1. A hospital emergency room averages 50 patients per shift. A shift is 8 hours long, and the average patient requires 20 minutes in the exam room.
a. How many exam rooms should the hospital have if it wishes to maintain a 30 percent capacity cushion?
b. Discuss whether you think a 30 percent capacity cushion is appropriate for a hospital emergency room. What factors would you consider when setting this cushion?
2. A fast-food restaurant averages 150 customers per hour. The average processing time per customer is 90 seconds.
a. Determine how many cash registers the restaurant should have if it wishes to maintain a 10 percent capacity cushion.
b. Discuss whether you think a 10 percent capacity cushion is appropriate for a fast-food restaurant. What factors would you consider when setting this cushion?
3. A university has demand for 10,000 classroom seats per day (one student in one class is a classroom seat). All classrooms have 50 seats, and the day is considered to be 10 hours long for scheduling purposes. Each class takes 1 hour. Determine the number of classrooms required if the university seeks to maintain a 20 percent capacity cushion.