Development of queue management model for effective service delivery in automobile repair shops

In this study, a queue management model/software was developed for automobile repair shops. This software minimizes both waiting time of customers, and idle time of workers. The software groups all jobs done in an automobile repair shop into three sections: mechanical, electrical and air conditioning (A/C) sections. The developed software prioritizes all jobs performed in a typical automobile repair shop in terms of urgency, using the ‘shortest processing time’ scheduling approach. The jobs are then ranked and assigned to workers based on number of available workstations. Also, expected time of delivery of the job is estimated by the software. The software was tested using data obtained over a two weeks period and percentage reduction in waiting time was found to range between: 0.889-0.122, 0.895-0.25 and 1-0.167 for the mechanical, electrical and A/C sections respectively. In the mechanical section, servicing/replacement of piston and rings and changing/servicing of gear box were discovered to be the jobs with maximum delivery time (15 hrs) while changing of engine belt was seen as the job with the least delivery time (0.3 hrs). For the electrical section, changing of alternator, with delivery time of 3 hrs 30 mins and changing of headlamp and fuse breakage with delivery time of 0.15 hrs are the jobs with maximum and minimum delivery times respectively. For the A/C section, changing of freezer with delivery time of 10 hrs and refilling of gas with delivery time of 0.10 hrs are the maximum and minimum respectively. Implementation of this research will reduce time wastage experienced by customers, idle time at service facilities, frustration caused by unnecessary queue, and encourage allocation of resources accordingly.