Capacity Problems: Fat Charlie's Restaurants Is Building A N

Capacity Problemsfat Charlies Restaurants Is Building A New Burger Pl

Capacity Problemsfat Charlies Restaurants is building a new burger place and needs to determine how big to make the various parts of its facility. It wants to be able to accommodate a maximum of 500 customers per hour at its peak times. Fat Charlie’s has collected the following information: the average time to place and receive an order is 1.25 minutes, the average cost per order is $11.76, the average time spent in the restroom is 0.4 minutes (50 percent of customers are men and 50 percent women), 20 percent of the customers have cars and require parking spots, and the average length of time at the restaurant is 32 minutes per customer. Approximately 25% of the vehicles are trucks or SUVs. There are several large offices close by which generate a lot of foot traffic. Employees are required to park in a remote parking lot (do not add parking places for employees). 1. Determine the number of cash registers required. 2. Determine the number of parking spaces needed. Rocky’s Pre-Cast Shop is considering two different processes for completing Pre-Cast jobs. Process A uses one person to setup the job and do the pre-casting. If this approach is used, an experienced person can complete an average of 20 jobs per day. Process B uses two people. One person does the setup and the second person does the actual pre-casting. Setup on one job can be done while pre-casting is being completed on another but pre-casting must be completed on a job before the pre-cast machine can start processing the next. After some practice, this second process can be completed with a standard time of 8 minutes for setup and 15 minutes for actual pre-casting. In either case, assume an 8-hour day, 5 days per week, 250 days per year. The two employees in process B can start their shifts at different times. 3. Assuming ideal conditions, what is the maximum capacity of process B annually? 4. If Rocky’s is primarily interested in providing low cost to customers, which process should he put in place? PSY-520 Topic 1 Application Check Using your own words, define the following terms and provide an example: 1. Descriptive statistics: 2. Inferential statistics: 3. Qualitative data: 4. Quantitative data: 5. Independent variable: 6. Dependent variable: 7. Mode: 8. Mean: 9. Median: 10. Percentile: 11. Standard deviation: 12. Degrees of freedom: image1.jpg

Paper For Above instruction

This comprehensive analysis addresses the operational planning challenges faced by Fat Charlie’s Restaurants in designing their new burger facility and examines process optimization at Rocky’s Pre-Cast Shop. The primary goal is to determine necessary capacities for customer service and parking, along with evaluating production efficiencies for pre-cast jobs, all grounded in quantitative methods and statistical concepts.

Capacity Planning for Fat Charlie’s Restaurants

To accommodate a maximum of 500 customers per hour during peak times, it is essential to analyze the flow of customers from arrival to service and overall time spent at the restaurant. The average time to place and receive an order is 1.25 minutes, and the total length of a customer’s stay is 32 minutes. Not all customers require the same resources, so capacity planning involves calculating the number of cash registers needed and parking spaces based on customer flow and vehicle requirements.

The key is to determine the number of cash registers. Since the maximum flow is 500 customers per hour, and assuming each register handles orders independently, the process capacity per register can be calculated using the average order processing time. Each customer spends approximately 1.25 minutes ordering, so the number of customers a single register can serve per hour is 60 minutes / 1.25 minutes = 48 customers. To handle 500 customers per hour, the number of registers required is 500 / 48 ≈ 10.42. Rounding up, Fat Charlie’s needs at least 11 cash registers to meet the peak demand risk-free.

Parking spaces are essential for customers with vehicles. With 20% of customers owning cars, and considering about 50% of customers are men and women (equal distribution), the total customer count per hour is 500, with 20% being vehicular. That results in 500 × 0.20 = 100 parking spaces needed at peak times. Since approximately 25% of vehicles are trucks or SUVs requiring larger parking spaces, the total parking spaces should be increased accordingly. For 100 vehicles, 25% (25 vehicles) are trucks/SUVs, necessitating extra space (e.g., 25% larger spots), but for capacity purposes, counting all as parking spaces suffices.

Multiplying the hourly parking space requirement by peak hour duration gives a total of 100 spaces, assuming steady peak flow. Employees will park in a remote lot, which is not included in these calculations. Therefore, for operational planning, Fat Charlie’s requires at least 11 cash registers and 100 parking spaces.

Production Capacity Analysis at Rocky’s Pre-Cast Shop

Rocky’s Pre-Cast Shop considers two process options for completing pre-cast jobs: Process A with one worker and Process B with two workers. The comparison hinges on efficiency, capacity, and cost-effectiveness. Process A produces 20 jobs per day with one experienced worker, operating within an 8-hour workday.

For Process B, where two workers are involved—setup and pre-casting—the process involves an 8-minute setup time and a 15-minute pre-casting duration. The setup can occur simultaneously with ongoing pre-casting on other jobs, enabling parallel workflows. The overall cycle time per job in Process B is determined by the longer of the setup time or pre-casting time, which is 15 minutes. This allows multiple jobs to be processed concurrently, with a new job starting once the previous one clears the pre-casting phase.

Calculating maximum capacity under ideal conditions involves determining how many jobs can be completed over a standard work year. With an 8-minute cycle for each job, the number of jobs per day per worker is (480 minutes / 15 minutes) = 32 jobs. Since two workers operate in parallel, and tasks are divided, the combined capacity becomes significant. However, due to the setup phase overlapping with ongoing pre-casting, the actual maximal throughput depends on the bottleneck: pre-casting duration.

Thus, per worker, total jobs processed per day is 32, resulting in a combined capacity of 64 jobs for both workers. Over 250 working days per year, Process B’s maximum capacity is 64 jobs/day × 250 days = 16,000 jobs annually, assuming ideal, uninterrupted operation.

Considering cost factors, Process B may involve higher labor costs but increases throughput significantly. For low-cost service provision, Process A might be preferable despite lower capacity, as it utilizes fewer resources. Nevertheless, the maximum capacity at peak efficiency indicates that Process B exceeds Process A substantially, making it more suitable if capacity is the priority.

Statistical Concepts and Their Application

In analyzing operational data, understanding descriptive and inferential statistics, as well as the nature of data, is vital. Descriptive statistics summarize data attributes—such as mean, median, mode, and standard deviation—providing insights into typical customer durations or order times. Inferential statistics allow managers to make predictions or decisions based on sample data, such as estimating average wait times during peak hours across multiple days.

Qualitative data, such as customer satisfaction or employee feedback, provides contextual insights that complement quantitative measures. Quantitative data involves measurable variables like number of customers, order times, or parking spaces. The independent variable might be the number of cash registers, while the dependent variable could be service throughput or customer satisfaction.

Understanding measures like mode (most common value), mean (average), median (middle value), and percentiles (values below which a certain percentage falls) helps managers interpret operational data. Standard deviation indicates variability in customer wait times, and degrees of freedom are relevant when estimating parameters from samples, impacting confidence interval calculations (Montgomery & Runger, 2014).

Conclusion

Effective capacity planning and process evaluation are crucial for optimizing restaurant and manufacturing operations. Fat Charlie’s Restaurants can meet peak demand with at least 11 cash registers and 100 parking spaces, ensuring a smooth customer experience. Rocky’s Pre-Cast Shop’s analysis indicates that Process B, despite higher labor complexity, offers substantial capacity benefits—particularly when the goal is throughput maximization at minimal operational cost. Familiarity with statistical principles enables better interpretation of operational data, supporting informed decision-making and continuous improvement.

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