a) Which server is the bottleneck of the process ?                       b) What is the utilization of server 2 ?         c) What is the average labor utilization of the servers ?                                               d) Assume a wage rate of $18 per hour. What is the cost of direct labor for one guest ?

Practical Management Science
6th Edition
ISBN:9781337406659
Author:WINSTON, Wayne L.
Publisher:WINSTON, Wayne L.
Chapter12: Queueing Models
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 59P
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Mr. K’s is a very popular hair salon. It offers high-quality hair styling and physical relaxation services at a reasonable price, so it always has unlimited demand. The service process includes five activities that are conducted in the sequence described below. (The time required for each activity is shown in parenthesis):

 

Activity 1: Welcome a guest and offer homemade herb tea. (10 minutes)

Activity 2: Wash and condition hair. (10 minutes)

Activity 3: Neck, shoulder, and back stress release massage. (10 minutes)

Activity 4: Design the hairstyle and do the hair. (25 minutes)

Activity 5: Check out the guest. (5 minutes)

 

 

Three servers (S1, S2, and S3) offer the services in a worker-paced line. The assignment of tasks to servers is the following:

S1 does Activity 1.

S2 does Activities 2 and Activity 3.

S3 does Activities 4 and Activity 5.

 

 

  1. a) Which server is the bottleneck of the process ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. b) What is the utilization of server 2 ?

 

 

 

 

  1. c) What is the average labor utilization of the servers ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  1. d) Assume a wage rate of $18 per hour. What is the cost of direct labor for one guest ?

 

 

 

 

 

To increase the service rate, Mr. K’s is considering two alternatives:

 

  1. Hire a new employee to help any one (and only one) of the servers without changing the tasks performed by each server.
  2. To redesign the assignment of tasks to servers. For this, Mr. K’s is evaluating to reassign Activity 5 from S3 to S1.

 

 

  1. e) What would be the costs of direct labor of serving one guest under each of the two alternatives? Which alternative would you recommend to Mr. K ?

 

 

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ISBN:
9781337406659
Author:
WINSTON, Wayne L.
Publisher:
Cengage,