Jelle de Vries

Exploring the role of picker personality in predicting picking performance with pick by voice, pick to light and RF-terminal picking

Order pickers and individual differences between them could have a substantial impact on picking performance, but are largely ignored in studies on order picking. This paper explores the role of individual differences in picking performance with various picking tools (pick by voice, RF-terminal picking and pick to light) and methods (parallel, zone and dynamic zone picking). A unique realistic field experiment with 101 participants (academic students, vocational students and professional pickers) is employed to investigate the influence of individual differences, especially the Big Five personality traits, on picking performance in terms of productivity and quality. The results suggest that (PbV) performs better than RF-terminal picking, and that Neuroticism, Extraversion, Conscientiousness and the age of the picker play a significant role in predicting picking performance with voice and RF-terminals. Furthermore, achieving higher productivity appears to be possible without sacrificing quality. Managers can increase picking performance by incorporating the insights in assigning the right pickers to work with a particular picking tool or method, leading to increased picking performance and reduced warehousing costs.

Worth the wait? How restaurant waiting time influences customer behavior and revenue

In many service industries, customers have to wait for service. When customers have a choice, this waiting may influence their service experience, sojourn time, and ultimately spending, reneging, and return behavior. Not much is known however, about the system-wide impact of waiting on customer behavior and resulting revenue. In this paper, we empirically investigate this by analyzing data obtained from 94,404 customers visiting a popular Indian restaurant during a 12 month period. The results show that a longer waiting time relates to reneging behavior, a longer time until a customer returns, and a shorter dining duration. To find out the impact of the consequences of waiting time, we use the empirical findings and data collected in a simulation experiment. This experiment shows that, without waiting, the total revenue generated by the restaurant would increase by nearly 15% compared to the current situation. Stimulating customers to reserve could enable restaurants to reap part of this benefit. Furthermore, the results of simulation experiments suggest that, within the boundaries of the current capacity, revenue could be increased by a maximum of 7.5% if more flexible rules were used to allocate customers to tables. Alternatively, by increasing the existing seating capacity by 20%, revenue could be boosted by 7.7% without the need to attract additional customers. Our findings extend the knowledge on the consequences of customer waiting, and enable service providers to better understand the financial and operational impact of waiting-related decisions in service settings.

Cross-sector humanitarian-business partnerships in managing humanitarian logistics: an empirical verification

Cross-Sector humanitarian–business partnerships in managing humanitarian logistics comprise a key discussion topic in literature, yet empirical validations of these partnerships are lacking to date. This paper aims to develop a typological framework for humanitarian–business partnerships in managing humanitarian logistics and to empirically verify this typology with a data-set using content analysis. The results show that the amounts of partnerships developed between the business sector and the humanitarian sector in managing humanitarian logistics is still limited and these partnerships are not widely publicised. The research furthermore shows that financial contributions comprise the most common type of resource delivered by the business sector when it comes to partnerships with the humanitarian sector focused on managing humanitarian logistics. It is also interesting to note that the majority of partnerships in our sample are dyadic in nature, managed by a single humanitarian organisation and a single business corporation. Furthermore, we find that most of the partnerships target support for natural disaster emergency relief operations and mainly focus on disaster response.