Svc Systems with Patient Customers

The “Elizabeth Line” May Have Set a Record in Britain

They came to pay their respects to the Queen.

Britons knew the line would be long, but it did not matter. They wanted to see their Queen one last time. What could have been a logistical nightmare turned out to be an orderly process with few incidents. The Lying-in-State Queue exemplifies project management at its best: careful planning, teamwork, and attention to detail for seamless execution.

Video Spotlight: David Beckham Joins Crowd Waiting in Line for Hours to […]

By Corinne M. Karuppan, Ph.D.|2022-09-26T00:31:30+00:00September 29, 2022|Tags: service design, waiting lines|

Santa Barbara Chick-fil-A Too Successful?

Santa Barbara’s Chick-fil-A restaurant has been so successful that cars back up onto the road in front of the restaurant for about 90 minutes a day, and up to 155 minutes a day on Saturdays.

The backups have become such a problem that the City is in process of declaring this Chick-fil-A a public nuisance.

Santa Barbara has an ordinance that bans the construction of new drive-thru restaurants, but this Chick-fil-A location was previously a Burger King restaurant with a drive-thru, and […]

By Ross L. Fink, Ph.D.|2022-05-17T06:06:37+00:00May 18, 2022|Tags: capacity, facility location, process design, queuing theory, regulations, waiting lines|

Ottobots, Assemble! And Deliver.

Passengers at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport can now use their phones to order food and/or retail items and have their purchases delivered to their airport location by a fleet of fully autonomous robots called Ottobots.

Purchases are retrieved by customers from the robot’s secure compartment with a unique QR code that can be scanned by the robot’s camera. Contactless delivery, fueled by the pandemic, is made possible with Ottonomy’s proprietary Contextual Mobility technology. It enables Ottobots to navigate through crowds […]

By Anita Lee-Post, Ph.D.|2022-02-07T04:47:45+00:00February 7, 2022|Tags: automation, delivery, last mile delivery, order fulfillment, robots, service processes, technology|

Disney Genie: The Next Gen in Managing Lines?

Fast Pass and Max Pass are things of the past. Disney World has rolled out its new queueing programs, Disney Genie, Disney Genie Plus, and individual fees for very popular individual attractions.

Disney Genie is a free program that anyone can access on a phone app to plan customized itineraries and see wait times in real time once guests are in the park.

With Disney Genie Plus, guests pay $15/day at Disney World to access “Lighting Lanes” in some ways that are […]

By Lisa M. Spencer|2022-01-18T07:54:04+00:00January 19, 2022|Tags: capacity planning, forecasting, quality, queuing, queuing theory, service design|