Question

In the scenario, they indicate that it takes about 164 seconds on average to serve a customer during the busy lunch hour period. Put yourself in the seat of your car getting food at the FS restaurant. Let's assume you are using the drive-thru window and that you will pick up the food and take it home to eat with some friends.

You drive into the restaurant lot and notice there is a line of cars that has formed at the order kiosk. You wait for your turn to talk to the Customer Service Champion so that you can place your order. The menu is sitting there in clear view, so you can see exactly what you want. Soon it is your turn and you quickly place your order, learn what the bill will be, and move your car to the line at the drive-thru window. While waiting, you get your money out and count out the exact change you will need. After a short time, it's your turn at the window and you give the Service Champion your money, take your drink and food, and carefully drive out of the parking lot.

Think about what happened at the restaurant. First, you waited in two lines. The first was at the order kiosk and the second at the drive-thru window. Next, consider the work that the restaurant needed to complete to process your order. The Service Champion took your order and entered it in the POS system, prepared your drink, and then when the food was ready, collected your money, and delivered your drink and food. One of the Food Champions prepared your food using information from a screen that shows orders as they are entered by the Service Champion.

The total time that it takes between when you arrive at the restaurant until you leave is made up of the following elements:

1. The service time for the Service Champion to process your order

2. The service time for the Food Champion to prepare your order

3. The waiting while the Service Champion and Food Champion served other customers

Answer 1

The question relates to queue management and customer service efficiency in a college-level business context, focusing on reducing customer wait times and improving service speed.

Step-by-step explanation:

Understanding Customer Service and Queue Management

In the described scenario where the student's experience at a fast food restaurant involves managing waiting lines and processing orders, the focus is on queue management and customer service efficiency. The student experiences two principal wait times: at the order kiosk and at the drive-thru window. These wait times along with the service times from the Service and Food Champions contribute to the overall duration from arrival to departure. The situation mentioned in supplementary material highlights the importance of the manager's role in resolving customer complaints and improving service speed by organizing queues, a decision based on analyzing and reacting to customer feedback.

From the given examples, we can calculate the average wait time using given intervals such as a customer arriving every two minutes, and the impact of wait times on service management efficiency. These concepts are not only relevant in the context of fast food but are versatile in various business operations concerning consumer queue experiences, such as supermarkets or post offices. This notion is reinforced by statistics from Consumer Reports and studies about queue wait times and their variations in different settings, demonstrating the universal application of these principles in service industries.