[Production Capacity] Consider the following process. Every traveler from Vancouver to the U.S. has to pass security and then immigration at Vancouver. There are 4 security lanes/counters and 10 immigration counters. It takes 1 minute for a security lane to process a traveler (not including waiting time). It takes 3 minutes for an immigration agent to process a traveler. These counters open at 5 a.m.
1. You arrive at 5 a.m. to security, when do you expect to complete immigration?
2. A group of 6 students arrives at 5 a.m. to security. When will all of them complete immigration? (All processing is done individually and not in groups.)
3. How many travelers per hour can this system handle if it operates non-stop, 24/7?
4. If we had the budget to add one more agent, should we add a security agent or an immigration agent? How many travelers can the system handle per hour now?
5. Back to 4 security agents and 10 immigration agents. Assume now that for group travelers, all members are served simultaneously by one immigration agent (security is done individually). Immigration processing time per group = 2 minutes + 1 minute for each passenger. If most travelers are individual, which agent-type do we need more of to increase capacity? If most travelers are in groups of 4, which agent-type do we need more of to increase capacity?