Mick and Donald run a fast food outlet on the road between Hay and Narrandera in New South Wales. This road is one of the main transport corridors between Adelaide and Sydney. For most of the day, Mick and Donald are able to keep up with demand and serve customers quickly. However, from 4 pm to 8 pm the shop is inundated with truck drivers, most of whom want one of Mick's famous 'hamburgers with lot'. Queues build, tummies rumble and truck drivers grumble.
Mick decided to solve problem by setting up a hamburger production line from 4 pm to 8 pm each day. His wife, Minnie, would take over the sales counter. He would cut, toast and butter the bread rolls (he can complete 20 per hour). Donald would cook the meat patties, eggs, bacon and onions (he can complete 40 serves per hour). Donald's wife, Daisy, would chop the lettuce and tomato and place it in a toasted bread roll along with the meat patty, egg, bacon, onion, and, of course sauce (she can complete 25 hamburgers per hour).
The new system was put in place, and the next day, an average of 30 customers per hour ordered a hamburger with the lot between 4 pm and 8 pm.
Required:
1. Draw a diagram similar to that shown in Exhibit 16.9 to identify the number of customers per hour who received their orders.
2. How many customers were unfed by 8 pm?
3. Identify the bottlenecks in Mick's production process and suggest how they might be overcome to meet the customers' requirements.