Description
Reply to Waiting Lines Discussion 2
Q – Please read the discussion below and prepare a Reply to this discussion post with comments that further and advance the discussion topic.
Please provide the references you used.
Ensure zero plagiarism.
Word limit: 130 words
Discussion
Waiting Lines
Businesses utilize waiting lines to manage service delivery to their customers. Waiting lines develop when there is an imbalance between the capacity of the business and the demand from customers (Stevenson, 2021). Waiting lines add extra cost to the business because it has to create the waiting space and incur the cost of not providing adequate waiting space for its customers. I once worked in a local bank where waiting lines were a common thing. The waiting lines increased at the end of every month as most customers were paying their bills through the bank.
Challenges of waiting in line
One of the challenges of waiting lines is wastage. These lines do not add value to the business or the customers. According to lean systems, waiting is one of the seven wastes (Stevenson, 2021). For instance, there is also a possibility of a loss of business when customers leave instead of waiting in line. When I was working in the bank, I noted that customers often arrived randomly at the end of every month, creating long queues. Some of them were frustrated because they could not be served as they had wished. Therefore, another challenge of waiting lines is low customer satisfaction (Stevenson, 2021). According to Appiah and Osei (2019), waiting lines create a perception of neglect and time wastage among customers, especially in the banking sector. As a result, their satisfaction levels are low when they are forced to wait in line for long hours to be served.
Factors that contribute to waiting lines in banks at the end of the month
Waiting lines are caused by various factors, but the major contributory factor is high customer arrival rates. In the case of a bank, the potential number of customers is not limited (Stevenson, 2021). Therefore, they can arrive at any time. When large numbers of customers arrive randomly at the same time, they overwhelm the capacity of the bank, leading to long waiting lines. Another cause of waiting lines is limited channels or servers in the business. In the bank that I was working in, there were only three tellers serving hundreds of customers. Although the bank had a multi-channel system of servers, they were not enough to serve the high number of customers at the end of the month. Consequently, waiting lines developed.
How to minimize waiting lines
The bank, and any other business, can minimize waiting lines and manage to keep the costs low if it leverages technology. The business can utilize technology to automate some tasks and reduce the customers’ need to wait in line. For instance, the bank can automate some functions to enable customers to access their banking services remotely and reduce their need to come to the bank physically. They can also utilize technology to speed up processes at the bank and serve more customers at a time. Another way of minimizing waiting lines is to expand the multi-channel servers to accommodate more customers at a time. A multi-channel server has a group of servers working as a team (Stevenson, 2021). In the case of a bank, these teams serve customers simultaneously, thus reducing the waiting time for other customers.
Conclusion
Although businesses use waiting lines to manage service delivery to their customers, these waiting lines are undesirable. They incur extra costs to the business and lead to reduced customer satisfaction rates. In the case of a bank I was working in, waiting lines were caused by the surge of customers at the end of the month and the limited multi-channel system they had. Therefore, it is recommended that businesses should utilize technology and expand their multi-channel servers to minimize waiting lines.
References
Appiah, A., & Osei, C. B. (2019). Customers’ perceptions and reactions in waiting lines: lessons from a contact service environment in a developing economy. International Journal of Services and Operations Management, 33(2), 208-238.
Stevenson, W. J. (2021). Operations management. McMcGraw-Hill.
Q – Please read the discussion below and prepare a Reply to this discussion post with
comments that further and advance the discussion topic.
Please provide the references you used.
Ensure zero plagiarism.
Word limit: 130 words
Discussion
Waiting Lines
Businesses utilize waiting lines to manage service delivery to their customers. Waiting lines develop
when there is an imbalance between the capacity of the business and the demand from customers
(Stevenson, 2021). Waiting lines add extra cost to the business because it has to create the waiting
space and incur the cost of not providing adequate waiting space for its customers. I once worked in
a local bank where waiting lines were a common thing. The waiting lines increased at the end of
every month as most customers were paying their bills through the bank.
Challenges of waiting in line
One of the challenges of waiting lines is wastage. These lines do not add value to the business or the
customers. According to lean systems, waiting is one of the seven wastes (Stevenson, 2021). For
instance, there is also a possibility of a loss of business when customers leave instead of waiting in
line. When I was working in the bank, I noted that customers often arrived randomly at the end of
every month, creating long queues. Some of them were frustrated because they could not be served
as they had wished. Therefore, another challenge of waiting lines is low customer satisfaction
(Stevenson, 2021). According to Appiah and Osei (2019), waiting lines create a perception of neglect
and time wastage among customers, especially in the banking sector. As a result, their satisfaction
levels are low when they are forced to wait in line for long hours to be served.
Factors that contribute to waiting lines in banks at the end of the month
Waiting lines are caused by various factors, but the major contributory factor is high customer arrival
rates. In the case of a bank, the potential number of customers is not limited (Stevenson, 2021).
Therefore, they can arrive at any time. When large numbers of customers arrive randomly at the
same time, they overwhelm the capacity of the bank, leading to long waiting lines. Another cause of
waiting lines is limited channels or servers in the business. In the bank that I was working in, there
were only three tellers serving hundreds of customers. Although the bank had a multi-channel
system of servers, they were not enough to serve the high number of customers at the end of the
month. Consequently, waiting lines developed.
How to minimize waiting lines
The bank, and any other business, can minimize waiting lines and manage to keep the costs low if it
leverages technology. The business can utilize technology to automate some tasks and reduce the
customers’ need to wait in line. For instance, the bank can automate some functions to enable
customers to access their banking services remotely and reduce their need to come to the bank
physically. They can also utilize technology to speed up processes at the bank and serve more
customers at a time. Another way of minimizing waiting lines is to expand the multi-channel servers
to accommodate more customers at a time. A multi-channel server has a group of servers working as
a team (Stevenson, 2021). In the case of a bank, these teams serve customers simultaneously, thus
reducing the waiting time for other customers.
Conclusion
Although businesses use waiting lines to manage service delivery to their customers, these waiting
lines are undesirable. They incur extra costs to the business and lead to reduced customer
satisfaction rates. In the case of a bank I was working in, waiting lines were caused by the surge of
customers at the end of the month and the limited multi-channel system they had. Therefore, it is
recommended that businesses should utilize technology and expand their multi-channel servers to
minimize waiting lines.
References
Appiah, A., & Osei, C. B. (2019). Customers’ perceptions and reactions in waiting lines: lessons from a
contact service environment in a developing economy. International Journal of Services and
Operations Management, 33(2), 208-238.
Stevenson, W. J. (2021). Operations management. McMcGraw-Hill.
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