Queues are all around us. Policies are everywhere.

Can we use the two together in a simple fashion to create business value?

Note* – Once you get really interested in Kanban, these are the kinds of observations and questions
that just randomly pop into your head, so beware. 😀

I was sitting on a plane and luckily had a window seat and I was watching the baggage handlers loading the luggage onto the plane. They were counting the bags and starting to load them onto the plane and I looked away for a bit. After a few minutes, I looked back and notice they were almost done and that is when I noticed the priority baggage tag on the last bags being loaded.  This is where kanban took over my brain.

Could a simple policy that was implemented by baggage handlers and a Last In – First Out (LIFO) queuing technique manage the priority baggage solution? It seemed to me that this would be a simple tactic to provide a value-add service to customers that they might pay for.

I’m sure it would be a little bit more involved than that (bag check tagging bags, people loading the conveyer belts that take luggage the last mile would need to use a FIFO approach) but basically with a simple policy change (it would have to be an explicit policy) and an understanding of how queues work, the airlines have created business value out of thin air!

Are there any simple policies or queues that you could use to create business value for your organization?