Arriving at JFK airport in New York from overseas requires a sequence of immigration and customs-clearing activities before a passenger can board a domestic flight for home. The table below lists the activities and their average times. Each activity is performed in the sequence noted and there is one clerk assigned to each activity to help in the process. Once one passenger has finished an activity, the next passenger can start that activity.

Activity	Average time, sec.
1. Deplane	20
2. Immigration	50
3. Baggage claim check inspection	40
4. Customs	16
5. Check baggage	24
6. Board domestic flight	15

Look at this as a process you have been asked to analyze.

a) What is the activity that is limiting the hourly output and what is the maximum number of passengers who can be processed per hour?

b) Suppose that steps 3 and 4 are combined. In addition, the two clerks previously doing each step separately will both be assigned to perform these two activities. What is the activity that is limiting the hourly output and what is the maximum number of passengers who can be processed per hour?

Answer rating: 100% (QA)

Answers 1 The hourly output is limited by bottleneck or the activity taking the maxim... View the full answer