Recently I traveled to the US for the LSSC conference in Long Beach. To get me in the mood to talk about kanban for the week I'd like to thank both US customs and the airport security for such a good demonstration of a queue. It actually wasn't that bad as it took only about 1.5 hours to get from check-in to the far side if security. Given Bin Laden's recent death and the fact it was Monday morning ... I thought it was going to be far worse.
When you stop think about it the line is a good demonstration of a pull system. If you try to push more into the queue, you're pretty much guaranteed they're going to push back.You never see customs or airport security with more than one customer at a time, and I'm sure they track stats like no body's business. The policies are certainly explicit and its in your better interest not to break them. Well not if you want to get to your destination anyways. There's even different classes of service. Those who hold a nexus pass, and the flight crews have urgent cards. The people who didn't leave sufficient time to get through the airport have due date cards (not sure if they're all met but I see the airlines trying). Finally theres the rest of us ....first come, first served.
The only thing I was left wondering about is their backlog. Other than when the room is full there doesn't seem to be any limit to the backlog, and it just keeps going and going. However with the fact they never take on too many tasks at a time the process us through the queue with great efficiency.
What I wondered about is what would happen if they could control the backlog more than they do today. What would it look like if they could work with the airlines to limit the backlog to one plane load at a time in the room?
I had estimated the lines contained anywhere from 500-600 people. There is no rational priority to the standard queue, this probably causes some chaos in the customs area as people react to the environment in a way which is very different from each other. What if we established a lower limit of 100-200 people in the customs line? What impact would that have on the efficiency of the whole system of moving people through the process?
The airlines would have to manage the input queue to feed the customs backlog based on the priority of the passengers. Those who arrived with sufficient lead time would receive a standard card based on when the flight is departing. Those who arrived closer to their departure time receive a due date card to ensure they get through efficiently. The rest you can figure out from there.
So why would they want to do this? Simple ... The comfort of people, the experience for the customer and a reduction in the infrastructure required behind security. The other reason could be money! Airlines make money when airplanes move people, and if we increase the efficiency at the airport then just perhaps they could move more airplanes. People could spend more time outside and in security free areas, and then when their turn comes they will make it through the security quickly and easily.
Sounds good doesn't it? If only it were that simple! There is a lot of variability in the system, ranging from weather, traffic, mechanical problems with the aircraft, and the biggest one of all ... People! You'd have to educate the people on the system and prove to them it does actually work. If they would come to believe in the system, our experience could be significantly better than the crowds we work through today.
If only it were this simple ... Oh well ... I guess i have to just look forward to long lines for my return trip.
