Why the other line is likely to move faster

Bill reveals how "queueing theory" - developed by engineers to route phone calls - can be used to find the most efficient arrangement of cashiers and check out lines. He reports on the work of Agner Erlang, a Danish engineer who, at the opening of the 20th century, helped the Copenhagen Telephone Company provide the best level of service at the lowest price.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Bill Hammack
• queues
• queueing theory
• queuing
• lines
• waiting
• shopping
• engineering
• University of Illinois U

[dannyboom6]

Its a home phone not a cell phone so how would the end work lol

[engineerguyvideo]

@dannyboom6 I use google voice: It forward to my mobile, home, office, and studio ... they all ring at once!

[Aaradmegaman234]

I work at a movie theater and I tried explaining to my manager that one line would be faster than a line for each cashier but he just refused to believe it. I showed him your video and now we just have one line. You da man!

[bacon31]

Walmart does this at the new locations.

[DanielMelAU]

Mind blown.

[CarlosIsDown]

Fry's does one line for all the cashiers.

[Uzamaki312]

there is a store in a mall around my house that does lines like that

[IAmTheWalrusGuy]

@aerodyno you mean fluorescent lighting?

[Matrix29bear]

I also agree with a previous comment here in that this method, although okay for banks, does not work at supermarkets because customers have large quantities of items laid on the conveyer belts. Eliminating the belt preloading while the cashier is finishing up with the previous customer results in added delay. Since belt-preloading also determines how groceries will be bagged, this also increases inconvenience for the customers. It also voids the value of 20-items-or-less lines.

[Matrix29bear]

There are other obvious factors in play. Blacks line-jump constantly (part ego, part ignorance, & part genetic-assholery) so they will constantly be starting fights in this system. What if you need to jump out of line to get something, well now you're wedged into a cattle line (sometimes with brass bumpers). What of the elderly (whom don't handle well the standing for long periods), well in a brass bumper line, they have to steer heavy carts in tight turns. It's all great if we were robots.

[Matrix29bear]

On the other hand, if you have clumps of elderly folks or Welfare Queens, then you get all 3 cashiers blocked with slow moronic check writers, or granny puttering through her purse for that last exact penny. Otherwise you are not factoring in the "Humans are not machines" aspect. Cashiers get tired (lifting to scan over a thousand items heavy & small per hour is calorie taxing), bored, distracted, need their change & small bills restocked. With this queuing the cashiers are working non-stop.

[teylix]

You are still putting through the same amount of people given equal amount of cashiers. Only time it becomes more efficient is if people for any reason at all do not switch to the empty queues.

Also it is rationalized in this video that you're the guy stuck behind the old person (writing a check that doesnt go through the first 10 times) then of course the single line would be more efficient for you.

[aerodyno]

Please do a video on how tube lights work