Concept explainers
Drivers who come to get their licenses at the department of motor vehicles have their photograph taken by an automated machine that develops the photograph onto the license card and laminates the complete license. The machine requires a constant time of 4.5 minutes to develop a completed license. If drivers arrive at the machine at the mean rate of 11 per hour (Poisson distributed), determine the average length of the waiting line and the average waiting time.
Want to see the full answer?
Check out a sample textbook solutionChapter 5 Solutions
Operations and Supply Chain Management, 9th Edition WileyPLUS Registration Card + Loose-leaf Print Companion
Additional Business Textbook Solutions
Business in Action
Operations Management, Binder Ready Version: An Integrated Approach
Principles of Operations Management: Sustainability and Supply Chain Management (10th Edition)
Business in Action (8th Edition)
Operations Management: Processes and Supply Chains (12th Edition) (What's New in Operations Management)
- During nearly four decades of business operations, Memphis-based FedEx has earned a reputation for reliable, on-time delivery of packages to homes and offices around the country. Founder Fred Smith originally focused on overnight deliveries, choosing Memphis as the company’s headquarters because the airport rarely closes due to bad weather. With FedEx’s planes departing and arriving on schedule nearly all the time, its express shipments usually remained on schedule, then and now. To reassure customers that delivery will take place when and where promised, the firm offers a money-back guarantee on time-sensitive express shipments, among other services. FedEx has steadily expanded its portfolio of services since the 1970s. Its original overnight express delivery is currently available to U.S. customers in various forms, including “first-overnight” delivery, next-morning delivery, next-afternoon delivery, and budget-pleasing two- or three-day delivery. The company’s services also include cost-effective ground delivery for parcels and extra-speedy same-day delivery for urgent deliveries within 1,800 cities. Over the years, FedEx has widened its delivery network to more than 220 countries. It has purchased more cargo jets and acquired specialized shipping firms, including Tiger International, Roberts Express, RPS, and TNT Express, to support global growth. For international business customers needing products, parts, or raw materials shipped across countries or continents, the company now offers time-saving services such as commercial freight forwarding and cross-border logistical support. To add the convenience of local drop-off and pickup points for U.S. consumers and small businesses, FedEx acquired the Kinko’s office services company in 2004 and later rebranded it as FedEx Office. This acquisition also added printing and copying to the menu of services offered. Then the company arranged for large U.S. retailers such as Walgreens, Albertsons, Kroger, and Safeway to accept packages for shipment and receive package delivery for customer pickup in thousands of store locations. This means people who want to send a package can head to a nearby retailer and ship where they shop, rather than making a separate trip to the FedEx location. It’s also a safe alternative for packages to be picked up by people who don’t want FedEx shipments left by the front door. Another service FedEx offers to small and mid-sized businesses, including retailers, is FedEx Fulfillment. The purpose is to expedite order fulfillment by having each business store its products in a FedEx warehouse. Then, when the business’s customers place orders, FedEx puts the products into boxes bearing the business’s own logo and ships directly to those customers. The business doesn’t need a separate warehouse or staff for fulfillment, and packages are on their way to customers more quickly because the products were in FedEx’s warehouse, ready to be packed and shipped. This service puts FedEx into direct competition with Amazon.com, which offers a similar service to merchants that sell through the online Amazon Marketplace. But it also gives businesses that don’t sell via Amazon a fast and professional fulfillment alternative. FedEx is careful to let customers know, through media and social-media announcements, when it anticipates that extreme weather or other conditions will cause delays or force it to halt pickups and deliveries. For the duration of Hurricane Irma, for example, FedEx said it would suspend deliveries in Florida. Some Florida customers who had ordered generators to be delivered via FedEx were unhappy, because they worried about being without power during and after the storm. But one FedEx employee loaded several generator orders into his car and took them to customers himself. When a customer posted a grateful compliment to FedEx on Facebook, the message generated thousands of likes, shares, and positive comments. The company also received positive comments for its donations of cash and transportation services to areas devastated by Hurricanes Irma, Harvey, and Maria. According to the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), FedEx often tops the list of U.S. shipping companies as ranked by customers surveyed. Every day, the company delivers 13 million packages—and during the busy year-end holiday season, it delivers many more. By meeting customers’ expectations for on-time deliveries, FedEx has increased annual revenues beyond $60 billion and positioned itself for continued growth in the future. How does FedEx’s money-back guarantee address customers’ concerns about heterogeneity?arrow_forwardExplain how the design of a waiting system can negatively affect customers.arrow_forwardDiscuss how the design of a waiting system can negatively affect customers?arrow_forward
- The new accounts loan officer of the Millennium Commercial Bank interviews all customers for new accounts. The customers desiring to open new accounts arrive at the rate of 4 per hour, according to a Poisson distribution, and the accounts officer spends an average of 12 minutes with each customer, setting up a new account. Determine the operating characteristics (P0, L, Lq, W, Wq and Pw) for this system.arrow_forwardThe local Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) is concerned with its waiting line system. Currently, the DMV uses a single-server, single-line, single-phase system when processing license renewals. Based on historical evidence, the average number of customers arriving per hour is 9 and is described by a Poisson distribution. The service rate is 12 customers per hour with the service times following an exponential distribution. The customers are patient and come from an infinite population. The manager of the DMV would like you to calculate the operational characteristics of the waiting line system.(a) What is the average system utilization? (b) What is the average number of customers in the system? (c) What is the average number of customers waiting in line? (d) What is the average time a customer spends in the system? (e) What is the average time a customer spends waiting in line?arrow_forwardWestern National Bank wants to provide a drive-through window for its customers. Management estimates that customers will arrive in their cars at the rate of 15 per hour. The teller who will staff the window can service customers at the rate of 20 per hour. Assuming Poisson arrivals and exponential service, find the following: Capacity utilization of the teller. Average number of cars in the waiting line Average number in the system. Average waiting time in line. Average waiting time in the system, including service.arrow_forward
- Discuss briefly the relationship between waiting line analysisand quality improvement.arrow_forwardA toll tunnel has decided to experiment with the use of a debit card for the collection of tolls. Initially, only one lane will be used. Cars are estimated to arrive at this experimental lane at the rate of 750 per hour. It will take exactly four seconds to verify the debit card. How much time would you expect a customer to wait in line, pay with a debit card, and leave? Note: Do not round intermediate calculations. How many cars would you expect to see in the system? Note: Round your answer to 2 decimal places.arrow_forwardExplain what is a waiting line problem ?arrow_forward
- Burrito King (a new fast-food franchise opening up nationwide) has successfully automated burrito production for its drive-up fast-food establishments. The Burro-Master 9000 requires a constant 50 seconds to produce a batch of burritos. It has been estimated that customers will arrive at the drive-up window according to a Poisson distribution at an average of one every 55 seconds. To help determine the amount of space needed for the line at the drive-up window, answer the following questions. a. What is the average waiting line length (in cars)? Note: Do not round intermediate calculations. Round your answer to 2 decimal places. Average line length cars b. What is the average number of cars in the system (both in line and at the window)? Note: Do not round intermediate calculations. Round your answer to 2 decimal places. Average number of cars carsarrow_forwardDrivers who come to get their licenses at the Department of Motor Vehicles have their photograph taken by an automated machine that develops the photograph onto the license card and laminates the complete license. The machine requires a constant time of 4 minutes to prepare a complete license. The interarrival time between two drivers is 6 minutes distributed exponential. a) What type of queuing model this system follow ? b) Determine the average length of the waiting line. c) Determine the average waiting time.arrow_forwardDetermine the maximum length of a waiting line for specified probabilities of 95 percentand 98 percent, for a system in which M = 2, λ = 8 per hour, and μ = 5 per hour.arrow_forward
- Practical Management ScienceOperations ManagementISBN:9781337406659Author:WINSTON, Wayne L.Publisher:Cengage,MarketingMarketingISBN:9780357033791Author:Pride, William MPublisher:South Western Educational Publishing