Sunday, August 11, 2019
Unintended Consequences
When I visit any “big box” store that has self-checkout lanes, I find several store employees….helping people checkout, and often doing it for them. The lines move more slowly than the conventional cashier lines, and the staffing seems the same!
At one point, Narita Airport in Tokyo installed high speed luggage conveyors and carousels to cut down on staffing, However, the luggage would often fall of the carousels, requiring…baggage handlers at each one to put the bags back on the equipment.
When you see a “solution” or if there’s a bandwagon of support racing by, ask, “What could possibly go wrong here?”
There’s an old Chinese proverb: Trying to save money by not using candles at night usually results in larger families.”