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A comment on What happens when you add a new teller? (2008).

Re:What happens when you add a new teller? (2008) by tjpaudio on Tuesday December 03, 2019 @03:38PM (#21696450)
Kind of a textbook description of queue theory if you were taking a stochastic processes class. If the author really is suggesting this for use in retail line situations, he is out of touch because... retail managers have no idea what queue theory is. If they did, they would be making much more money, and not working in retail. Staffing is more of a function of how many people you can get on the clock without getting yelled at by regional managers (who also do not know queue theory) for overstaffing.
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Re:What happens when you add a new teller? (2008) by paulgb on Tuesday December 03, 2019 @04:29PM (#21696926)
Retailers do use queue theory (here's an old article about it[1]), it just has to come from the management down rather than individual store managers.

1: https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/23/business/23checkout.html

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Re:What happens when you add a new teller? (2008) by Spooky23 on Tuesday December 03, 2019 @06:51PM (#21698216)
That’s not true at all! A good GM understands throughput and may get bonuses based on that.

The retailer I worked at in the 90s also tracked the ring rate and time per customer for cashiers, and made scheduling and hour decisions based on performance.

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Re:What happens when you add a new teller? (2008) by tjpaudio on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @02:34PM (#21706046)
Thats great and all, but also not queue theory.
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Re:What happens when you add a new teller? (2008) by wwweston on Tuesday December 03, 2019 @07:01PM (#21698265)
What's the formula for making more money by knowing queueing theory?

(Not the application to retail management, which is straightforward, but the application to getting a better job.)

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Re:What happens when you add a new teller? (2008) by tjpaudio on Wednesday December 04, 2019 @02:29PM (#21705995)
Maybe less literal than you are thinking. A background in mathematics opens you to many lucrative careers.
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