Question

A restaurant is experiencing a high number of open tables and idle service staff, except during the peak periods over lunch and dinner, when the restaurant finds that there are not enough tables or staff to service waiting customers. After identifying the constraint in the system, What should the next step be?

A) Identify the next constraint(s)
B) Determine how to exploit the system's constraints
C) Elevate the constraints so a higher performance level can be reached
D) Subordinate everything else to the decision made to exploit the constraint(s)
E) Run promotions to increase demand during non-peak times

Answer 1

The next step after identifying the constraint of insufficient tables or staff during peak periods is to determine how to exploit this system's constraints to improve the operational efficiency of the restaurant.

Step-by-step explanation:

After identifying the constraint in the system, which is a lack of enough tables or staff to service waiting customers during peak periods, the next step should be B) Determine how to exploit the system's constraints. This means finding ways to use the constraint to the system’s advantage. For instance, the restaurant could maximize the efficiency of table turnover and optimize staff schedules to align with customer demand. Additionally, ensuring the staff is trained to handle peak periods efficiently is important.

Once the constraint is exploited, it would be ideal to review the system for other potential bottlenecks or constraints that could be hindering performance. Options such as running promotions to increase demand during non-peak times (E) and elevating the constraints to a higher performance level (C) are subsequent considerations to be examined after the current constraint has been addressed.