Starbucks Employs One Worker To Make Both Espresso Drinks

Starbucks Employs One Worker To Make Both Espresso Drinks And To Pour

Starbucks employs one worker to make both espresso drinks and to pour drip coffee. The time taken to prepare each type of drink varies, with an espresso drink taking approximately 4 minutes to make, and a drip coffee pouring process taking about 1 minute. The number of customers per hour requesting espresso drinks is 6, while 18 customers prefer drip coffee. The task is to determine the utilization of the Starbucks coffee employee, considering the combined workload and processing times.

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Paper For Above instruction

Introduction

Understanding employee utilization in a service setting like Starbucks involves analyzing the time they spend actively engaged in serving customers relative to their total available working time. Employee utilization reflects efficiency and helps in resource planning, ensuring that staff are neither under-utilized nor overburdened.

Methodology

The scenario involves a single worker serving two types of products with distinct processing times and customer demand rates. To calculate utilization, the key parameters include the service times per customer and the arrival rates (customer demand) for each product, which are used to determine the total workload and the worker's capacity.

Calculating Utilization

Employee utilization can be calculated by summing the workload associated with each service type and dividing it by the total available work time. The formula for utilization (U) is:

\[ U = \frac{\text{Total Time Spent Servicing Customers}}{\text{Total Available Time}} \]

Assuming an hour consists of 60 minutes, the total available time per hour for the worker is 60 minutes.

The demand per hour for each product is given: 6 espresso drinks, each taking 4 minutes, and 18 drip coffees, each taking 1 minute.

- Total time on espresso drinks per hour = 6 drinks × 4 minutes = 24 minutes

- Total time on drip coffee per hour = 18 drinks × 1 minute = 18 minutes

Total workload per hour = 24 + 18 = 42 minutes

Thus, the utilization is:

\[ U = \frac{42 \text{ minutes}}{60 \text{ minutes}} = 0.7 \]

Expressed as a percentage, the employee's utilization is approximately 70%.

Discussion and Implications

A utilization rate of 70% indicates that the worker is actively engaged in serving customers for a significant portion of their shift, leaving 30% of their time potentially available for other tasks such as cleaning, restocking, or handling unexpected delays. High utilization can enhance productivity but may lead to increased stress or customer wait times if demand unexpectedly rises.

Additionally, this model assumes constant demand and processing times, which in real-world settings are subject to variability. Therefore, managers should consider fluctuations and plan staffing levels accordingly to maintain customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.

Conclusion

The calculation indicates that the Starbucks employee's utilization is approximately 70%, demonstrating efficient but balanced workload management. Monitoring and adjusting staffing strategies based on demand variability can help optimize service levels and employee well-being.

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