http://seattlest.com/2006/06/30/good_line_bad_line.php All comments for Good Line, Bad Line en-us 2009 seattle_james Tue, 06 Jan 2009 13:30:00 -0800 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss scarequotes@gmail.com scarequotes@gmail.com 60 http://seattlest.com/2006/06/30/good_line_bad_line.php#comment-167555 http://seattlest.com/2006/06/30/good_line_bad_line.php#comment-167555 Comments Fri, 30 Jun 2006 17:33:09 -0800 <p>Ah, but there are examples of "bad" single-line service...remember the post office during the holidays?</p> http://seattlest.com/2006/06/30/good_line_bad_line.php#comment-167540 http://seattlest.com/2006/06/30/good_line_bad_line.php#comment-167540 Comments Fri, 30 Jun 2006 16:46:51 -0800 <p>Fry's is good, but I really like the way McDonald's handles it; no defined lanes, but let customer's form their own queues. Invariably it just all works out. Okay, granted that might be suboptimal with a cart full of 'stuff' but I still dig the idea.</p> http://seattlest.com/2006/06/30/good_line_bad_line.php#comment-167340 http://seattlest.com/2006/06/30/good_line_bad_line.php#comment-167340 Comments Fri, 30 Jun 2006 13:03:53 -0800 <p>Email recieved: love your post about lines. i took this operations class in b-school a while ago and one day we focused on "queue theory", basically the arcane operations field about lines. the net-net of it all is that there is one, universally-acknowledged best way to handle lines -- like Fry's. one line, as many processors as the organization can provide. however, hardly anyplace gets this right -- not the TSA, not Target, not WalMart, not many. Except REI -- they get it. Old Navy does it that way as well.</p>