states

Listen for an early, testable guess like this one. It does not need to match word for word.

Hand sorting is a large cost that rises every year with the minimum wage. My hypothesis is that the machine pays back within five years, and faster if volume grows.

4. A model structure

Compare the candidate's structure with this one. A different split can be just as good if it is clean and fits the problem.

Value of the machine = hours saved x cost per hour - upkeep, set against the upfront cost
- Sorting hours: parcels a year / parcels sorted per person per hour
- Cost per hour: wage, premium, benefits and payroll taxes
- Key: Yearly saving and payback against the five-year target
- Volume growth, breakdowns and staff plans

5. The working, step by step

Each step shows how a strong candidate works it out. Share a new fact from it only when the candidate asks or is stuck, and let them do the math: the result in the dark box is what they should reach.

Step 1: Parcels a year
What a strong candidate does: Candidate: "60,000 parcels a day for 300 days."
Parcels a year: 60,000 × 300 = 18,000,000
Step 2: Sorting hours
What a strong candidate does: Candidate: "At 150 parcels an hour per person."
Sorting hours a year: 60,000 × 300 ÷ 150 = 120,000
Step 3: Cost per sorting hour
What a strong candidate does: Candidate: "The federal minimum of CAD 18.15 plus CAD 2.85, with 25 percent on top."
Cost per sorting hour (CAD): (18.15 + 2.85) × 1.25 = 26.25
Step 4: Yearly sorting cost
What a strong candidate does: Candidate: "Hours times cost per hour."
Sorting labour cost (CAD a year): 60,000 × 300 ÷ 150 × 26.25 = 3,150,000
Step 5: Net yearly saving
What a strong candidate does: Candidate: "70 percent of the hours saved, minus CAD 400,000 of upkeep."
Net yearly saving (CAD): 60,000 × 300 ÷ 150 × 0.7 × 26.25 - 400,000 = 1,805,000
Step 6: Payback
What a strong candidate does: Candidate: "CAD 9 million divided by the net yearly saving."
Payback (years): 9,000,000 ÷ (60,000 × 300 ÷ 150 × 0.7 × 26.25 - 400,000) = 4.99
Step 7: Curveball: a new customer
What a strong candidate does: Interviewer: "A large online retailer will send its parcels through us from next year, so volume rises 20 percent. The machine can handle up to 90,000 parcels a day." Candidate: "The net saving becomes:"
Net yearly saving with 20 percent more parcels (CAD): 60,000 × 1.2 × 300 ÷ 150 × 0.7 × 26.25 - 400,000 = 2,246,000
Step 8: Payback with the new volume
What a strong candidate does: Candidate: "The same CAD 9 million, divided by the larger saving."
Payback with 20 percent more parcels (years): 9,000,000 ÷ (60,000 × 1.2 × 300 ÷ 150 × 0.7 × 26.25 - 400,000) = 4.01

The recommendation to listen for

At the end, say: "The CEO walks in. What is your recommendation?"

Westbound should install the automated sorter, timed to arrive with the new retailer's parcels. First, hand sorting takes 120,000 hours a year at CAD 26.25 an hour, about CAD 3.15 million. Second, the machine saves a net CAD 1.805 million a year, so it pays back in about 4.986 years, just inside the five-year target. Third, with 20 percent more parcels the net saving rises to CAD 2.246 million and payback falls to about 4.007 years. Because the federal minimum wage is adjusted every year with inflation, the saving should also grow each year. Keep enough trained sorters to cover breakdowns, and agree an uptime guarantee with the supplier.

Risks a strong answer names: A breakdown at peak season could stop the hub if too few trained sorters remain; The new retailer's parcels may arrive later or in smaller numbers than promised.

Next steps: Ask two suppliers for fixed quotes with uptime guarantees; Plan which sorters move to loading and checking roles.

Strong versus weak

A strong answer

Turned parcels into hours and hours into dollars, compared payback with the target, and saw that volume growth and yearly wage rises both strengthen the case.

A weak answer

Compared the CAD 9 million price with one year of wages and rejected the machine as too expensive.

Score the candidate

Score each criterion from 1 to 5. A 2 or a 4 sits between the descriptions.

This case has no exhibit. Score Exhibit reading on how the candidate used the data you gave them: did they pick out the number that matters and say what it means?

Structuring

1: No clear structure, or a memorized framework that does not fit the problem.
3: A sensible structure, but with some overlap, a gap, or no clear priority.
5: A structure built for this problem, with no overlap and no gaps, a stated hypothesis, and a clear first step.

Math

1: Frequent errors, no units, or needed heavy help to finish.
3: Right answers but slow or messy working, or one error caught late.
5: Accurate and clearly narrated, with units, a sense check, and what the number means.

Exhibit reading

1: Read the chart aloud without finding the number that matters.
3: Found the key number but gave only part of the so-what.
5: Pulled the right number quickly and said what it means for the case.

Synthesis

1: Summarized what was done, with no clear answer.
3: Gave an answer, but with weak reasons or no next step.
5: Answer first, then two or three reasons with numbers, the main risk, and next steps.

Communication

1: Hard to follow: long silences, no signposting.
3: Clear most of the time, with some rambling.
5: Calm and concise, signposted each step, and checked in with the interviewer.

Total

0 out of 25

Score all five criteria to see the band and the feedback template.

Next: another case in Partner mode

Swap roles and run the next case, so you both practise answering and scoring.

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