Upgrading Drive-through Services of A

Discrete-process simulation, long used in the manufacturing sector of the economy for process analysis and improvement, has more recently, yet extensively, proved its value in the service industry for the same purposes. Very simple queuing situations are amenable to closed-form analysis; however, queuing environments typical of actual contexts in the service industry defy such analyses, except perhaps as initial approximations. In this study, discrete-process simulation was applied to the problems of a credit union whose drive-through operations had proved themselves inadequate to meet peak demands. The results of the study guided credit union management in evaluating proposed alternatives to improve service to drive-through customers at reasonable expense in both time and capital expenditure.