Discrete Event Simulation Project Proposal

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Discrete Event Simulation Project
Proposal Class DSES - 6620 Simulation Modeling
And Analysis Name Kevin Lewelling Date February
17, 2002 To Professor Ernesto Butierrez-Miravete
Background Over the past year, the Super Stop
Shop store on the corner of Skiff St. and Dixwell
Ave. in Hamden, CT has installed two new
self-service systems. The first system was
installed in the deli department and allows
shoppers to place orders using an interactive
touch screen computer system. The second
self-service system allows shoppers to self-serve
themselves through the checkout process. Two
systems have been implemented for the
self-service checkout system. The earliest
system targetted shoppers with 20 items or less.
This system was configured with four checkout
stations with a single customer service associate
located in a central location as shown in Figure
1. Following what appeared to be a successful
trial period, Stop Shop imstalled a new
self-service checkout system, shown in Figure 2,
which was re-oriented to the traditional isle
type configuration. The new system not only has
two isles designated for shoppers with 12 items
or less but also has three new isles that can
accommodate as many groceries as you care to
scan. For the new system, SS has hired two
customer service associates that circulate
between the checkout isles to aid shoppers in
their checkout process. None of the checkout
systems have employees dedicated to bagging
groceries
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Problem Statement Stop Shop grocery stores
have implemented the use of self-service checkout
lines to reduce operating costs. This is
accomplished by eliminating both a cashier and a
food packaging associate normally required in
each checkout line. Furthermore, by removing the
cashier, who is typically located in part of the
isle, the new self-service checkout systems can
be narrower and therefore require less floor
space. Although the self-service lines process
shoppers a bit slower than the conventional
checkout line, due to shoppers being unfamiliar
with the system and inevitable hang-ups, total
shopper throughput may be increased by being able
to add more checkout lines in the same amount of
space. Stop Shop wants to know if they should
install more self-service checkout lines to
maximize shopper through put based on the floor
space available. The focus of this study will be
to determine the optimum number of self-service
lines required to maximize shopper through put
based on the floor space available in the
checkout area. Approach An initial visit will
be made to the Stop Shop super market to
accurately document the configuration of each
checkout line. A Pro-Model simulation model will
then be created based on the configuration
schematic. A separate visit will be made to
collect arrival and processing data for each
checkout line configuration. This will include
data from both of the full service checkout
lines, 12 items or less and the unlimited lines,
as well as data from both self-service checkout
lines, again 12 items or less and the unlimited
lines. Roughly 1 hour of data will be collected
for each checkout line for a total of 4 hours of
data. Data will be collected on a weekend to
ensure minimal idle time in each of the checkout
lines. A simulation will be run to baseline the
current configuration and to determine the
current maximum customer through put. An
optimization routine will then be run, varying
the number of individual checkout line
configurations, to determine the optimum
combination of full and self-service checkout
lines.