Final answer:
Guests at the Drive-Thru window should ideally spend no more than 15 minutes, as indicated by the 90th-percentile statistic of 13.5 minutes, to maintain efficient service and customer satisfaction.
Step-by-step explanation:
When considering how long guests should spend at the Drive-Thru window, the key metric to focus on is the 90th percentile, which is 13.5 minutes. This statistical benchmark indicates that 90 percent of customers wait no more than 13.5 minutes. Therefore, the ideal time guests should spend at the Drive-Thru window to ensure efficiency and customer satisfaction should not exceed this percentile. In this context, option 3, which is 15 minutes, is the closest to the 90th-percentile benchmark, making it the most suitable choice for the maximum time guests should spend at the Drive-Thru window in an efficient service operation.
Understanding average service times and customer flow is essential in the business environment, especially in the context of a campus restaurant or similar service industry scenario. For example, knowing that one customer arrives every two minutes on average is important for managing wait times and resource allocation. In order to keep operations running smoothly and to minimize customer waiting times, it is crucial to aim for the average time spent at service points to be less than these intervals.