Overview
A large manufacturer of automated industrial equipment will demonstrate its technical prowess to the public by hosting a tent at your state fair. The tent will feature the automated dispensing and delivery of different varieties of drinks to customers seated at up to ten tables. Each place at the tables will be uniquely numbered and equipped with a radio-frequency identification chip (RFID). The system will also automatically prepare and deliver hamburgers and other traditional foods. Delivery will be in closed, uniquely identified containers via a combination of conveyor belts and cable cars suspended from the ceiling of the tent. Order entry and payment will be via apps in customer-owned handheld devices and via touchscreens that are permanently mounted at the tables. The devices will communicate with the order entry system via a dedicated Wi-Fi. Customers will return used containers to one or more drop-off points from which the containers will be sent to a station for washing and reuse. The dispensing of drinks will be done in glassed-in areas that are visible to the customers. Since the late delivery of drinks and food will lead to bad publicity, you have been hired as a performance engineer to work on the project.
Requirements
Write a 4–6-page paper in which you:
· Explain the possible key components of this system and their potential load drivers.
· Describe the workloads and the nature of the performance requirements for each one, including the cable car system and the conveyor system.
· Since the fair is a few years off, explain how your performance process would cope with changes in technology for order entry and payment occurring up to a year before the fair starts.
· During performance testing, it is observed that the time from order entry to the delivery of the food is exceedingly slow, even when only two people are sitting at a single table. Describe a test and measurement plan for determining whether the cause of the problem is in the order entry system, the delivery system, or elsewhere.