Little Law Problems

Process Analysis
Little’s Law
Airline Check-in
1. Consider the baggage check-in of a small airline. Check-in data indicate that from 9 a.m. to
10 a.m., 255 passengers checked in. Moreover, based on counting the number of passengers
waiting in line, airport management found that the average number of passengers 2 waiting
for check-in was 35. How long did the average passenger have to wait in line?
Solution:
Inventory = Flow rate x Flow time

35 passengers = 255 passengers/hr x H hrs
H = 35/255 = 0.13725 hrs x 60 min/hr = 8.2 min
2. On a typical weekday in January, 4,200 customers visit the Pittsburgh Wal-Mart. It is estimated
that, on average, there are 350 customers in the store. Assuming that the store is open 14 hours
a day, how much time does the average customer spend in the store?
Solution:
Since the average number of customers in the store is 350, I=350. - 4,200 customers go through the
system in a 14 hr. day. Thus, the throughput rate (R) is 4200 customers/day or 4200/14 = 300
customers/hr. - Applying Little’s Law (I=R*T) the time an average customer spends in the store is:
T=I/R = 350/300 = 1.17 hours = 70 minutes
3. A voting booth processes 50 voters per hour on average. Each voter spends 10 minutes on
average at the voting booth. How many voters are at the booth on average?
WIP = 10 minutes*50/60 = 8.33
4. Loans at a particular commercial bank take 6 business days to process on average. The bank
currently has 100 applications in various stages of processing. How many applications should
the bank be able to process this month?
WIP = 100, CT = 6 days, TPT = 600 days. No of application in a month = 20.
5. A restaurant makes 400 pizzas per week, each of which uses one-half pound of dough. The
restaurant typically maintains an inventory of 70 pounds of dough. How old is the dough on
average that is used in the pizza?
TPR = 400 pizzas/week = 200 pounds/week
WIP = 70 pounds of dough
TPT = WIP/TPR = 70/200 = 0.35 week

6. A fast food restaurant processes on the average 5000 pounds of hamburger per week. The
observed inventory level of raw meat, over a long period of time, averages 2500 pounds. What is
average time spent by a pound of meat in the inventory.
TPR = 5000, WIP = 2500, TPT = 2500/5000 = 0.5 weeks
7. A restaurant processes on average 1500 customers per day (=15 hours). On average, there are
50 customers waiting to place an order, waiting for an order to arrive or eating. What is average
time each customer is waiting in the restaurant?
CT = 15/1500 = .01 customer/hr, WIP = 50, TPT = 50*.01 = 0.5 hr or 30 mins
8. Certain Japanese company has 36,000 employees, 20% of whom are women. The average term
of employment for a woman is 37 months, whereas for men it is 200 months. Assume that the
total employment level and the mix of men and women are stable over time. What is average
number of women employees hired every month?
WIP = 36000*0.2 = 7200 women in the system
TPT = 37 months (women stay in the system for 37 months)
TPR = 7200/37 = 194.6 women/month (new employees hired per month)
9. A supermarket receives from suppliers 300 tons of fish over the course of full year, which
averages around 25 tons per month. The average quantity of fish stored in the freezer is 16.5
tons. On average, how long does a ton of fish remain in the freezer between the time it is
received and the time it is sent to the sales department?
TPR = 25 tons/month, WIP = 16.5 tons, TPT = 16.5/25 months = 0.66 month
10. An insurance company processes 10,000 claims per year. The average processing time for a
claim is 3 weeks. Assuming 50 weeks per year, what is the average number of backlog claims?
TPR = 10000/year = 200 claims per week,
TPT = 3 weeks
WIP = 3*200 = 600 claims are backlog on average
11. A company sells $300 millions worth of finished goods per year. The average amount of accounts
receivable is $45 millions. How long does it take between the time the customer is billed and the
time the payment is received?
WIP = $45m
TPR = $300m/year
TPT = 45/300 = 1.8 months

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Process Analysis

Inventory = Flow rate x Flow time

WIP = 10 minutes*50/60 = 8.33

WIP = 100, CT = 6 days, TPT = 600 days. No of application in a month = 20.

TPR = 400 pizzas/week = 200 pounds/week

WIP = 70 pounds of dough

TPT = WIP/TPR = 70/200 = 0.35 week

TPR = 5000, WIP = 2500, TPT = 2500/5000 = 0.5 weeks

CT = 15/1500 = .01 customer/hr, WIP = 50, TPT = 50*.01 = 0.5 hr or 30 mins

WIP = 36000*0.2 = 7200 women in the system

TPT = 37 months (women stay in the system for 37 months)

TPR = 7200/37 = 194.6 women/month (new employees hired per month)

TPR = 10000/year = 200 claims per week,

WIP = 3*200 = 600 claims are backlog on average

TPT = 45/300 = 1.8 months

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