Question

How would fast-food workers introduce bias into the manager's sample of drive-thru times?

Answer 1

A waiting line system(or queuing system) is defined by two elements: the population source of its customers and the process or service system itself. In this supplement we examine the elements of waiting line systems and appropriate performance measures. Performance characteristics are calculated for different waiting line systems. We conclude with descriptions of managerial decisions related to waiting line system design and performance.

Any time there is more customer demand for a service than can be provided, a waiting line occurs. Customers can be either humans or inanimate objects. Examples of objects that must wait in lines include a machine waiting for repair, a customer order waiting to be processed, sub assemblies in a manufacturing plant (that is, work-in-process inventory), electronic messages on the Internet, and ships or rail cars waiting for unloading.In a waiting line system, managers must decide what level of service to offer. A low level of service may be inexpensive, at least in the short run, but may incur high costs of customer dissatisfaction, such as lost future business and actual processing costs of complaints. A high level of service will cost more to provide and will result in lower dissatisfaction costs. Because of this trade-off, management must consider what is the optimal level of service to provide.

Fast-food restaurants illustrate the transient nature of waiting line systems. Waiting lines occur at a fast-food restaurant drive-through during peak meal time search day. There is a temporary surge in demand that cannot be quickly handled with the available capacity. In an effort to speed up delivery, some restaurants use an extra window—the first window for paying and the second window for picking up the food. At other times of the day, the restaurant uses a single window and may have no waiting line at the drive through window.The challenge is designing service systems with adequate but not excessive amounts of capacity. A fast-food restaurant experiences variable demand and variable service times. The restaurant cannot be sure how much customer demand there will be, and it does not know exactly what each customer will order—each order can be unique and require a different service time. It is important to understand the different elements of a waiting line system. These elements include the customer population source, the service system, the arrival and service patterns, and the priorities used for controlling the line.

This is how fast-food workers introduce bias into the manager's sample of drive-thru times .