The GNG Café, a new concept in on-campus dining features homemade bakery items, upscale sandwiches and wraps, fresh salads, and signature soups. The modern café-style design allows customers the freedom to select their menu choices from individual stations throughout the café. While the restaurant has caught the imagination of the university community with its nifty interiors and quality food (which is a welcome change from €œthe bun€) space and layout restrictions have ensured that the customer when buying anything at GNG can neither €œgrab€ nor €œgo€ with his food. It is undeniable that the quality of food offered at GNG is good, but GNG management should not forget that their target customers are students who possess a modest income. It is not unusual for students to reach the checkout and find themselves without sufficient funds to complete their transaction. The first thing customers do when they enter the restaurant is stand and look for the various items they want to buy. While the food and drinks are displayed quite neatly and colorfully, customers still have a hard time figuring out where to go first and what price they should expect to pay for a particular product. Neither the product options nor their prices are prominently displayed. This is especially true of made-to-order sandwiches. Since customers don€™t have information about the sandwiches beforehand and the options are many, they can take quite some time deciding what kind of sandwich they want to buy. This causes a traffic problem especially at mealtimes when a lot of people come in at the same time to order, and then must wait for their food in a small space. The overcrowding and open layout also present problems with pilfering of food, as students conveniently €œforget€ to pay upon exiting the facility. GNG management has agreed to take on a student project to chart the flow of customers through the café and to make recommendations on facility changes.

A schematic diagram of the existing layout follows, along with data on the flow of 25 customers. What changes in layout and operating procedures would you recommend forGNG?

Total Sandwiches Coffee or Time Customer Items Drinks Soups Drinks Fruitsdsand Wraps) Cookies (minl 3.00 4.50 Bakery Fountain Bottled Fresh 2.50 3.70 4.50 8.00 9.00 10.00 8.00 4.50 1.00 2.00 3.00 1.50 2.00 8.00 Bottled drinks, fruit, salads and fresh food Coffee Ckout Ckout