Introduction to Management Science 12th Edition by Bernard Taylor

Exercise 44

From 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. the local K-Star Supermarket has a steady stream of customers. Customers finish shopping and arrive at the checkout area at a rate of 70 per hour (Poisson distributed). It is assumed that when customers arrive at the cash registers, they will divide themselves relatively evenly so that all the checkout lines contain an equal number. The average checkout time at a register is 7 minutes (exponentially distributed). The store manager's service goal is for customers to be out of the store within 12 minutes (on average) after they complete their shopping and arrive at a cash register. How many cash registers must the store have open to achieve the manager's service goal