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Week 4 Exercise

The airline was receiving complaints about the time it took for passenger baggage to arrive at the baggage claim area, even though the airline was achieving its goal of unloading bags within 8-10 minutes. The airline investigated and found that the real problem was not the baggage unloading time, but rather that the short walk from the arrival gates to baggage claim meant passengers had to wait at baggage claim for their bags. To address this, the airline could increase the distance passengers had to walk after arriving or implement distractions like free WiFi or content on screens to make the wait feel shorter.

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121 views3 pages

Week 4 Exercise

The airline was receiving complaints about the time it took for passenger baggage to arrive at the baggage claim area, even though the airline was achieving its goal of unloading bags within 8-10 minutes. The airline investigated and found that the real problem was not the baggage unloading time, but rather that the short walk from the arrival gates to baggage claim meant passengers had to wait at baggage claim for their bags. To address this, the airline could increase the distance passengers had to walk after arriving or implement distractions like free WiFi or content on screens to make the wait feel shorter.

Uploaded by

John
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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5.

10 An airline at the Houston Airport tried to please its passengers by always docking its
planes at gates within a one to two minute walk to the airport entrance and baggage
claim and by having all the bags at the baggage claim area within 8 to 10 minutes.
Unfortunately, the airline received many complaints about the time it took to get the bags
to the baggage claim area. The airline researched the situation and found that there was
virtually no way it could unload the bags to the transport trucks, drive to the unloading
zone, and unload the bags any faster. The airline didn’t change the baggage unloading
procedure, but it did change another component of the arrival process and the
complaints disappeared.

What was the real problem?


The real problem isn’t that the bags took too long to reach the baggage claim area, but that the
arrival gates were so close to the airport entrance and baggage claim area that the passengers
always had to wait for their baggage.

Suggest a number of things that you think the airline might have done to eliminate the
complaints.
· Using the Duncker Diagram, and given that the problem is defined as the waiting
time for baggage at the baggage claim area
o Desired state: reduce the waiting time for baggage at the baggage claim area
§ Decrease the time to transfer the bags from the plane to the baggage
claim area
· But this solution has been considered by the airline, and found
that there cannot be any improvements in terms of baggage
handling time
§ Increase the walking time from the plane docking area to the baggage
claim area, so that wait time at the baggage claim area decreases
· Increase the physical distance between these two places
· Make the passengers walk through an area where there are a
lot of duty free shops, so that passengers will stop to browse
the products and potentially take a longer time to reach the
baggage claim area.
§ Reduce the number of immigration counters that are open so that the
processing time for arrivals will increase, and customers will wait less
at the baggage claim area.

o OK not to achieve desired state: don’t need to reduce the waiting time for
baggage at the baggage claim area
§ Distract passengers so that they do not feel the wait time for their
baggage
· Provide free, open access wifi so that people will use their
phones and time will seem to pass more quickly
· Have TV screens screening content, for example, travel ideas
within the country (so that tourists who are visiting the country
will be engaged)

5.7 Sodium azide is used as the propellant in an air bag system. This chemical is mixed with an
oxidising agent and pressed into pellets, which are then hermetically sealed into a steel or
aluminium can. Upon impact, ignition of the pelletized sodium azide generates nitrogen gas that
inflates the air bag. Unfortunately, if the sodium azide contacts acids or heavy metals (e.g. lead,
copper, mercury, or their alloys), it forms toxic and sensitive explosives. Consequently, at the
end of an automobile’s life, a serious problem surfaces when an automobile with an
undetonated air bag is sent to the junkyard for compacting and shredding, because it might
contact heavy metals during this process. The potential for an explosion during processing
represents a serious danger for the people who operate the scrap recycling plant. Apply two to
three problem definition techniques to this situation.

a) Duncker Diagram
Desired State - Airbag do not explode when in contact with acid or heavy metal
FS: Improve airbag composition
SS: Use non sodium azide composition. Enhance with sacrificial reactant to heavy
metal/resistance to heavy metals.
FS: Disable airbag before junkyard scrapping
FS: Do not scrap

OK if not desired state - Airbag explodes but do not cause casualties


FS: Isolate the explosion
SS: Build a specific concrete structure for enclosed scrapping of the car. Scrap the car in
an open field away from personnel.
FS: Remove personnel from scrapping area
SS: Automation of scrapping system.

b) Six Problem Statement Triggers


i) Emphasis: Sodium azide mixed with heavy metals may potentially cause serious danger to
people in the scrap recycling process.

ii) Substitute: A specific ionic compound mixed with another group of substance may potentially
cause worked related hazards to the workers in the junkyard.

iii) Invert: How can we find a method to create an explosion that will always injure the workers in
the junkyard?

iv) Change adverbs: Sodium azide mixed with heavy metals always cause serious danger to
people in the scrap recycling process.
v) Replace persuasive words: Sodium azide mixed with heavy metals may potentially cause
serious danger to people in the scrap recycling process.

vi) Diagram: Sodium azide mixed with heavy metals may potentially cause serious danger to
people in the scrap recycling process.

Probability of explosion = k
Probability of injury from explosion = n

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