On Monday, we described a pull system in a factory and how it differed from a push system often used by software teams. We are following that post with a 10-day series looking at push and pull systems in everyday life, asking what you think and offering our thoughts.
Scenario number 4 is the supermarket checkout
Image courtesy of www.gratisography.com on pexels.com
Our thoughts
Each till at a supermarket is its own PULL system and it has a strict work-in-progress limit of 1. Nobody expects the cashier to serve two people simultaneously and they expect to be dealt with in turn.
However, many supermarkets now have a flexible WIP across their tills as a whole: opening new ones when demand is sufficient. My local Coop is efficient at this: there is just one person at the tills until demand increases, and they can then call for up to two additional staff to deal with excess customers.
Even self-checkouts work on a pull system: you can’t have more than one customer using a self-service checkout.
<< Previous: Pull or Push #3: The train station
>> Next: Pull or Push #5: Maternity wards in hospitals
If you liked this post, you might enjoy our monthly newsletter. Sign up here.