Publication Type

Conference Proceeding Article

Version

acceptedVersion

Publication Date

12-2019

Abstract

As part of its continuous process to improve operational excellence and productivity, a retail company in South East Asia trialed the usage of a commercial market retail tool, known as Queue Buster, to improve queue management processes in its physical stores. We employed Queuing Theory to determine the effectiveness of implementing the Queue Buster. Specifically, we constructed a queuing simulation model based on input parameters derived from queuing data collected at a pilot store. Three main performance metrics - Wait Time, System Time and System Length were measured fortwo different queue systems, with and without the implementation of Queue Buster. Simulation results demonstrated improvement to all three performance metrics when Queue Buster is implemented. Using the system, we proposed an optimal range of trigger point i.e. the number of customers in the queue where retail chains should start employing Queue Buster to achieve optimal results.

Keywords

Queue Theory, Multiple-server Model, Queuing Simulation, Service Operations, Retail

Discipline

Computer Sciences | Operations and Supply Chain Management

Research Areas

Intelligent Systems and Optimization

Publication

2019 International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management (IEEM): Macao, December 15-19: Proceedings

First Page

606

Last Page

610

ISBN

9781728138046

Identifier

10.1109/IEEM44572.2019.8978794

Publisher

IEEE

City or Country

Piscataway, NJ

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1109/IEEM44572.2019.8978794

Download

Share

COinS