How Service Organizations Are Classified
Classified according to the customers they service and the service they provide to those customers.
Services
Cannot be stored in inventory. Capacity becomes the dominant issue (too much-->excessive costs. Insufficient-->lost customers).
Service Blueprinting
The standard tool for service process design is this flowchart. There is a distinction made between the high customer contact aspects of the service and those activities the customer does not see. Involves fail-safing.
Fail-Safing
Involves using the service blueprint to identify opportunities for failure and then establishing procedures to prevent mistakes form becoming defects (poka-yokes).
Poka-Yoke
Procedures that block the inevitable mistake from becoming a service defect ("avoid mistakes"). Common in factories. Ex: Warning methods, physical or visual contact methods.
Warning Method Poka-Yokes
Steps that lead to mistakes trigger a reminder.
Physical or Visual Contact Method Poka-Yokes
Parts can only fit together in the correct way.
Waiting Lines
Central problem in service settings is the management of this.
Vary, Fixed.
Arrivals often _____ greatly over a time period while service capacity is usually _____.
How Companies Can Control Customer Arrivals
Short lines, specific hours fro specific customers, and specials.
Ways to Manage Queues
Segment the customers, train your servers to be friendly, inform your customers of what to expect, try to divert the customer's attention when waiting, and encourage customers to come during slack periods.
Infinite, random.
Population size is _____ and customer arrival rates are ____.
Queueing System Factors
Length, number of lines, queue discipline.
Queue Discipline
Priority rule or set of rules that determine the order of service for customers who are waiting in line. How do new arrivals enter the line? How do you decide which customer to serve next?
Balking
When customers arrive, view, and leave.
Reneging
When customers arrive, wait a while, then leave.
Length
How much waiting room is available for customers?
Number of Lines
How many servers are working to serve customers?
Service Time Distribution
What is the service rate and how much does it vary?
Single Channel, Single Phase
Bank teller
Single Channel, Multiphase
Automated Car Wash
Low Probability of Re-service or High Probability of Re-service
Customers who have been served have two possible desired outcomes:
Computer Simulation of Waiting Lines
Some waiting line problems are complex, equations assume that waiting lines are independent, and some problems have conditions that do not meet the requirements of the equations.