Poultry Processing processes chickens for fast food restaurants. The chickens arrive from the farms on trucks, in cages, at a rate of 8 trucks per hour according to the Poisson distribution. The quality standards of Poultry Processing require that the chickens be processed within 30 minutes, which includes the time from when the trucks arrive until the chickens are finished processing. What is the minimum average processing rate (in truckloads per hour) that must be designed for the machine in order to ensure that the cages will be processed, on the average, in 30 minutes or less? Assume processing time is exponentially distributed.
A) 4.5 trucks per hour
B) 9 trucks per hour
C) 10 trucks per hour
D) 18 trucks per hour

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

To ensure the average processing time is 30 minutes or less, the processing rate must be greater than the arrival rate. Since trucks arrive at 8 trucks per hour, the processing rate must be at least slightly more than 8. The closest option is 10 trucks per hour.

Poultry Processing Processes Chickens for Fast Food Restaurants