The Definitive Guide to Modern Supply Chain Management (Collection)

Case 8. Queuing at eCycle Services

Janice Eliasson^† and Brent Snider^‡

^† University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; [e-mail]

^‡ University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada; [e-mail]

The Issue

Kevin Johansson, the owner of eCycle Services, has just returned from vacation to find a $30,000 “waiting fee” invoice from the city: “Thirty thousand dollars—are you kidding me? That was our entire profit last month—this cannot be right! I can understand the idea behind charging us while their trailers are at our facility, but $30,000 in just one month is absurd. I’m going to call the city right now and tell them they have made a massive mistake.”

Background

Located in Vancouver, British Columbia, ...