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March 2007

Queueing, Disneyland, and FastPass

by Pete Abilla on March 29, 2007

disneyland coupons, disneyland fastpass

In a previous article, I discussed the Psychology of Queueing and my experience at Disneyland while on vacation with my family.   In this post, I want to briefly talk about FastPass at Disneyland, in the context of Queueing. FastPass is a feature that Disneyland offers its customers, wherein a customer is invited to obtain a [...]

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Explaining Variation

by Pete Abilla on March 27, 2007

variation in six sigma

Most organizations collect and report on metrics that are not descriptive of their processes. Some of you may have noticed that most metrics that are reported are the “average” and some organization also use the “median”. Most people do not understand elementary statistics and their application to business. Here is the truth of the matter: [...]

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Psychology of Queueing & Disneyland

by Pete Abilla on March 26, 2007

I went on vacation last week to Disneyland.  We had a lot of fun.  It was also a time to learn how organizations like Disneyland deal with queueing challenges, especially with systems under high stress and load.  In this post, I want to cover the Psychology of Queueing and how Disneyland satisfies several of the [...]

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Unarticulated Customer Needs

by Pete Abilla on March 24, 2007

I’d venture to say that most products and services are bloated with features that customers most likely don’t care for;  I’ve been part of product development teams where the focus is on features, with an implicit goal to stuffing as many features as possible — in consumer packaged goods and in software.   This is the [...]

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Ford’s Contribution to Just-In-Time

by Pete Abilla on March 23, 2007

henry ford just in time logistics

The Just-in-Time (JIT) approach attempts to reduce costs and improve workflow by carefully scheduling material to arrive where needed at the proper time. Consequently, costs of inventories can be substantially reduced and the use of space can be conserved. In some cases this approach can contribute to an improved quality of the product. What is [...]

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Improving Patient Flow with Lean

by Pete Abilla on March 23, 2007

patient flow, lean, hospital

Flinders Medical Centre — Australia — implemented Lean over 2.5 years ago and has seen substantial benefit in the way they provide care and the amount of people they are now able to serve.  They report safer and more accessible care — the two goals they had made prior to their Lean implementation. The article [...]

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The DMAIC Framework

by Pete Abilla on March 23, 2007

dmaic framework, six sigma

Six Sigma is a business improvement methodology that was developed at Motorola to systematically reduce or eliminate defects and reduce variation.  Six Sigma typically follows the Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, or Control framework (DMAIC).  Six Sigma also has the Define, Measure, Analyze, Design, and Verify framework (DMADV), for product design, or redesigning an existing process. Below is the DMAIC Framework: [...]

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Shmula on Vacation

by Pete Abilla on March 23, 2007

family vacation ideas

My family and I have been in Disneyland all week (since March 18 until March 23).  This has been a really fun break — I love spending time with my family.   While on my vacation, I’ve made it a point to see how Queueing works in theme parks, such as Disneyland, where a system [...]

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