A Grocery Chain Is Considering the Installation of a Set

question 110

Essay

A grocery chain is considering the installation of a set of 4 self-checkout lanes. The new self-checkout lane setup will replace 2 old cashier lanes that were staffed by a cashier and bagger on each lane. One cashier mans all 4 self-checkouts (answering questions, checking for un-scanned items, taking coupons, etc). Checkout on the new lanes takes 2 minutes (customers bag their own orders) while checkout with the old lanes took only 45 seconds. In addition the electricity costs for both setups are $.05 per checkout while bagging (material) costs are $.1 per checkout with the old system and $.15 for the new system. The new lanes also require $100 in capital costs. Assume that the lanes are always in use for 8 hours per day (1 shift) and that a worker makes $10/hour.
a. How many checkouts did the old system provide in a shift?
b. How many checkouts does the new system provide?
c. What is the multifactor productivity for each system?

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Definitions:

Scatterplot

A type of plot or mathematical diagram using Cartesian coordinates to display values for two variables for a set of data, showing the relationship between them.

Side-By-Side Bar Chart

A graphical representation that displays the comparison of multiple variables or groups side by side using bars, facilitating easy comparison.

Pie Chart

A graphical representation of data in the form of a circle divided into sectors, where each sector's angle and area proportionally represent a category's contribution to the total.

Correlation Coefficient

A statistical measure that calculates the strength and direction of a linear relationship between two variables on a scatterplot.