Question

A campus deli serves 250 customers over its busy lunch period from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm. A quick count of the number of customers waiting in line and being served by the sandwich makers shows that an average of 7 customers are in process at any point in time. What is the average amount of time that a customer spends in process?

Answer 1

To find the average time that a customer spends in process at the deli, we can use Little's Law, which states that average number of customers in a system is equal to the average arrival rate multiplied by the average time in the system.

First, we need to calculate the arrival rate:

Arrival Rate = Number of customers / Time
Arrival Rate = 250 customers / 2 hours
Arrival Rate = 125 customers per hour

Next, we need to calculate the average time a customer spends in the system:

Average Customers in System = Arrival Rate x Average Time in System
7 = 125 x Average Time in System
Average Time in System = 7 / 125
Average Time in System = 0.056 hours
Average Time in System = 3.36 minutes

Therefore, the average amount of time that a customer spends in process is approximately 3.36 minutes.