At Carver, it takes the average person 6 minutes to wait in line and get ice cream. They are able to serve 200 customers in an hour.

The serving of 200 customers in an hour is an example of which component of Little's Law?

Question

At Carver, it takes the average person 6 minutes to wait in line and get ice cream. They are able to serve 200 customers in an hour.

The serving of 200 customers in an hour is an example of which component of Little's Law?

BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Flow rate (throughput) measures how many customers are served per unit of time, so 200 customers per hour is a flow rate.

Relevant knowledge points and concepts:
- Little’s Law: Inventory (L) = Flow Rate (λ) × Flow Time (W). Common notations: L = λW.
- Definitions:
  - Flow Rate (λ): number of items (customers) processed per unit time (e.g., customers/hour).
  - Flow Time (W): average time an item spends in the system (e.g., minutes per customer).
  - Inventory (L): average number of items in the system at any time (e.g., customers in line or being served).

Step-by-step reasoning and intermediate calculations:
1. Identify given quantities:
   - “They are able to serve 200 customers in an hour” → this is 200 customers/hour, which fits the definition of flow rate.
   - “It takes the average person 6 minutes to wait in line and get ice cream” → this is the flow time W = 6 minutes.
2. If asked to compute inventory using Little’s Law, convert units consistently:
   - Convert flow time to hours: 6 minutes × (1 hour / 60 minutes) = 0.1 hour.
3. Apply Little’s Law to find inventory (if desired): L = λ × W = (200 customers/hour) × (0.1 hour) = 20 customers.
   - This shows the consistency: 200 customers/hour is the throughput; 6 minutes is the time spent; their product gives average number in system.

Why the correct answer is correct:
- The statement “serve 200 customers in an hour” directly expresses the number of customers per unit time, which is the definition of flow rate (throughput).

Why the other options are incorrect:
- Flow Time refers to the 6-minute value, not 200 customers/hour.
- Inventory refers to the average number of customers in the system (20, as computed), not the rate of service.

Conclusion: The correct component of Little’s Law represented by serving 200 customers in an hour is Flow Rate. This matches the provided answer: Flow Rate.

At Carver, it takes the average person 6 minutes to wait in line and get ice cream. They are able to serve 200 customers in an hour. The serving of 200 customers in an hour is an example of which component of Little's Law?Single choice

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