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Queuing Dilemma @ Kool Foods

CASELET, OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT
ET Cases, 2 pages
AUTHOR(S) : R. Muthukumar and Dr. Nagendra V. Chowdary

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Queuing Dilemma@Kool Foods

 

Hyderabad-based Kool Foods is a dairy parlor that serves dairy products for half the cost charged by other local dairy product suppliers in the region. When the dairy parlor was started, 2 years ago in mid-2012, it was an instant hit with the customers and in a short span of time Kool Foods had opened three more outlets in the city.

Kool Foods had a simple system in place wherein, customers selected the products in a basket and paid at the counter to finish the purchase process (Exhibit I). Initially, the speed at which the customers were served during the peak business hours (morning and evening hours) was outstanding, with minimum waiting time ranging only a couple of minutes.

Within few months, Harish Bhargava (Bhargava), the owner of Kool Foods, observed that the waiting time of his customers in the queue kept increasing as the days progressed. Sometimes, few customers even complained of the long waiting hours. There was only one service cash counter and product packing counter...........

Assignment Questions

I. Discuss the waiting line concept and how it helps in decision-making.
II. .................

Exhibits

Exhibit I : Kool Foods: An Overview

Teaching Note Preview

Queuing Dilemma@Kool Foods

 

Prerequisite Conceptual Understanding

  • • Jay Heizer, et al., “Chapter 14: Short-Term Scheduling”, Operations Management, 9th Edition, Pearson Education, 2008
  • • Basics of Waiting Lines and Queuing Theory

 

Synopsis

This caselet is meant for students pursuing a course in Operations Management. The caselet helps to understand the concepts – waiting lines and queuing theory through the dilemmas faced by Harish Bhargava (Bhargava), founder of Kool Foods, a dairy parlor. Due to increased customers, Bhargava had to decide whether he has to recruit one more employee or set up an extra cash counter. The caselet ends with the dilemma to identify the most feasible and optimal solution.

Expected Learning Outcomes

At the end of this caselet discussion, the participants are expected to know:

  • • The basics of Waiting Lines and Queuing Theory
  • • How queuing theory helps in better decision-making

 

Assignment Questions

  • I. Discuss the waiting line concept and how it helps in decision-making.
  • II. If you are founder of Kool Foods, how would you identify and analyze the queuing system at Kool Foods.

 

Teaching Plan

This Teaching Note follows a sequential order as presented in the Teaching Plan [Annexure (TN)-I]............

Exhibits

Exhibit (TN)-I: Types of Queuing System Configurations

Exhibit (TN)-II: Operating Characteristics for Each Alternative System

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Abstract


This caselet is meant for students pursuing a course in Operations Management. The caselet helps to understand the concepts – waiting lines and queuing theory through the dilemmas faced by Harish Bhargava (Bhargava), founder of Kool Foods, a dairy parlor. Due to increased customers, Bhargava had to decide whether he has to recruit one more employee or set up an extra cash counter. The caselet ends with the dilemma to identify the most feasible and optimal solution.



Pedagogical Objectives

  • To understand the basics of Waiting Lines and Queuing Theory
  • To discuss how queuing theory helps in better decision-making



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