Svc Systems with Patient Customers

Buc-ee’s Adds New Stores

Buc-ee’s has become a trendy convenience store in the southeastern United States.

With approximately 50 locations and more on the way, Buc-ee’s is not just any convenience store. While a traditional convenience store has approximately 2,500 square feet, Buc-ee’s are typically 75,000 square feet or more. They are known for having hundreds of gas pumps, large clean restrooms, large stores, beaver logo merchandise, Texas-style barbecue, jerky, Beaver Nuggets (sugar and butter coated corn puffs), fudge, glazed nuts, fresh pastries, and sometimes […]

By Ross L. Fink, Ph.D.|2024-10-11T22:01:49+00:00October 11, 2024|Tags: facility location, inventory management, location, queuing theory, waiting lines|

Are You a “Problem Returner”?

Retail returns are a problem for many retailers. In 2023, over $743 billion in merchandise was returned.

It can cost 40% of the value of an item to process the return to be resold. And in many cases, items can’t be resold for full price. As a result, many retailers are looking at their return policies and making changes to them.

These changes include shrinking the return window, charging for returns, allowing customers to “just keep it,” and in some cases denying […]

By Ross L. Fink, Ph.D.|2024-07-10T06:39:27+00:00July 10, 2024|Tags: processes, retail, returns, reverse logistics|

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|