{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,14]],"date-time":"2026-05-14T21:11:28Z","timestamp":1778793088477,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS)","issue":"3","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["INFORMS Transactions on Education"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,5]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>This case investigates the drive-through congestion of a fast-food restaurant with a series of learning modules inspired by computational operations research. Motivated by the renovation of a local Chick-fil-A restaurant, this case evaluates the effectiveness of various drive-through designs in reducing congestion-related problems such as long wait times and large car lines. The objective is to introduce students to a typical operational decision-making process that includes (1) modeling the drive-through operations, (2) encoding the service process using discrete event simulation, (3) predicting congestion metrics with simulators, and (4) prescribing optimal design based on simulator-generated predictions. With minimum mathematical analysis and a flexible amount of programming, this case showcases a cohesive decision-making pipeline and has great potential to spur students\u2019 interest in operations management through a well-known congestion problem.<\/jats:p>\n                  <jats:p>Supplemental Material: The Teaching Note and course materials are available at https:\/\/www.informs.org\/Publications\/Subscribe\/Access-Restricted-Materials .<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1287\/ited.2023.0058ca","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,9]],"date-time":"2025-09-09T16:44:21Z","timestamp":1757436261000},"page":"200-206","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Case Article\u2014Chick-fil-A Drive-Through: Managing Congestion with Discrete Event Simulation"],"prefix":"10.1287","volume":"26","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1720-0394","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yuting","family":"Yuan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Smeal College of Business, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"109","reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/14-SSY153"},{"key":"B2","volume-title":"An Introduction to Mathematical Modeling","author":"Bender EA","year":"2000"},{"issue":"2","key":"B3","first-page":"111","volume":"14","author":"Bravo F","year":"2024","journal-title":"Stochastic Systems"},{"key":"B4","unstructured":"Business Insider (2021) Frustrated business owners are complaining about Chick-fil-A\u2019s massive drive-thru lines. 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Sci.\n                      (Springer), 1051\u20131058.","DOI":"10.1007\/11428831_131"},{"key":"B18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1007\/s11134-010-9176-z"},{"key":"B19","volume-title":"Discrete-Event Simulation: A First Course","author":"Leemis LM","year":"2006"},{"key":"B20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/ited.2022.0037"},{"key":"B21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/opre.2019.1908"},{"key":"B22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/msom.2019.0805"},{"key":"B23","volume-title":"R: A Language and Environment for Statistical Computing","author":"R Core Team","year":"2022"},{"key":"B24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1016\/j.is.2015.03.010"},{"key":"B25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1002\/9781119453765"},{"key":"B26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/inte.11.6.35"},{"key":"B27","unstructured":"The Wall Street Journal\n                      (2025) Drone and \u2018Game Film\u2019: Inside Chick-fil-A\u2019s quest to make fast food faster. Accessed May 8, 2025, https:\/\/www.wsj.com\/business\/hospitality\/chick-fil-a-drive-through-service-fast-food-innovation-ed5e2288?st=ApoMpQ\\&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink."},{"key":"B28","unstructured":"Ucar I, Smeets B (2025) Discrete-Event Simulation (DES) package for R. https:\/\/r-simmer.org\/."},{"key":"B29","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.18637\/jss.v090.i02"},{"key":"B30","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/inte.2020.1063"},{"key":"B31","unstructured":"WY Daily (2022) Monticello marketplace Chick-fil-A expansion to provide more streamlined system for guests, employees. Accessed August 31, 2024, https:\/\/wydaily.com\/brews-and-bites\/2022\/03\/08\/monticello-marketplace-chick-fil-a-expansion-to-provide-more-streamlined-system-for-guests-employees\/."},{"key":"B32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/msom.2022.0271"},{"key":"B33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1186\/s12913-018-3456-4"},{"key":"B34","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1287\/mnsc.1110.1399"}],"container-title":["INFORMS Transactions on Education"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/pubsonline.informs.org\/doi\/pdf\/10.1287\/ited.2023.0058ca","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,5,14]],"date-time":"2026-05-14T20:33:37Z","timestamp":1778790817000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/pubsonline.informs.org\/doi\/10.1287\/ited.2023.0058ca"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,5]]},"references-count":34,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,5]]}},"alternative-id":["10.1287\/ited.2023.0058ca"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1287\/ited.2023.0058ca","relation":{},"ISSN":["1532-0545","1532-0545"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1532-0545","type":"print"},{"value":"1532-0545","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,5]]}}}